Polydefinites in two varieties of Modern GreekMarika Lekakou (University of Ioannina)

Polydefinites, aka determiner spreading (DS), involve the multiple morphosyntactic realisation of the definite article in adjectival modification constructions that are se-mantically monodefinite. In Standard Modern Greek (SMG), DS is optional and has special syntactic and semantic properties vis-à-vis monadic definites (see inter alios Alexiadou & Wilder 1998; Kolliakou 2004; Campos & Stavrou 2004; Lekakou & Szen-drői 2012; Alexiadou 2014): it licenses word order freedom unavailable to monadic definites, and imposes a restrictive interpretation of the adjective. On the other hand, in Cappadocian Greek (CG) DS is obligatory with attributive adjectives in gen-eral, incurring no semantic effects, and the word order is rigidly DADN.

On the basis of the observed differences, a uniform analysis of DS in SMG and CG is unlikely (cf. Alexiadou 2014, Lekakou 2014). Following Lekakou & Szendrői (2007, 2012), I argue that DS in SMG is an instance of close apposition involving noun ellip-sis. Close apposition is analyzed as a symmetric relation between DPs, among which R-role identification (conceived of as predicate modification, in the sense of Heim & Kratzer 1998) takes place. By contrast, DS in CG is strongly reminiscent of definite-ness agreement in Semitic languages, where definiteness doubling is obligatory in attributive modification and yields no ordering freedom or semantic effects. Follow-ing Alexiadou (2014), this instance of DS is arises through post-syntactic agreement in terms of definiteness. Despite the DP-internal morphosyntactic differences be-tween SMG and CG, I pursue a uniform analysis of definiteness for both varieties, whereby semantic definiteness is located in a functional head selecting DP, thus scoping over the articled noun and its potential adjectival modifier(s).

Selected referencesAlexiadou, A. 2014. Multiple Determiners and the Structure of DPs. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Alexiadou, A & C Wilder. 1998. Adjectival modification and multiple determiners. In A. Alexiadou & C. Wilder (eds.), Possessors, Predicates and Movement in the DP. Am-sterdam: John Benjamins. 303–332.Campos, H & M Stavrou. 2004. Polydefinites in Greek and Aromanian. In O. Tomic (ed.), Balkan syntax and semantics, 137–173. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Heim, I & A Kratzer. 1998. Semantics in Generative Grammar. Oxford: Wiley. Kolliakou, D. 2004. Monadic definites and polydefinites: their form, meanning and use. Journal of Linguistics 40:263–333.Lekakou, M. 2014. Article doubling. To appear in M. Everaert, H. van Riemsdijk, R. Goedemans & B. Hollebrandse (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Syntax. 2nd edi-tion. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Lekakou, M & K Szendrői. 2007. Eliding the noun in close apposition, or Greek polydefinites revisited. UCL Working Papers 19:129-154. Lekakou, M & K Szendrői 2012. Polydefinites in Greek: ellipsis, close apposition and expletive determiners. Journal of Linguistics 48:107-149.

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