[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/lingbulk-2023-rouillier-when-agreement-isn-t-agreement/)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [docs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/) / [papers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/) / [Semitic languages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/sem/) / When Agreement Isn't Agreement: Deflected Agreement in Najdi Arabic as Aspect

# When Agreement Isn't Agreement: Deflected Agreement in Najdi Arabic as Aspect

**Authors:** Connor Caston Rouillier · **Year:** 2023 · **Venue:** Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 8(1) **Link:** [glossa-journal.org/article/id/9834](https://www.glossa-journal.org/article/id/9834/) · library `lingbulk-2023-rouillier-when-agreement-isn-t-agreement` · **Licence:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

[**1** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W4387657545) openalex · 2026-10-18[Glossa: a journal of general linguistics](https://openalex.org/S4210226983)[licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

- [Publisher's page](https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.9834)
- [PDF](https://www.glossa-journal.org/article/9834/galley/23729/download)
- [DOI 10.16995/glossa.9834](https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.9834)
- [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W4387657545)

**Authors (1)**

1. [Rouillier, Connor Caston](https://openalex.org/A5093513972) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2465-5098) · h 1 · 2 citations · 3 works

Citations and author metrics from openalex (2026-10-18); authors with the same name are not always told apart.

## What it is about

Plural nouns for non-humans can take a feminine singular verb (deflected agreement, DAgr) or a verb that matches the noun's plural gender (strict agreement, SAgr). In MSA the choice is fixed, but in Najdi Arabic it is less predictable. Kramer and Winchester (2017) tie it to a herd/clump reading located in the noun. Two experiments test this: changing the number of actors did not shift the verb form, and noun gender predicted the gender of SAgr; varying the number of events did predict the verb's number, and noun gender then lost its effect. Non-distributive predicates took SAgr more often than distributive ones. Rouillier concludes that DAgr is not agreement but marks event structure (pluractionality), while SAgr remains true agreement.

## Ideas

- I1. Event count from the verb: in the event reader of `world`, a plural non-human subject with a feminine singular verb is not an agreement error. The verb's form is recorded as an event-count flag, and the number of events is read from it.
- I2. Predicate distributivity as a lexical feature in the frame table: a rule that predicts the strict form for non-distributive predicates, measured on a tagged corpus before it is used.
- I3. Two-experiment design as a template: manipulate the participants in one study and the events in another, with the verb form as the dependent measure. Only relevant if Arabic variation enters a test set.

## For Mova

I1 belongs in the event reader of `world`. I2 is a rule table for `prag` and a measure on Arabic treebank data. I3 has no target yet; it waits for Arabic work to start.

## Cite

The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. [DOI 10.16995/glossa.9834](https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.9834)

```
@article{rouillier2023when,
  title = {{When Agreement Isn't Agreement: Deflected Agreement in Najdi Arabic as Aspect}},
  author = {Rouillier, Connor Caston},
  journal = {Glossa: a journal of general linguistics},
  year = {2023},
  doi = {10.16995/glossa.9834},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.9834}
}
```

- [← previous Stem Configurations, Lexical Items, and Phonological Words in Maltese](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/lingbulk-2023-puech-stem-configurations-lexical-items-phonological/)
- [next → Morphemes without Borders: Evaluating Root–Pattern Morphology in Arabic Tokenizers and LLMs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/lingbulk-2026-alakeel-morphemes-without-borders-evaluating-root/)
- [↑ back to Semitic languages](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/sem/)

