[Woo15] — Icelandic -st as a specifier-merged clitic

[Woo15] [Kra96] [Pyl08] [Sch08a] [Cue03] [AAS15] [WM17]

[Woo15]'s central thesis is that Icelandic -st (historically the reflexive sik → -sk → -st) is not an exponent of a Voice head. It is a defective person clitic — a [−participant] feature bundle, a featural subset of the reflexive pronoun — that merges in a specifier position and cliticizes to the verb. Its many "uses" (anticausative, generic middle, figure reflexive, reflexive, subject-experiencer, reciprocal, inherent) arise from where it merges, not from -st spelling out different Voice flavors. The genuine Voice/v exponents are -na (Voice{∅}), -Ø (the elsewhere Voice exponent), and -ka (v).

This file models that thesis: the primitive is -st's merge site (Site), and the construction typology and anti-affixal predictions are derived from it.

Main definitions

• Site, Construction, Construction.site — -st's merge site and the construction classification it fixes.
• Construction.voiceFlavor — the host-clause Voice flavor each construction co-occurs with (not one -st realizes).
• AnticausativeMarking, AnticausativeMarking.exponentOf — the -na / -Ø / -ka head-exponent inventory.
• Projection, allProjections — per-verb projections over the Icelandic Fragment.

Main results

1. -st is a specifier-occupant, not a head exponent (Ch. 2). -st checks a [D] feature in a specifier; -na / -Ø / -ka spell out heads. st_not_head_exponent, na_ka_distinct_loci.

2. Merge site — not Voice flavor — distinguishes the constructions (Ch. 3–6). An agentive Voice already fills SpecVoiceP with its agent, so -st can occupy SpecVoiceP only under non-agentive Voice; under agentive Voice it merges lower, in SpecpP. agentive_st_merges_low.

3. -st co-occurs with agentive Voice (Ch. 4: figure reflexives), which an exponent of non-agentive Voice never could — the core evidence against the affixal view. st_not_single_voice_exponent.

4. Voice–CAUSE independence (Ch. 3): the causal head is shared across the causative/anticausative alternation; only Voice's vDO differs. Modeled with [Cue03]'s decomposition — [Woo15] uses a single allosemic v; the multi-head notation is a linglib modeling convenience (see Voice.lean). opna_alternation.

5. -na / -ka complementarity (Ch. 3): -na spells out Voice{∅}, -ka spells out v; they never co-occur. na_ka_distinct_loci.

6. -st blocked from SpecApplP (Ch. 5): Appl assigns dative and -st is caseless, so -st cannot occupy SpecApplP, though applied datives are otherwise retained. st_blocked_from_specApplP, dative_voice_asymmetry.

The -st clitic and its merge site

inductive Wood2015.Site : Type

Where the -st clitic merges ([Woo15]). -st is a defective [−participant] person bundle that occupies a specifier and checks its head's [D] feature; the construction it yields is fixed by which specifier that is.

• specVoiceD : Site

  SpecVoiceP of Voice{D} — anticausatives and dative-subject experiencers ([Woo15] §3.5, §5.4).

• specLittleP : Site

  SpecpP of the figure/ground head p{D} — figure reflexives, including "covert" ones like klæðast ([Woo15] Ch. 4, §6.6).

• specLow : Site

  A lower vP-internal specifier — reciprocals and the reflexive/middle residue ([Woo15] §6.3, §6.5).

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instDecidableEqSite : DecidableEq Site

Equations

• Wood2015.instDecidableEqSite x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

def Wood2015.instReprSite.repr : Site → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• Wood2015.instReprSite.repr Wood2015.Site.specVoiceD prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Wood2015.Site.specVoiceD")).group prec✝
• Wood2015.instReprSite.repr Wood2015.Site.specLittleP prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Wood2015.Site.specLittleP")).group prec✝
• Wood2015.instReprSite.repr Wood2015.Site.specLow prec✝ = Repr.addAppParen (Std.Format.nest (if prec✝ ≥ 1024 then 1 else 2) (Std.Format.text "Wood2015.Site.specLow")).group prec✝

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instReprSite : Repr Site

Equations

• Wood2015.instReprSite = { reprPrec := Wood2015.instReprSite.repr }

inductive Wood2015.Construction : Type

[Woo15]'s descriptive classification of -st constructions. Each is distinguished by -st's merge site (Construction.site), not by a Voice flavor -st would spell out.

