Possessive Modifiers in Serbian: Coreference with Clitics and Strong Pronouns

Abstract:On the basis of experimental evidence this paper shows that in Serbian pre-nominal possessive modifiers modifying a noun phrase in subject position can be interpreted as coreferential with a clitic or a strong pronoun in object position. This finding speaks against a condition B violation in these contexts as has been assumed in previous analyses of Serbian (cf. Despić 2013). It implies that possessive noun phrases in article-languages like English and articleless languages like Serbian may receive a parallel analysis (Universal DP hypothesis, Bašić 2004; Progovac 1998): in both languages, the modifier occupies a position in the noun phrase structure from where it does not c-command out of the noun phrase, leading to free covaluation in these contexts (cf. Reinhart 2006). Interestingly, clitics are more likely than strong pronouns to be interpreted as coreferential with the possessive modifier in our test. This may be attributed to the fact that clitic forms in general are more easily bound in non-c-command configurations. In addition, the discourse conditions in the test, where the possessor represented given information, could have contributed to the fact that it was more likely associated with a clitic than with a strong pronoun.