## References

41 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Al-Sharkawi, Muhammad. 2014. Urbanization and the development of gender in the Arabic dialects. Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 14. 87–120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.4640 [↗](https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.4640)
2. Altmann, Gerry T. M. & Ekves, Zachary. 2019. Events as intersecting object histories: A new theory of event representation. Psychological Review 126(6). 817–840. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/ rev0000154 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1037/)
3. Barr, Dale J. & Levy, Roger & Scheepers, Christoph & Tily, Harry J. 2013. Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and Language 68(3). 255–278. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.11.001)
4. Beg, Mia Šetić & Čičko, Jakov & Domijan, Dražen. 2021. Symbol grounding of number words in the subitization range. Psychological Research 85(2). 720–733. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/ s00426-019-01265-4 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/)
5. Benmamoun, Elabbas. 2000. Agreement asymmetries and the PF interface. In Lecarme, Jacqueline & Lowenstamm, Jean & Shlonsky, Ur (eds.), Research in Afroasiatic grammar, 23–40. John Benjamins. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.202.02ben [↗](https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.202.02ben)
6. Bettega, Simone. 2019. Rethinking agreement in spoken Arabic: the question of gender. Annali Sezione Orientale 79(1–2). 126–156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/24685631-12340074 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1163/24685631-12340074)
7. Bettega, Simone & D’Anna, Luca. 2022. Gender and Number Agreement in Arabic. Leiden: Brill. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004527249 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004527249)
8. Borer, Hagit. 2005. Some notes on the syntax of quantity. In Kempchinsky, Paula & Slabakova, Roumyana (eds.), Aspectual inquiries, 41–68. Dordrecht: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3033-9 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3033-9)
9. Dali, Myriam & Mathieu, Eric. 2020. Broken plurals and (mis)matching of -features in Tunisian Arabic. Brill’s Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics 12(2). 164–203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18776930-01202005 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1163/18776930-01202005)
10. Davidson, Donald. 1967. The logical form of action sentences. In Rescher, Nicholas (ed.), The logic of decision and action, 81–95. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Davidson%2C+Donald%2E+1967%2E+The+logical+form+of+action+sentences%2E+In+Rescher%2C+Nicholas+%28ed%2E%29%2C+The+logic+of+decision+and+action%2C+81%E2%80%9395%2E+Pittsburgh%3A+Pittsburgh+University+Press%2E)
11. Fassi Fehri, Abdelkader. 1988. Agreement in Arabic, binding and coherence. In Barlow, M. & Ferguson, Charles A (eds.), Agreement in natural language, 107–158. Stanford: Center for the Study of Language & Information. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Fassi+Fehri%2C+Abdelkader%2E+1988%2E+Agreement+in+Arabic%2C+binding+and+coherence%2E+In+Barlow%2C+M%2E+%26+Ferguson%2C+Charles+A+%28eds%2E%29%2C+Agreement+in+natural+language%2C+107%E2%80%93158%2E+Stanford%3A+Center+for+the+Study+of+Languag)
12. Fassi Fehri, Abdelkader. 1993. Issues in the structure of Arabic clauses and word order. London: Kluwer Academic. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1986-5 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1986-5)
13. Fassi Fehri, Abdelkader. 2000. Distributing features and affixes in Arabic subject verb agreement paradigms. In Lecarme, Jacqueline & Lowenstamm, Jean & Shlonsky, Ur (eds.), Research in Afroasiatic grammar, 79–100. John Benjamins. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.202.05feh [↗](https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.202.05feh)
14. Fassi Fehri, Abdelkader. 2018. Constructing feminine to mean. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefeild, 141–195. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Fassi+Fehri%2C+Abdelkader%2E+2018%2E+Constructing+feminine+to+mean%2E+Lanham%2C+Maryland%3A+Rowman+and+Littlefeild%2C+141%E2%80%93195%2E)
15. Ferguson, Charles A. 1989. Grammatical agreement in classical Arabic and the modern dialects: A response to Versteegh’s pidginization hypothesis. Al-‘Arabiyya 22(1–2). 5–17. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Ferguson%2C+Charles+A%2E+1989%2E+Grammatical+agreement+in+classical+Arabic+and+the+modern+dialects%3A+A+response+to+Versteegh%E2%80%99s+pidginization+hypothesis%2E+Al%2D%E2%80%98Arabiyya+22%281%E2%80%932%29%2E+5%E2%80%9317%2E)
16. Grice, Herbert P. 1975. Logic and conversation. In Cole, Peter & Morgan, Jerry (eds.), Syntax and semantics 3: Speech acts, 43–58. New York: Academic Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004368811_003 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004368811_003)
17. Grimm, Scott. 2018. Grammatical number and the scale of individuation. Language 94(3). 527– 574. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2018.0035 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2018.0035)
18. Hofherr, Patricia Cabredo & Pasquereau, Jérémy & O’Meara, Carolyn. 2018. Event plurality in Seri. In Johnson, Kimberley & Göbel, Alexander (eds.), Proceedings of semantics of underrepresented languages in the Americas 10. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Hofherr%2C+Patricia+Cabredo+%26+Pasquereau%2C+J%C3%A9r%C3%A9my+%26+O%E2%80%99Meara%2C+Carolyn%2E+2018%2E+Event+plurality+in+Seri%2E+In+Johnson%2C+Kimberley+%26+G%C3%B6bel%2C+Alexander+%28eds%2E%29%2C+Proceedings+of+semantics+of+underrepresented+language)
19. Humphreys, Karin R. & Bock, Kathryn. 2005. Notional number in English. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 12(4). 689–695. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196759 [↗](https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03196759)
20. Ingham, Bruce. 1994. Najdi Arabic: Central Arabian. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.1075/loall.1 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1075/loall.1)