• anticausative : Construction
• middle : Construction
• figureReflexive : Construction
• reflexive : Construction
• inherent : Construction
• subjectExp : Construction
• reciprocal : Construction

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instDecidableEqConstruction : DecidableEq Construction

Equations

• Wood2015.instDecidableEqConstruction x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

def Wood2015.instReprConstruction.repr : Construction → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instReprConstruction : Repr Construction

Equations

• Wood2015.instReprConstruction = { reprPrec := Wood2015.instReprConstruction.repr }

def Wood2015.Construction.site : Construction → Site

The specifier -st occupies in each construction ([Woo15]). Anticausatives and subject-experiencers put -st in SpecVoiceP; figure reflexives in SpecpP; the rest in a lower specifier.

Equations

• Wood2015.Construction.anticausative.site = Wood2015.Site.specVoiceD
• Wood2015.Construction.subjectExp.site = Wood2015.Site.specVoiceD
• Wood2015.Construction.figureReflexive.site = Wood2015.Site.specLittleP
• Wood2015.Construction.reflexive.site = Wood2015.Site.specLittleP
• Wood2015.Construction.middle.site = Wood2015.Site.specLow
• Wood2015.Construction.reciprocal.site = Wood2015.Site.specLow
• Wood2015.Construction.inherent.site = Wood2015.Site.specLow

def Wood2015.Construction.voiceFlavor : Construction → Minimalist.VoiceFlavor

The Voice flavor of the host clause in each -st construction — the flavor -st co-occurs with, not one -st realizes ([Woo15]). Anticausative and subject-experiencer clauses have non-thematic Voice (for the psych verbs the experiencer is an applicative dative, §5.4); figure reflexives and reciprocals are agentive (§4); the generic middle is expletive (§6.3).

Equations

• Wood2015.Construction.anticausative.voiceFlavor = Minimalist.VoiceFlavor.nonThematic
• Wood2015.Construction.subjectExp.voiceFlavor = Minimalist.VoiceFlavor.nonThematic
• Wood2015.Construction.inherent.voiceFlavor = Minimalist.VoiceFlavor.nonThematic
• Wood2015.Construction.middle.voiceFlavor = Minimalist.VoiceFlavor.expletive
• Wood2015.Construction.figureReflexive.voiceFlavor = Minimalist.VoiceFlavor.agentive
• Wood2015.Construction.reflexive.voiceFlavor = Minimalist.VoiceFlavor.agentive
• Wood2015.Construction.reciprocal.voiceFlavor = Minimalist.VoiceFlavor.agentive

The anticausative exponent inventory (-na / -Ø / -ka)

inductive Wood2015.AnticausativeMarking : Type

How an anticausative alternation is morphologically marked ([Woo15] §3.3). -st is set apart from the others: -na, -Ø (unmarked), and -ka are exponents of heads, while -st realizes no head — it occupies a specifier.

• st : AnticausativeMarking
• na : AnticausativeMarking
• unmarked : AnticausativeMarking
• ka : AnticausativeMarking

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instDecidableEqAnticausativeMarking : DecidableEq AnticausativeMarking

Equations

• Wood2015.instDecidableEqAnticausativeMarking x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

def Wood2015.instReprAnticausativeMarking.repr : AnticausativeMarking → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instReprAnticausativeMarking : Repr AnticausativeMarking

Equations

• Wood2015.instReprAnticausativeMarking = { reprPrec := Wood2015.instReprAnticausativeMarking.repr }

def Wood2015.AnticausativeMarking.exponentOf : AnticausativeMarking → Option Minimalist.VoiceProjectionLocus

The head a marker spells out, if any ([Woo15] §3.3). -st spells out no head (none): it is a clitic in a specifier, not an exponent. -na spells out specifierless Voice{∅}; -Ø is the elsewhere Voice exponent (compatible with either Voice projection); -ka spells out v.

