Morphosyntax

Turning to the evidence of grammatical processes related to the functional layer above the VP, that is, the IP, the analysis reveals that these processes are operative. In particular, verbs are inflected in accordance with the target-like constraints.

Agreement verbs. Simon produces several constructions with agreement verbs. Example (146) above illustrates the use of the verb look to establish the locus for the frog in the first proposition; further, as the locus of the repeated verb in the second proposition coincides with the first, the example is also illustrative of reference maintenance via agreement. The same holds also of example (148) above, as the final locus of look coincides with the locus established previously for the frog so that the referential identity of the subject of gone is clear. Other agreement verbs used in this narrative include the verbs pick-up, take-some- where or sting. We will discuss the utterances containing these verbs below when we turn our attention to linguistic devices used by Simon for referential establishment and maintenance.

Spatial verbs. Utterances with spatial verbs, such as the ones provided in (151) and (152) document the target-like choice of classifier elements: in (151) the verb go contains the classifier for a human being (V-handshape), and in (152) the classifier for a group of flying insects. Further examples will be discussed below, when we elaborate on Simon’s expression of spatial relations.

 
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