Restructuring and infinitives: The view from Appalachia

This dissertation explores four instances of restructuring (clause union) in verb forms found in the Appalachian English (AppE) of eastern Kentucky. I compare novel restructuring analyses of causative and experiencer have, perception verbs, and the verb liketa. In addition I examine restructuring as reanalysis in the non-finite wh-adjunct how come. In each case, syntactic and semantic diagnostics for clause structure are used to identify types of restructuring and to develop a syntax for these understudied forms. One main goal of the dissertation is to apply Wurmbrand's mono-clausal approach to restructuring (Wurmbrand 2001) to cases of micro-variation between standard and Appalachian English. This reveals the difference between morphosyntactic variation present in bundles of features manipulated by the syntax and variation which ultimately stems not from the syntax, but from differences in the inventory of post-syntactic morphological rules in standard and non-standard grammars. For instance, I argue that variation in the form of causative and experiencer have complements in AppE is not the result of a different syntax but rather the result of variation in post-syntactic morphological rules. Investigation of the boundary between variation in syntactic objects and morphological operations performed on those objects will allow us a cleaner view of micro-variation in restructuring phenomena. On the other hand, the study of perception complements shows that differences in complements of this dialect are not always only superficially different. For example, in contrast with Standard English, perception complements in the dialect allow matrix passivization. Following major strands in the literature which argue that passive participle -en blocks some relations between matrix and embedded clauses, this is predicted in a language where the perfect and passive syntactic heads do not license participle morphology on the verb. I argue that Appalachian English is just such a dialect. Irregular forms have leveled to the extent that that distinction between preterite and participle forms is unclear. I argue that matrix passivization in perception verbs is the result of grammatical reanalysis of the perfect and participle heads; they are no longer interveners. This means that any distinctions in past and participle forms present in adult grammars of AppE speakers are superficial and occur by way of what I have termed 'morphological enrichment' or unleveling; a process that most likely occurs in language/dialect contact situations with the standard. Essentially, morphological enrichment is the opposite of leveling by impoverishment. Secondly, comparison of perception complements with the restructuring have complements reveals that a unified account of the behavior of both sets of complements requires independent mechanisms such as agreement or head-movement; mechanisms previously used to explain restructuring in some bi-clausal accounts. Analysis of the AppE verb form liketa reveals a syntax similar to wanna contraction found in Standard English. Again, I apply a Wurmbrand style mono-clausal approach to restructuring to the form and make a theoretical comparison with a previous bi-clausal approach to wanna contraction. The major finding is that the mono-clausal approach is more favorable as it requires less stipulation with respect to restructuring. However, in the end, a proper analysis and comparison of the forms requires that they be differentiated by agree relations between the restructuring verb and the embedded auxiliaries. Finally, I analyze the syntax of non-finite how come complements found in AppE as a type of matrix clause restructuring and reanalysis.