Tense, Agreement and Word Order Variations in Natural Languages. A Minimalist Approach (Towards a Unified Theory for word order variations)

Abstract

This paper sets out to re-examine the justification for assuming in MP (the Minimalist Program ) that Features of the functional categories are said to be either strong or weak with respect to their visibility at the interface. Strong AGR features are visible at PF if they are not checked off before the interface. Weak features are not visible at PF. By examining this hypothesis, I clarify the process by which the V-features of Tense and/or Agreement in verb-initial languages such as Arabic, Irish and other similar languages might be strong, and there are solid and reliable evidence that leads to believe that Verbs in these languages are forced to raise from the Verb Projection prior to spell-out generating V.S.O Word Order Paradigm. Regarding the subject and Complements of verbs in these languages (Verb-Initial L) , it is strongly believed, based on a variety of empirical evidence, that they remain in their original position within the V-Projection domain until after spell out when the N- features on functional heads are weak.

Keywords

• Tense, Agreement, Functional Categories, Strong features, Weak features, Generative Syntax, Minimalist Program.