Two new articles by McGill linguists have been published in Language and Linguistics Compass!
Correlates of Object Raising in Mayan, by Justin Royer (PhD ’22) and Jessica Coon (https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.70013)
Abstract: Mayan languages show variation in the morphosyntactic distribution of absolutive objects. A now commonly-adopted analysis ties this variation to differences in object movement and agreement. In so-called ‘high-absolutive’ languages, objects consistently raise to a position above the ergative subject, where they are targeted for 𝜙-Agree by a probe on finite Infl⁰. In ‘low-absolutive’ languages, on the other hand, objects remain low and enter into 𝜙-Agree with a low functional head, v/Voice⁰. This paper surveys the constellation of empirical evidence for this basic division, specifically related to Ā-extraction constraints, the position of absolutive morphemes within the verbal complex, the availability of absolutive marking in nonfinite clauses, and the binding properties of absolutive objects. It then compares an object raising account with alternatives.
Expanding the Typology of Absolutive Syntax in Mayan: Evidence from Northern Mam, by Willie Myers (current PhD) (https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.70014)
Abstract: Past work on Mayan languages has divided the family into two groups based on syntactic ergativity: ‘high-absolutive’ languages in which objects raise to a position above the ergative subject and enter into Agree with a high probe and ‘low-absolutive’ languages in which objects remain low and enter into Agree with a low probe. This object raisingapproach has been proposed to correlate with a constellation of syntactic properties, related to Ā-extraction constraints, morpheme order, nonfinite embedding, and binding effects. This paper adds a third option to the typology based on data from a Northern Mam variety in which objects systematically fail to agree. Though it appears to fall outside of the established paradigm, I argue that this ‘no-absolutive’ syntax is also directly predicted by an object raising analysis which locates variation in the presence or absence of [EPP] and 𝜙-probe features on v/Voice⁰. To support this, I show how no-absolutive Northern Mam patterns as we would expect across all previously proposed correlates of object raising. This paper functions as Part II to Royer and Coon 2025, also in this volume.