Nominal Arguments and Language Variation

This book investigates nominal arguments in classifier languages, refuting the long-held claim that classifier languages do not have overt article determiners (D). Li Julie Jiang brings the typologically unique Nuosu Yi, a classifier language that has an overt article D, to the forefront of the theoretical investigation. By comparing nominal arguments in Nuosu Yi to those in Mandarin, a well-studied classifier language that has no overt evidence of article determiners, Jiang provides a new parametric account of variation among classifier languages and extends the account to argument formation in general.