Verb Doubling in Najdi Arabic: Towards an Analysis

Abstract

In this paper, I present data concerning verb doubling in Najdi Arabic, which has not been studied or attested previously. The data appear to contradict traditional movement-based accounts that have often been used to explain verb doubling phenomena, such as parallel chains movement (Chomsky 2008; Kandybowicz 2008, among others) and remnant movement (e.g. Abels 2001; Vicente 2005). This is because previous accounts have not suggested an explanation for the interpretation of verb doubling with negation (the verb is never negated, and the action is still taking place) or the structure’s sensitivity to whether the complement of the doubled verb is a DP or a CP (non-adjacent and adjacent, respectively). Instead, I argue for a null modifier (an adverb in Najdi Arabic) Ω (omega) that is stored in the lexicon and has fixed semantic content. Its semantic content is immediately apparent when the sentence is paraphrased or translated accurately. Omega satisfies the necessary conceptual requirement that arises from the additional meaning of verb doubling in comparison to non-doubled canonical constructions. Omega attracts a copy of the lexical item (verb) that it modifies which is then fused with Omega (following Nunes 2004 and Kandybowicz 2007), forming a morphosyntactic distinct copy from the original copy which prevents it from being deleted at PF; thus, the construction is realized as a doubled verb. The null modifier hypothesis (NMH) provides a principled account for: the semantics of negated verb doubling, since the negated item is then the adverb and not the main verb, which is consistent with its interpretation; and the adjunct-like behavior of the additional copy (adjacent/non-adjacent placement within the sentence). At the end of this paper, I suggest that, in principle, the NMH can be applicable to other cases of doubling in other languages. Keywords: verb doubling, Najdi Arabic.