'Case, Movement and Deletion in Three Linguistic Theories (al-Basra, al-Kufa and Chomsky’s Principles and Parameters): A Case Study of al-Tanaazu

Abstract

This thesis investigates Case Theory in three different linguistic theories. The topic of this thesis is Ɂal-Tanaazu’ [Case Conflict] (Ɂibn Hishaam, n.d., II, p. 186). It is a linguistic phenomenon, in which two potential case assigners compete for assigning case to a shared single DP. The study explores a number of interrelated analyses that contribute to the Conflict of Government or Case Conflict known in Arabic linguistic tradition as Ɂal-Tanaazu’. Case can be either abstract as in English, or realized via diacritics as in Classical Arabic (CA). In English, case is determined by word order and structural relations. In contrast, case in classical Arabic is determined by a diacritic at the end of each word, a fact that explains why CA has free word order. The behavior of CA data is found in the difference between the theta roles of the shared constituent under the syntactic construction of Ɂal-Tanaazu’. This phenonmenon is studied within two different CA schools of thoughts: Ɂal-Basra, represented by Sibawayh, and Ɂal-Kufa, represented by Ɂal-Mubarrid. The thesis explains how both schools complement one another rather than compete one another. In the light of Chomsky's Generative Enterprise (1980, 1981, 1986, 2000 and 2001), some sub-theories provide a unified approach to account for this controversial issue. Among these are Theta Theory (Chomsky, 1981b), Case Theory (Chomsky, 1986a) and split VP analysis (Larson, 1988), among others. In this study, I adopt the recent minimalist conditions and principles to provide a unified analysis for the issues surrounding Ɂal-Ɂiʕmaal [Case Assignment and Government] in CA. Moreover, it highlights that the conflict between Ɂal-Basra school of linguistics and Ɂal-Kufa school of