COMPLEMENTATION IN MOROCCAN ARABIC by JANET

This dibsertat10n presents an investigation of the phenomenon of complementation 1n the syntax of Moroccan Arabic, a language which has not been the subject of extensive research 1n theoretical syntax. In particular, the present study examines a construction which I have termed "Matrix-Object Dislocation." This construction is similar to Left-Dislocation, in that the interpretive operation in both constructions is the same, namely anaphoric binding. Matrix-Object Dislocation differs from Left-Dislocation, however, 1n that, with the former, an element dislocated from a closed complement appears in the position of object of the matrix verb, while with Left-Dislocation the dislocated element does not occur in the domain of any verb. Chapter I constitutes an introduction to the syntax of simple sentences in Moroccan, presented within the theoretical framework of LexicalFunctional Grammar (LFG) of Bresnan (1982a,b,c) and Kaplan and Bresnan (1982). Chapter II 1s a discussion of Moroccan complex sentences, and together Chapter~ I and II provide the theoretical assumptions and details of Moroccan grammar upon which the work in the final two chapters is based. Chapter III presents an extensive study of the Matrix-Object Dislocation construction, in which the dislocated element 1s shown to be in matrix object position, but at the same time does not function as a normal object with respect to certain syntactic operations. This apparently anomalous behavior has its roots in the fact that, though the dislocated element is a constituent-structure object of the matrix verb, it is not, in most cases, a thematic argument of that verb. The dislocated element, bearing the function OBJ to the matrix verb, serves to give prominence to an argument in the complement clause, and therefore also bears the TOPIC function with respect to that clause. Verba in Moroccan subcategorize for this TnPIC function, as not all verbs that take closed complements allow Matrix-Object Dislocation. Chapter IV constitutes an investigation of complements to verbs other than the Matr1x~Object Dislocation verbs. These complements superficially appear to be open complements, but clo6dr examination 2