On the Existence of Small Clause in Mokryani

Abstract

Small clause is considered as a constituent with [NP XP] structure which can appear as the argument of “consider-type” verbs. In some languages like French, Swedish, Arabic and Farsi the aforesaid chain makes a constituent called “Small Clause”, SC from now. As a matter of fact, since the appearance of the term SC in Linguistics by Williams (1974), a considerable number of studies have been devoted to investigate the constituency and categorical status of SCs. However, this topic is still controversial. SC complements are the structures with a subject NP and a predicate XP which have the clausal characteristics and predicative meaning. The XP can be a noun phrase, adjective phrase or a preposition phrase. The present study aims at providing some arguments on constituency of the chain [NP XP] as the complement of consider-type verbs in Mokryani Variant. Providing some arguments and diagnostic tests, this chain is proved to make a constituent in this variant. Consequently, the chain [NP XP], as the argument of consider-type verbs, makes a constituent called “Small Clause”.

Keywords

• mokryani variant
• small clause
• diagnostic test
• constituency
• chain [np xp]