by Atef Jalabneh, Awad Hajran Alshehri
ABSTRACT
The objective of this article is to investigate the actual syntactic structure of the conjoint lan (la-?an) ‘not – that’ in Arabic syntax at all levels of syntax. The conjoint initiates an independent subjunctive clause in which three syntactic problems arise: (i) the subject is in the nominative case but without case assignor in [T, T’] and (ii) the maximal projection [C” i.e., XP”2] constitutes a barrier for V-movement to get correct word – order. Regarding the negative item la ‘not’, (iii) the scope of negation is not as it is obvious at LF. The issues are solved with reference to Chomsky (1995-2005) Minimalist / and Phase Views. The results illustrate that the nominative case is checked by the empty tense [e] in [T] as the case assignor; however, the word order of VSO is achieved by projecting the syntactic node [XP”1] between [XP”2] and [YP”] by adjunction. This node is essential in X-bar syntax at spell out because the clash in V-movement is avoided. The scope of negation is [V”] but not [C“].
