Overview
My research primarily focuses on syntax and the syntax-morphology interface, aiming to account for surface structural variation and underlying parallels in typologically different languages. More specifically, I have investigated phenomena such as scrambling, raising, case, binding, nominalization, among others. A substantial part of my work so far has been informed by data collected through my fieldwork on Mongolic languages, viewed through a comparative lens.
Ongoing Projects
Reflexives in Mongolian
Subject-oriented possessive reflexives in Khalkha Mongolian
Description: This project investigates the nature of subject-oriented possessive reflexives in Khalkha Mongolian, focusing on their effects on locality and subjecthood. The first part of the study addresses two questions: What is the source of subject and anti-subject orientation in Mongolian, and to what extent can the subject orientation be derived in syntax? The second part of the study explores the use of reflexive possessive and personal enclitics as cross-clausal reference tracking devices, as well as their implications on extraction and phasehood.
ECM and Ā-Operations
A/A’-operations at the clausal periphery: Agree, movement, and the interpretation of chains.
Description: This project examines a set of novel empirical data concerning the interaction between A/A’-operations at the Khalkha Mongolian clausal periphery. Specifically, exceptional case marking (ECM) is not only unavailable on wh-subjects of embedded interrogatives, but is also incompatible with embedded thematic (aboutness) topicalization, both being A’-operations. I suggest that an Agree-based view of movement types, combined with the clausal architecture, allow us to provide a unified account for the behavior of ECM, wh-licensing, and topicalization at the left periphery of this language.
Publications & Manuscripts
To Appear. Gong, Z. M. & Despić, M. On the Nature of Reflexive Possessive Agreement In Mongolian: From Nominals to Clauses. in Proceedings of WAFL17.
2023. Gong, Z. M. A/A’-operations at the Mongolian clausal periphery. Journal of East Asian Linguistics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-023-09268-4
2022. Gong, Z. M. Case in wholesale late merger: evidence from Mongolian scrambling. Linguistic Inquiry. 1–66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/ling_a_00494
2022. Gong, Z. M. Scrambling and reconstruction asymmetries. in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 28.1.
2021. Gong, Z. M. Postsyntactic Lowering and linear relations in Dagur noun phrases. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics. 6(1), 42. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1397
2020. Gong, Z. M. The POSS-final suffix order in Dagur. in The Proceedings of 50th Annual Meeting of the North East Linguistic Society.
Selected Presentations
2024 Reflexive Binding in Mongolian (w/ Miloje Despić). GLOW in Asia XIV, Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, CUHK.
2023 On the Nature of Reflexive Binding in Mongolian: from Nominals to Clauses (w/ Miloje Despić). WAFL17, Institute of Mongolian Studies, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
2022 A/A’-operations at the clausal periphery: Agree, movement, and the interpretation of chains. Berkeley Syntax & Semantics Circle.
2021 Condition C reconstruction revisited: scrambling, late merger, and the A/A’-distinction in Mongolian. Syracuse-Cornell Word Order/Scrambling Workshop.
2021 Late Merger in scrambling — A Mongolian case study. PLC45, University of Pennsylvania (online).
2019 The POSS -final suffix order in Dagur. NELS 50, MIT.
2019 A lowering analysis of the Dagur CASE-POSS order. WAFL15, Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Dissertation
Issues in the Syntax of Movement: Cross-Clausal Dependencies, Reconstruction, and Movement Typology. Cornell University. http://doi.org/10.7298/fjnb-7193