Equations

• Wood2015.AnticausativeMarking.st.exponentOf = none
• Wood2015.AnticausativeMarking.na.exponentOf = some Minimalist.VoiceProjectionLocus.voiceBare
• Wood2015.AnticausativeMarking.unmarked.exponentOf = some Minimalist.VoiceProjectionLocus.voiceDOrBare
• Wood2015.AnticausativeMarking.ka.exponentOf = some Minimalist.VoiceProjectionLocus.vHead

def Wood2015.AnticausativeMarking.IsHeadExponent (m : AnticausativeMarking) : Prop

A marker is a head exponent when it spells out a Voice or v head — every marker except -st.

Equations

• m.IsHeadExponent = (m.exponentOf.isSome = true)

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instDecidablePredAnticausativeMarkingIsHeadExponent : DecidablePred AnticausativeMarking.IsHeadExponent

Equations

• Wood2015.instDecidablePredAnticausativeMarkingIsHeadExponent x✝ = Wood2015.instDecidablePredAnticausativeMarkingIsHeadExponent._aux_1 x✝

Per-verb projections

structure Wood2015.Projection : Type

Wood's per-verb projection: the lexical entry plus the analytical apparatus the Fragment omits — the -st classification, the anticausative marker, and the [Cue03]-style event decomposition.

• verb : Icelandic.Predicates.IcelandicStVerb

  The lexical Fragment entry.

• construction : Construction

  Wood's construction classification.

• marking : AnticausativeMarking

  The anticausative-marking morpheme (default -st).

• rootStructure : List Minimalist.VerbHead

  [Cue03]-style lower event structure (without Voice's vDO).

def Wood2015.instReprProjection.repr : Projection → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instReprProjection : Repr Projection

Equations

• Wood2015.instReprProjection = { reprPrec := Wood2015.instReprProjection.repr }

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Wood2015.instDecidableEqProjection : DecidableEq Projection

Equations

• Wood2015.instDecidableEqProjection = Wood2015.instDecidableEqProjection.decEq

def Wood2015.instDecidableEqProjection.decEq (x✝ x✝¹ : Projection) : Decidable (x✝ = x✝¹)

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Wood2015.opnastInfo : Projection

opna / opnast 'open' — anticausative -st ([Woo15] §3.5.1). Active Jón opnaði dyrnar; -st Dyrnar opnuðust 'the door opened'.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Wood2015.splundrastInfo : Projection

splundra / splundrast 'shatter' — anticausative -st ([Woo15]).

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Wood2015.brotnaInfo : Projection

brjóta / brotna 'break' — anticausative marked with -na, the exponent of Voice{∅} ([Woo15] §3.3.2). Contrast with the -st anticausatives.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Wood2015.seljastInfo : Projection

selja / seljast 'sell' — generic middle -st ([Woo15] §6.3).

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Wood2015.lesastInfo : Projection

lesa / lesast 'read' — modal-passive -st, a generic-middle variant with an implicit agent ([Woo15] §6.3: Biblían á að lesast).

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Wood2015.setjastInfo : Projection

setja / setjast 'sit down' — figure reflexive -st in SpecpP, a posture verb ([Woo15] §4).

Equations

• Wood2015.setjastInfo = { verb := Icelandic.Predicates.setjast, construction := Wood2015.Construction.figureReflexive, rootStructure := [Minimalist.VerbHead.vGO, Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE] }

def Wood2015.klaedastInfo : Projection

klæða / klæðast 'dress' — a (covert) figure reflexive, -st in SpecpP ([Woo15] §6.6).

