Strict negative concord and the directionality of Agree

Rudnev, Pavel. 2024. “Strict negative concord in Russian and the directionality of Agree.” Accepted with minor revisions at Syntax. April 2024.

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This contribution discusses strict negative concord, frequently considered a major argument for Upward Agree whereby feature-defective probes are c-commanded by feature-complete goals. By focusing on the interaction between long-distance scrambling and negative concord in Russian, I formulate serious challenges for Upward Agree. The facts are then shown to be trivially compatible with Downward Agree whereby probes c-command goals.

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I’m Pavel Rudnev, and this is my personal website. I’m a research fellow and lecturer in linguistics at HSE University in Moscow. My main area of interest is syntax and its interfaces with sound and meaning. In particular, my current research revolves around the structure of nominal expressions, agreement, case and verbal morphosyntax in East Caucasian languages, and the syntax-to-phonology mapping in Russian Sign Language.

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