The syntax of genitives in the Maori DP

Abstract

This article proposes an account of genitive case marking in the Maori DP which shows how the licensing requirements for genitive depend both on thematic role distinctions and on the presence of a functional projection situated immediately below D. An investigation of ordering alternations including genitives, demonstratives, adjectives, and the lexical head indicates that the FP below D is also the location of an identifying or specifying function within the DP. The label "IdentP" is proposed as a cover term for this FP projection. It is also proposed that DPs containing nominalized verbs include a head, Nmz, that has the capacity to license additional instantiations of genitive case markin..