Cognate Object Constructions in Arabic

Abstract

This paper aims to explore Cognate Object constructions in Modern Standard Arabic and addresses the question of whether they are arguments or adjuncts. It examines in detail the properties of these constructions. The facts related to Cognate Objects suggest that they are best seen as arguments and not as some sort of adverbial adjuncts. Unlike English and many other languages, the use of cognate objects in Modern Standard Arabic is very productive. They occur with almost all types of verbs: intransitive, unergative, unaccusative, monotransitive and ditransitive verbs. Moreover, they can be passivized, pronominalized and topicalized. The paper also presents more evidence in favour of the argument analysis and against the adjunct analysis for cognate objects in Modern Standard Arabic.