Microparameters of agreement: A diachronic perspective on Algonquian verb inflection

This thesis presents an analysis of the verbal agreement morphology of Proto-Algonquian, the reconstructed ancestor of the Algonquian languages. The thesis has three main goals. The empirical goal is to make the findings of the Algonquian philological literature accessible to a broader audience of linguists, thus helping to bridge the gap between Algonquian philology and linguistic theory. The analytical goal is to formulate a simple and comprehensive analysis of Proto-Algonquian agreement that can be extended forward to connect with analyses of the daughter languages, thus providing a diachronically-grounded framework for microcomparative Algonquian morphosyntax. The theoretical goal is to connect the Algonquian facts with the broader theoretical literature on agreement, as the complexity and variability of Algonquian agreement provides a rich illustration of the microparameters along which agreement systems may vary.;The core of the analysis is a model of the direct-inverse system that relies solely on person agreement. I propose that the direct-inverse system arises from an interaction between two person probes: a lower probe on Voice and a higher probe on Infl. A further D-probe is present on T (distinct from Infl) in the inflectional paradigm known as the "independent order" due to the nominal origin of this inflection. Crucially, the lower probe on Voice triggers A-movement that renders the object equidistant with the subject for all subsequent syntactic operations. This equidistance is what gives rise to the direct-inverse pattern, since it removes locality as a factor in subsequent agreement operations and leaves the Infl and T probes free to agree with whichever of the two arguments is the best match for their features. The surface complexity of the agreement morphology is attributed to the presence of subject and object clitic doubling in addition to subject and object agreement.;Connections to various theoretical issues are identified, including the Activity Condition, portmanteau agreement, split ergativity, differential object marking, the distinction between agreement and clitic doubling, the distinction between index agreement and concord agreement, and the status of third-person features. A broad survey of relevant developments in the daughter languages is provided as a first step towards a microcomparative pan-Algonquian analysis of agreement.