@cite{scott-2023} — Voice-Based Case in Mam

@cite{scott-2023} @cite{woolford-1997} @cite{marantz-1991} @cite{baker-2015}

@cite{scott-2023}'s analysis of San Juan Atitán Mam treats case as assigned directly by functional heads keyed to argument position, building on @cite{woolford-1997}'s claim that ergative is lexical/inherent Case assigned with θ-role rather than configurationally derived.

Three Heads, Three Cases

In Scott's Mam architecture each case has a dedicated assigner:

• Voice → ERG (inherent, to the agent in Spec,VoiceP — extending @cite{woolford-1997}'s inherent-ERG claim into a modern Voice-based architecture)
• Voice → ACC (structural, to the patient — low-abs syntax, §3.4)
• Infl → ABS (structural, to the intransitive subject)

This produces a tripartite underlying system (ERG ≠ ACC ≠ ABS) visible through the Mam agreement patterns formalized in Phenomena/Agreement/Studies/Scott2023.lean.

Contrast with Other Case Theories

The Mam data discriminates between three theories of case assignment:

1. Agree-based (@cite{chomsky-2000}, @cite{chomsky-2001}): Case is assigned by Agree from a probing functional head. ACC requires v* as a phase head; non-thematic Voice (e.g., anticausative) is not a phase head and cannot assign ACC.

2. Dependent case (@cite{marantz-1991}, @cite{baker-2015}): Case is determined by the configuration of caseless NPs in a Spell-Out domain; Voice flavor is irrelevant to the algorithm.

3. Voice-based (this file): Case is keyed to argument position via functional heads. Neither phase-hood nor NP configuration is doing the work — the Voice head itself selects ERG vs. ACC by θ-role, and Infl independently assigns ABS to the intransitive subject.

The theorems below stage the contrast: Voice-based positional assignment, the Agree-style phase-head sensitivity it sidesteps, and the Voice-blind behavior of the dependent case algorithm.

See Also

• Phenomena/Agreement/Studies/Scott2023.lean — full Agree/Spellout pipeline for the Mam agreement morphology, including the impoverishment rule that bleeds reduced pronouns
• Phenomena/Ergativity/Studies/Scott2023.lean — super-extended ergativity (clause-type-conditioned alignment shift)
• Phenomena/Case/Studies/Woolford1997.lean — the predecessor analysis treating ERG as inherent Case

theorem Phenomena.Case.Studies.Scott2023.voice_assigns_case_by_position : Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.A = UD.Case.erg ∧ Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.P = UD.Case.acc ∧ Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.S = UD.Case.abs

Scott 2023's central case-theoretic claim: Voice (and Infl) assign case directly based on argument position. A → ERG, P → ACC, S → ABS — three distinct cases from three different heads, with the assignment fixed by θ-position rather than by Agree or by NP configuration.

theorem Phenomena.Case.Studies.Scott2023.voice_based_tripartite : Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.A ≠ Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.P ∧ Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.A ≠ Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.S ∧ Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.P ≠ Fragments.Mayan.Mam.ArgPosition.case Features.Prominence.ArgumentRole.S

The three argument positions receive three distinct cases — a tripartite underlying system (ERG ≠ ACC ≠ ABS) at the case-assignment layer, prior to any morphological syncretism. Inherits from Alignment.tripartite_distinguishes_all via the substrate connection.

Agree-based case ties ACC to a phase head (v*). Voice flavors that are not phase heads (anticausative, passive) cannot assign ACC under this view, predicting a gap for unaccusative patients. Scott 2023's Voice-based assignment makes no such phase-head requirement.

theorem Phenomena.Case.Studies.Scott2023.agree_anticausative_not_phase : ¬Minimalist.voiceAnticausative.IsPhasal

Under Agree, anticausative Voice is not a phase head, so it cannot serve as an ACC assigner.

theorem Phenomena.Case.Studies.Scott2023.agree_voice_is_phase_head : Minimalist.voiceAgent.IsPhasal

Under Agree, agentive Voice (v*) is a phase head and can assign ACC.

Dependent case is Voice-blind — the algorithm sees only NP configuration (higher vs. lower) and lexical case, not θ-role or Voice flavor. Two caseless NPs in a domain produce ACC on the lower one regardless of whether the higher NP is an agent or a derived subject. Scott's Voice-based assignment, by contrast, would only assign ACC under transitive Voice with an agent.

theorem Phenomena.Case.Studies.Scott2023.dependent_case_ignores_voice : have transitive := [{ label := "agent", lexicalCase := none }, { label := "theme", lexicalCase := none }]; have unaccusative := [{ label := "experiencer", lexicalCase := none }, { label := "theme", lexicalCase := none }]; Syntax.Case.getCaseOf "theme" (Syntax.Case.assignCases Syntax.Case.CaseLanguageType.accusative transitive) = Syntax.Case.getCaseOf "theme" (Syntax.Case.assignCases Syntax.Case.CaseLanguageType.accusative unaccusative)

Dependent case yields ACC for the lower of two caseless NPs whether or not the higher NP carries an agent θ-role. The algorithm never inspects Voice flavor.

theorem Phenomena.Case.Studies.Scott2023.dependent_case_tripartite : have nps := [{ label := "higher", lexicalCase := none }, { label := "lower", lexicalCase := none }]; Syntax.Case.getCaseOf "higher" (Syntax.Case.assignCases Syntax.Case.CaseLanguageType.tripartite nps) = some UD.Case.erg ∧ Syntax.Case.getCaseOf "lower" (Syntax.Case.assignCases Syntax.Case.CaseLanguageType.tripartite nps) = some UD.Case.acc

Dependent case in tripartite mode produces a parallel ERG/ACC split from the same configuration — but assigns it on positional grounds (higher NP gets ERG, lower NP gets ACC), not on θ-role grounds. Voice-based case derives the same surface pattern via a different mechanism, with the assigners keyed to θ-role rather than to NP configuration.