An Agree-based account of Definiteness in Arabic Construct States

The present paper provides an account of definiteness spread in Standard Arabic (SA) Construct States (CS) within the recent model of the Minimalist Program (MP). The MP is assumed to address the issue of definiteness from the shell structure perspective. The spread of the (in)definiteness value of the embedded noun DP to the entire noun phrase will be claimed to operate within a split determiner (D) and nominal (N) shell structure. Benmamoun (2008), Fassi Fehri (1993-1999), Shlonsky (2003, 2012), and Shormani (2016-2017) among others have argued for or against definiteness spread in SA CSs. However, in this paper, we will argue that definiteness spread can be analyzed not only via N-raising to D and phrasal movement, but also empirically according to shell structure analysis. Therefore, we will argue, in conformity with edge feature valuation, for an Agree-Attract based approach that would license spreading with respect to a Definite (+Def feature) or specification (+Spec feature) which would replace the N-to-D and N-to-Spec approaches on empirical grounds. Finally, the current paper will demonstrate that the shell structure analysis of dP/nP structure of SA CSs might serve the study of the minimal syntax of SA DPs in general