Ezafe and the deep position of nominal modifiers summery

In this chapter we introduced the Ezafe construction, in which NPs, APs, and some PPs are “unexpectedly” postnominal. We explored a theory of DP structure in which all DP modifiers begin postnominally as complements of D, and we suggested that Case is behind pre-/postnominal distribution: APs, NPs, and nominal PPs need Case, but can’t normally get it in situ.

We analyzed Ezafe as a special device for making Case available in the base site, thus allowing the underlying postnominal position of nominal modifiers to emerge. We argued that our Case-theoretic approach has potential relevance not only to “exotic” Indo-Iranian languages with the Ezafe construction, but also to the peculiar distribution of postnominal adjectives in the English indefinite pronoun construction, and to the polydefiniteness construction of Modern Greek. These represent alternative case-mechanisms allowing the [+N] modifiers to remain in place. The first was suggested to represent a case of NP incorporation, parallel to object incorporation in the verbal domain. The second was proposed to represent a case of copy raising. Finally, we suggested that reflection on more complex forms of the Ezafe construction offers interesting analytical possibilities for other languages. In particular the distribution of Ezafe in Zazaki nominals containing a modifying NP or AP appears remarkably similar in pattern to Japanese inflection in nominals containing a possessive nominal or a descriptive AP. These elements, whose analysis is otherwise problematic, can be viewed as Case-marking, following Yamakido (2005, 2007).