On the Symmetry of Case in Conjunction

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that all of the conjuncts in nominal conjunction always bear the same case. Apparent counterexamples, where conjuncts seem to differ with respect to morphological case marking are claimed to be either due to a misanalysis of the underlying syntactic structure or due to superficial morphological processes that create the impression of a difference in case marking. Once we control for phenomena of this sort (namely &P-clitics, Suspended Affixation and Allomorphy), we find that case marking is always symmetric in nominal conjunction. This finding is in stark contrast to the phenomenon of φ -agreement which is known to exhibit asymmetry effects. Based on this observation, I show that the Chomskyan account to case assignment according to which case arises only as a reflex of φ -agreement cannot account for this mismatch without stipulative assumptions. The pattern however follows straightforwardly if we assume that case assignment proceeds on the basis of syntactic structure whereas φ -agreement can either be syntactic or postsyntactic. Finally, I show that the generalization established in this paper can be used as a simple diagnostic to distinguish syntactic from morphological case marking alternations.