Abstract Monotonicity is a staple of semantics, but has occasionally also made an appearance in other domains (cf. Fox & Pesetsky 2005). In this talk, I argue that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that monotonicity plays a central role in morphology and syntax as a third factor that arises from learnability considerations. The approach posits underlying hierarchies, for instance positive < comparative < superlative for adjectival gradation, which are mapped into some other algebra, e.g. surface forms or degrees of acceptability. Requiring these maps to be monotonic rules out a large number of possible configurations. This provides a unified perspective on a surprising number of phenomena: *ABA effects in morphology, the Person Case Constraint, the Ban Against Improper Movement, the Ban Against Improper Case, the Ban Against Excorporation, the Adjunct Island Constraint and the Coordinate Structure Constraint, their exceptions in the form of parasitic gaps and across-the-board movement, freezing effects, 3/4 splits in typology (e.g. with expletive negation), the absence of anti-omnivorous number, and much more. Crucially, monotonicity does not supplant existing analyses of these phenomena, it supplements them. Monotonicity is the high-level principle that ties the phenomena together, whereas existing analyses hash out how this abstract principle is operationalized in terms of the grammatical machinery.

More Output

Monotonicity as a Third Factor in Syntax and Morphology

Sun 15 March 2026 | in Presentations |
| monotonicity | syntax | morphology | *ABA | person case constraint | negation | ban on improper movement | complexity |

Graf, Thomas

Abstract Monotonicity is a staple of semantics, but has occasionally also made an appearance in other domains (cf. Fox & Pesetsky 2005). In this talk, I argue that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that monotonicity plays a central role in …
read more
Formal and Substantive Universals Across Language Modules

Sun 15 March 2026 | in Presentations |
| monotonicity | syntax | morphology | *ABA | person case constraint | negation | ban on improper movement | complexity |

Graf, Thomas

Abstract Monotonicity is a staple of semantics, but has occasionally also made an appearance in other domains (cf. Fox & Pesetsky 2005). In this talk, I argue that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and that monotonicity plays a central role in …
read more
Graph Transductions and Typological Gaps in Morphological Paradigms

Fri 14 July 2017 | in Presentations |
| morphology | morphosyntax | typology | person hierarchy | person case constraint | subregular | transductions | *ABA |

Graf, Thomas

Abstract Several typological gaps have attracted a lot of interest in the linguistic literature recently. These concern the Person Case Constraint and the absence of ABA patterns in adjectival gradation, pronoun suppletion, case syncretism, and singular noun allomorphy, among others. This paper is …
read more
Graph Transductions and Typological Gaps in Morphological Paradigms

Sat 01 July 2017 | in Papers |
| morphology | morphosyntax | typology | person hierarchy | person case constraint | subregular | transductions | *ABA |

Graf, Thomas

Abstract Several typological gaps have attracted a lot of interest in the linguistic literature recently. These concern the Person Case Constraint and the absence of ABA patterns in adjectival gradation, pronoun suppletion, case syncretism, and singular noun allomorphy, among others. This paper is …
read more
Do We Need Features for Morphosyntax?

Mon 26 June 2017 | in Presentations |
| morphology | morphosyntax | typology | person hierarchy | person case constraint | subregular | features | transductions | *ABA |

Graf, Thomas

Abstract Bobaljik & Sauerland’s *ABA and the Combinatorics of Morphological Features attempts to explain the absence of ABA patterns across languages in terms of feature combinatorics. Their approach marks a step in the right direction by focusing on the algebra underlying the feature …
read more
Towards an Algebraic Morphosyntax

Wed 16 December 2015 | in Presentations |
| substantive universals | person case constraint | algebra | person hierarchy | lattices | feature geometry |

Graf, Thomas

Abstract I argue that important generalizations in morphosyntax are currently obscured by the technical details of the syntactic apparatus. These generalizations can be brought out more clearly via a perspective that is informed by higher algebra.

I support my argument with a case …
read more

Person Case Constraints and Feature Complexity in Syntax

Graf, Thomas

Files [pdf] [code]

@Misc{Graf14Viennatalk,
  author    = {Graf, Thomas},
  title     = {Person Case Constraints and Feature Complexity in Syntax},
  year      = {2014},
  note      = {Invited talk, January 9, Institut für Sprachwissenschaft,
          Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria}
}

Of Tops and Bottoms: The Algebra of Person Case Constraints

Fri 18 January 2013 | in Presentations |
| substantive universals | person case constraint | algebra | person hierarchy | lattices | feature geometry |

Graf, Thomas

Abstract The Person Case Constraint blocks certain combinations of clitics and weak pronouns in a variety of languages. Out of the numerous logical possibilities, only four variants of the Person Case Constraint are attested. I show that these four variants form a natural …
read more

More Output

links

contact