The Syntax of Existential Sentences in Serbian

Freeze (1992) argued on the basis of data from several different languages that there is a close relationship between existential sentences (stating the existence of an entity) and locative sentences (stating the location of an entity). Freeze (1992) proposes that they are both derived from the same base structure and that the surface differences are rather due to the distinct information structures.This paper argues against this position with the data from Serbian existentials, which show clear syntactic differences from the locatives. Thus, the close relationship between existential and locative sen-tences that Freeze (1992) observes is conceptual, but not (necessarily) part of the syntax of the language. In order to account for the data, we propose that existential sentences originate from a different syntactic predication structure than the locative ones. The existential meaning arises, as we will show, from the interaction of this predication structure with the structure and meaning of the noun phrase. 1 The main data from Serbian Existentials differ from locatives in the following respects: (i) In existential sentences the PP is optional, cf. (1) whereas with locative sentences it has to be overtly present, cf. (2). (1) Ima Has nekih some studenata studentsGEN (ovde) here koji who hoće want samo just diplomu. certificate ‘There are some students (here) who just want the certificate.’ (2) Neki some studenti studentsNOM su are *(ovde) here koji who hoće want samo just diplomu certificate ‘Some students are here who just want the certificate.’ (ii) In present tense, existentials use the verb ima ‘have’, while locatives are formed with the copula je ‘be’, cf. (1) vs. (2). In past tense both paradigms use AUX + l-participle of ‘be’, cf. (3) for the existential and (4) for the locative structure