Predicate agreement and word order: an experimental study

The article describes the results of an experimental study on predicate agreement with a coordinate subject containing the first-person pronoun ja ‘I’. I investigated the dependence of the acceptability of various agreement patterns both on the order of the subject and the predicate in a sentence (SV or VS), and on the position of the conjuncts (ya i Х ‘I and X’ or Х i ya ‘X and I’). The study also takes into account qualities of the predicate: its temporal and aspect characteristics, as well as its argument structure (whether a predicate is unergative or unaccusative). The experimental data showed that three agreement patterns with these subjects are acceptable in Russian: resolution agreement (1st person plural agreement for non-past tense and plural agreement for past tense), first conjunct agreement for VS order, and (for non-past tense) 3rd person agreement. The choice and acceptability level of these strategies are influenced by word order and temporal characteristics of the predicate. Verb aspect and argument structure turned out to be insignificant factors.