The Syntax of Complex Tense Constructions in Standard and Jordanian Arabic

The current paper presents a Minimalist account of the syntax of tense in Standard Arabic (SA) and Jordanian Arabic (JA). I assume that tense is not morphologically realized, but semantic tense interpretations and independent structural evidence, e.g. Nominative Case on subjects and the availability of expletive subjects, suggests the presence of an independent TP in the clause structure of the varieties at issue. The clause structure of simple tense constructions, e.g. simple past, is monoclausal with one TP; the clause structure of complex tense constructions, e.g. past perfect, is biclausal with two TPs that differ in terms of their categorial feature structure. The matrix TP hosts the interpretable Speech Time feature, whereas the embedded clause hosts the interpretable Reference Time feature. This proposal explains the semantic temporal dependency of the embedded clause on the matrix clause, which in turn derives the complex tense interpretations, and some empirical data that would be otherwise unexplained such as the impossibility for the embedded T head to host the tensed negative particles.