Equations

• Wood2015.klaedastInfo = { verb := Icelandic.Predicates.klaedast, construction := Wood2015.Construction.figureReflexive, rootStructure := [Minimalist.VerbHead.vGO, Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE] }

def Wood2015.nalgastInfo : Projection

nálgast 'approach' — inherent -st, lexicalized, no active variant ([Woo15] §2.3.4).

Equations

• Wood2015.nalgastInfo = { verb := Icelandic.Predicates.nalgast, construction := Wood2015.Construction.inherent, rootStructure := [Minimalist.VerbHead.vGO] }

def Wood2015.minnastInfo : Projection

minnast 'remember' — inherent -st, no active variant ([Woo15]).

Equations

• Wood2015.minnastInfo = { verb := Icelandic.Predicates.minnast, construction := Wood2015.Construction.inherent, rootStructure := [Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE] }

def Wood2015.leidastInfo : Projection

leiðast 'be bored' — dative-subject experiencer; Voice is non-thematic and the experiencer is an applied dative ([Woo15] §5.4: Henni leiddist Ólafur 'she was bored by Ólafur').

Equations

• Wood2015.leidastInfo = { verb := Icelandic.Predicates.leidast, construction := Wood2015.Construction.subjectExp, rootStructure := [Minimalist.VerbHead.vBE] }

def Wood2015.kyssastInfo : Projection

kyssa / kyssast 'kiss' — reciprocal -st ([Woo15] §6.5: Jóna og Siggi kysstust 'Jóna and Siggi kissed').

Equations

• Wood2015.kyssastInfo = { verb := Icelandic.Predicates.kyssast, construction := Wood2015.Construction.reciprocal, rootStructure := [] }

def Wood2015.allProjections : List Projection

All -st-marked verb projections, in the order of the Fragment roster (excludes brotna, which is -na-marked).

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

-st is a specifier-occupant, not a Voice exponent

theorem Wood2015.st_not_head_exponent : ¬AnticausativeMarking.st.IsHeadExponent

Wood's thesis in one line: -st spells out no Voice or v head ([Woo15] Ch. 2). It occupies a specifier; the head exponents are -na / -Ø / -ka.

theorem Wood2015.na_ka_distinct_loci : AnticausativeMarking.na.exponentOf = some Minimalist.VoiceProjectionLocus.voiceBare ∧ AnticausativeMarking.ka.exponentOf = some Minimalist.VoiceProjectionLocus.vHead ∧ AnticausativeMarking.na.exponentOf ≠ AnticausativeMarking.ka.exponentOf

-na (Voice{∅}) and -ka (v) spell out different heads, so they never co-occur ([Woo15] §3.3): the genuine exponents partition Voice/v space.

theorem Wood2015.brotna_na_vs_opnast_st : brotnaInfo.marking.exponentOf = some Minimalist.VoiceProjectionLocus.voiceBare ∧ ¬opnastInfo.marking.IsHeadExponent

On the same alternation class, brotna takes the head exponent -na (Voice{∅}) while opnast takes -st, which spells out no head — the -st / -na contrast read off real verbs ([Woo15] §3.3.2).

Merge site, not Voice flavor, distinguishes the constructions

theorem Wood2015.agentive_st_merges_low (t : Construction) : t.voiceFlavor = Minimalist.VoiceFlavor.agentive → t.site ≠ Site.specVoiceD

An agentive Voice already fills SpecVoiceP with its agent, so under agentive Voice -st must merge lower than SpecVoiceP — in SpecpP, the figure reflexive ([Woo15]: "since Voice is agentive, -st would not be able to merge in SpecVoiceP"). Derived from site / voiceFlavor, not stipulated.

theorem Wood2015.st_not_single_voice_exponent : Construction.figureReflexive.voiceFlavor.thetaRole.isSome = true ∧ Construction.anticausative.voiceFlavor.thetaRole = none

-st is not the exponent of a single Voice head: it co-occurs both with a θ-assigning Voice (figure reflexives have an agent) and with a non-θ Voice (anticausatives). No Voice head has both profiles, so the affixal view is refuted ([Woo15] Ch. 4).

