Noun/pronoun asymmetries: Evidence in support of the DP hypothesis in Polish

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse the syntax of Polish nominal expressions in terms of what is known as the DP hypothesis (the idea that was discussed in Abney 1987). The fact that articles occupy the D position crosslinguistically is widely accepted. But many linguists have raised the question whether it is reasonable to assume the DP hypothesis for languages that do not have lexical articles. Polish is an articleless language. In this paper, I will argue that even Polish has the DP layer. Furthermore, I will show that it projects at least one more functional phrase between NP and DP. The evidence for the above claims will be based on certain DP-internal word order facts. I will account for them by postulating that, in the absence of lexical articles, other elements may move to the functional projections above NP and lexicalise them in overt syntax.