The DP-cycle in Hungarian and the functional extension of the noun phrase
Barbara Egedi · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2014
The chapter presents and analyzes the DP-cycle and its structural consequences within the Hungarian noun phrase. The marking of definiteness is generally discussed in order to show how the emergence of the definite article and its functional spreading reshaped the nominal left periphery. The renewal of the demonstrative system involves at least two types of strategies (reinforcement and determiner doubling) while the old construction is also preserved to some extent. The reinforcing strategy produces new series of demonstrative pronouns, while the determiner doubling phenomenon entails a long-term structural reanalysis (from an adjunction to a DP-internal specifier position). The latter is indicated by a word order change that can be observed in cases when demonstratives are combined with dative-marked possessor expressions.