Voice–CAUSE independence (Ch. 3)

theorem Wood2015.opna_alternation : Minimalist.isCausative (Minimalist.buildDecomposition Minimalist.voiceAgent opnastInfo.rootStructure) = true ∧ Minimalist.isInchoative (Minimalist.buildDecomposition Minimalist.voiceAnticausative opnastInfo.rootStructure) = true ∧ Minimalist.hasCause (Minimalist.buildDecomposition Minimalist.voiceAnticausative opnastInfo.rootStructure) = true

The causal head is shared across the causative/anticausative alternation of opna / opnast: agentive Voice prepends vDO (causative), non-thematic Voice does not (inchoative), but CAUSE is present in both ([Woo15] Ch. 3, in [Cue03] decomposition).

theorem Wood2015.parametric_diversity : Construction.anticausative.voiceFlavor.toParams.extArgSemantics = some Minimalist.ExternalArgSemantics.expletive ∧ Construction.subjectExp.voiceFlavor.toParams.extArgSemantics = some Minimalist.ExternalArgSemantics.expletive ∧ Construction.figureReflexive.voiceFlavor.toParams.extArgSemantics = some Minimalist.ExternalArgSemantics.thematicArgument ∧ Construction.middle.voiceFlavor.toParams.selectsSpecifier = some false

The constructions occupy distinct cells of the ±D / ±λx Voice space ([AAS15]): anticausative and subject-experiencer host a non-thematic [+D, −λx] Voice, figure reflexives a thematic [+D, +λx] Voice, the generic middle a specifierless [−D] Voice.

Applicatives and applied datives (Ch. 5)

theorem Wood2015.st_blocked_from_specApplP : ¬Minimalist.applLowRecipient.SpecCanBearCase none ∧ Minimalist.applLowRecipient.SpecCanBearCase (some Case.dat)

-st cannot occupy SpecApplP: Appl assigns dative and -st is caseless (caseOf = none), whereas a case-bearing DP can ([Woo15] §5.3.2). This instantiates the substrate ApplHead.SpecCanBearCase mechanism for -st.

theorem Wood2015.dative_voice_asymmetry : ¬Minimalist.applHigh.Licensed Minimalist.voiceMiddle ∧ Minimalist.applHigh.Licensed Minimalist.voiceAgent ∧ Minimalist.applLowRecipient.Licensed Minimalist.voiceMiddle ∧ Minimalist.applLowRecipient.Licensed Minimalist.voiceAnticausative

Applied datives are otherwise retained under -st: Appl licenses its dative independently of Voice. The high/low asymmetry — a high (ethical) applicative needs an event-semantic Voice and is blocked in middles, a low (recipient) applicative is not — follows [Pyl08] / [Sch08a], not [Woo15]'s Icelandic-specific claim that Icelandic lacks true high applicatives ([Woo15] §5.2.1, §5.3.1).

Consistency over the verb roster

theorem Wood2015.anticausatives_inchoative : ((List.filter (fun (x : Projection) => x.construction == Construction.anticausative) allProjections).all fun (i : Projection) => Minimalist.isInchoative i.rootStructure) = true

Every anticausative -st verb has an inchoative event structure (change + result, no agentive vDO; [Cue03]).

theorem Wood2015.lexicalized_lack_active : ((List.filter (fun (i : Projection) => i.construction == Construction.inherent || i.construction == Construction.subjectExp) allProjections).all fun (i : Projection) => !i.verb.hasActiveVariant) = true

Inherent and subject-experiencer -st verbs lack an active variant — their -st is lexicalized, or (for the psych verbs) the sole argument is a dative ([Woo15] §2.3.4, §5.4).