Phase theory and split-ergativity: A study of dyirbal split phenomenon

In this paper we will present an account of the phenomenon of split-ergativity in using the theory of phases (i.e. syntactic domains, also understood as computational units) on the one hand and the mechanism of feature inheritance on the other. Precisely, we will argue that each phase heads (i.e. the head of the phrase that projects its category, in this case: C and v) carry specific uninterpretable features (i.e. features that have no semantic content, such as case) that must be checked as they are inherited by nonphase functional heads (T, V).