Nominal ellipsis reveals concord in Moksha Mordvin

Abstract

On the basis of original data from Moksha Mordvin (Finno‐Ugric), I argue that some languages have nominal concord even though modifiers of the noun generally do not show inflection. Evidence for the presence of concord comes from nominal ellipsis, under which inflection is phonologically realized and restricted in the same way as regular nominal concord. To account for the distribution of concord exponents, I develop a model that allows features to be present in syntax but avoid realization. In particular, I propose that (i) Spellout applies to a node as soon as its Merge and Agree features are satisfied and (ii) Agree features are by default illegible at PF and need to undergo an operation called Probe Conversion in order to become accessible to PF processes. The distribution of features then follows from the relative timing of Spellout and Probe Conversion.