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The study extends the analysis to the famma-construction in Tunisian Arabic and explains famma-raising and tense interpretation at LF through licensing relations within probe-goal Agree.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-derivation-of-verbless-sentences-in-arabic-a-probe-goal-agree-approach/589981/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-derivation-of-verbless-sentences-in-arabic-a-probe-goal-agree-approach/589981.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Cart","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-05","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does the paper claim about how Arabic ‘verbless’ sentences are derived?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It proposes that Arabic ‘verbless’ sentences are better understood through the valuation of T-features. 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(2010) about probe-goal Agree relations |\n| Article history\u003Cbr>Received: September 05, 2019\u003Cbr>Accepted: November 12, 2019 |  |\n| Published: December 31, 2019\u003Cbr>Volume: 10 Issue: 6 | being parameterized according to the feature-structure of functional elements derived in sentence structure. This analysis is essentially different from previous analyses in the literature relating |\n| Advance access: December, 2019 | to ‘verbless’ sentences in Arabic, such as Benmamoun’s (2008) . In the present analysis, verbal inflection is the product of the valuation of a T-feature of verbs – i.e., [uT], as the unvalued uninterpretable counterpart of [iT] of tense (T as a node in sentence structure) in the syntax |\n|  |  |\n| Conflicts of interest: None | of languages. Using this framework of assumptions, I subsequently extend on Halila’s (1992) |\n| Funding: None | analysis of the famma-construction in Tunisian Arabic. In such constructions, famma-raising is |\n|  | the result of the verb-like nature offamma as an auxiliary or copula, which ultimately enters a probe-goal-Agree relation with T for tense interpretation at Logical Form (LF) in the syntax. |\n| Key words:\u003Cbr>Predicate, Verbless, Agree, |  |\n| Probe-goal, Famma, |  |\n| Feature Valuation,\u003Cbr>Tense Interpretation |  |\n\nINTRODUCTION  \nA number of formal approaches have been proposed in Generative syntax for the derivation of the so-called ‘verbless sentences’ in relation to some theory of small clause structure. In this context, the analysis of constructions where a small clause is embedded in some higher functional structure rests on a theory of the structure of small clauses and the functional relations thereby established in the derivation of sentences containing such clauses. In this paper,  \nI propose that ‘verbless’ sentences in Arabic may better be conceived in terms of the valuation of T-features, which operate as an output of the selection of the functional verb phrase (vP) containing the small clause by the T-node in sentence structure. Following Aarts (1992), I propose that the structure of constructions containing a small clause is complex containing a functional head which depends on the I/T that selects it for its interpretation (see note 2 in relation to the discussion in section 2 below) . Nevertheless, unlike Aarts (1992), I follow Chomsky (1995b, 2001, 2004) in the assumption that the functional element that T selects in sentence structure is the ‘light’ functional verb v heading vP, which selects V heading VP. VP, in turn, selects the small  \nclause. Henceforth, I will refer to that complex structure containing the small clause as vP/VP.  \nIn section 2, I build up on such assumptions and propose a feature-based analysis of verbless sentences. I mainly argue (contra Benmamoun 2000, 2008) that the derivation and interpretation of verbal inflection, in general, and of the structure of small clauses, in particular, rests on the valuation (and/or ‘identification’) of T-features on the relevant functional nodes.  \nIn section 3, I extend on this analysis by looking at the so-called famma-construction in Tunisian Arabic (i.e., the rough equivalent of the there-construction), in which famma acts as a verb-like element (Halila 1992) .1 In this respec","cbCaiaFl9oQzUvni","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaFl9oQzUvni","pdf",484120,11,"English","# Introduction\n# V-to-v and v/V-to-T Movement and Feature Structure of Arabic Sentences","[{\"question\":\"What does the paper claim about how Arabic ‘verbless’ sentences are derived?\",\"answer\":\"It proposes that Arabic ‘verbless’ sentences are better understood through the valuation of T-features. These T-features arise from how the functional verb phrase containing the small clause is selected by the T-node in sentence structure.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the approach explain verbal inflection without a verb in ‘verbless’ sentences?\",\"answer\":\"The paper argues that verbal inflection is produced by the valuation of a T-feature on relevant functional nodes. This uses the unvalued uninterpretable T-feature as the target for valuation, linked to tense interpretation.\"},{\"question\":\"What role does the famma-construction play in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"The paper extends its feature-based analysis to the famma-construction in Tunisian Arabic. It treats famma as a verb-like element whose raising and licensing relations with T support tense interpretation at Logical Form (LF).\"}]","The Derivation of ‘Verbless’ Sentences in Arabic - A Probe-Goal-Agree Approach | PDF",1792068537,28]