21. Johnson-Laird, Philip Nicholas. 1983. Mental Models: Towards a Cognitive Science of Language, Inference, and Consciousness. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Kaufman, Edward L. & Lord, M. W. & Reese, Thomas. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Johnson%2DLaird%2C+Philip+Nicholas%2E+1983%2E+Mental+Models%3A+Towards+a+Cognitive+Science+of+Language%2C+Inference%2C+and+Consciousness%2E+Cambridge%2C+MA%3A+Harvard+University+Press%2E+Kaufman%2C+Edward+L%2E+%26+Lord%2C+M%2E+W%2E+%26+)
22. W. & Volkmann, John. 1949. The discrimination of visual number. The American Journal of Psychology 62(4). 498–525. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1418556 [↗](https://doi.org/10.2307/1418556)
23. Kramer, Ruth & Winchester, Lindley. 2017. Number and gender agreement in Saudi Arabic. In Cooley, Frances & Everdell, Michael & Al Bulushi, Hammal & Lorenzo, Ambrocio Gutierrez & Orjuela, Lorena & Gualapuro, Santiago David Gualapuro (eds.), Proceedings of the 17th Texas linguistic society, 39–53. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kramer%2C+Ruth+%26+Winchester%2C+Lindley%2E+2017%2E+Number+and+gender+agreement+in+Saudi+Arabic%2E+In+Cooley%2C+Frances+%26+Everdell%2C+Michael+%26+Al+Bulushi%2C+Hammal+%26+Lorenzo%2C+Ambrocio+Gutierrez+%26+Orjuela%2C+Lorena+%26+Gua)
24. Krifka, Manfred. 1989. Nominal Reference, Temporal Constitution and Quantification in Event Semantics. In Bartsch, R. & van Benthem, J. & von Emde Boas, P. (eds.), Semantics and contextual expression, 75–115. Dordrecht: Foris Publication. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110877335-005 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110877335-005)
25. Krifka, Manfred. 1992. Thematic relations as links between nominal reference. In Sag, Ivan A. & Szabolcsi, Anna (eds.), Lexical matters, 29–54. Stanford: Center for the Study of Language Information. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Krifka%2C+Manfred%2E+1992%2E+Thematic+relations+as+links+between+nominal+reference%2E+In+Sag%2C+Ivan+A%2E+%26+Szabolcsi%2C+Anna+%28eds%2E%29%2C+Lexical+matters%2C+29%E2%80%9354%2E+Stanford%3A+Center+for+the+Study+of+Language+Information%2E)
26. Link, Godehard. 1983. The logical analysis of plurals and mass terms: a latticetheoretical approach. In Bäuerle, Rainer & Schwarze, Christoph & von Stechow, Arnim (eds.), Meaning, use, and interpretation of language, 303–323. Walter de Gruyter. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110852820.302 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110852820.302)
27. Mandler, George & Shebo, Billie J. 1982. Subitizing: An analysis of its component processes. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 111(1). 1–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0096-3445.111.1.1 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1037//0096-3445.111.1.1)
28. Ouhalla, Jamal. 1994. Verb movement and word order in Arabic. In Lightfoot, David & Hornstein, Norbert (eds.), Verb movement, 41–72. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511627705.004 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511627705.004)
29. Patson, Nikole D. 2021. How quantifiers influence the conceptual representation of plurals. Memory & Cognition 49. 803–813. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-020-01121-6 [↗](https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-020-01121-6)
30. Patson, Nikole D. & Warren, Tessa. 2010. Evidence for distributivity effects in comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning Memory and Cognition 36(3). 782–789. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.1037/a0018783 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018783)
31. Patson, Nikole D. & Warren, Tessa. 2015. The mental representation of plural events. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 68(7). 1249–1267. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218. 2014.976578 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218)
32. Piazza, Manuela & Fumarola, Antonia & Chinello, Alessandro & Melcher, David. 2011. Subitizing reflects visuo-spatial object individuation capacity. Cognition 121(1). 147–153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2011.05.007 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2011.05.007)
33. Quené, Hugo & van den Bergh, Huub. 2008. Examples of mixed-effects modeling with crossed random effects and with binomial data. Journal of Memory and Language 59(4). 413–425. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2008.02.002 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2008.02.002)
34. Radvansky, Gabriel A. & Zacks, Jeffrey M. 2011. Event perception. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science 2(6). 608–620. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.133 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.133)
35. Revkin, Susannah K. & Piazza, Manuela & Izard, Veronique & Cohen, Laurent & Dehaene, Stanislas. 2008. Does subitizing reflect numerical estimation? Psychological Science 19(6). 607– 614. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02130.x [↗](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02130.x)
36. Rouillier, Connor Caston. 2023. A corpus-based approach to agreement in arabic varieties. m.s., Ohio State University. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Rouillier%2C+Connor+Caston%2E+2023%2E+A+corpus%2Dbased+approach+to+agreement+in+arabic+varieties%2E+m%2Es%2E%2C+Ohio+State+University%2E)
37. Treisman, Anne. 2006. How the deployment of attention determines what we see. Visual Cognition 14(4–8). 411–443. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13506280500195250 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1080/13506280500195250)
38. Trick, Lana M & Pylyshyn, Zenon W. 1994. Why are small and large numbers enumerated differently? A limited-capacity preattentive stage in vision. Psychological Review 101(1). 80–102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.101.1.80 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295x.101.1.80)
39. van Dijk, Teun A. & Kintsch, Walter. 1983. Strategies of discourse comprehension. New York: Academic Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=van+Dijk%2C+Teun+A%2E+%26+Kintsch%2C+Walter%2E+1983%2E+Strategies+of+discourse+comprehension%2E+New+York%3A+Academic+Press%2E)
40. Van Gelderen, Elly. 1996. Parameterizing agreement features in Arabic, Bantu languages, and varieties of English. Linguistics 34(4). 753–768. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1996.34.4.753 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1996.34.4.753)
41. Zwaan, Rolf A. & Radvansky, Gabriel A. 1998. Situation Models in Language Comprehension and Memory. Psychological Bulletin 123(2). 162–185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.123.2.162 [↗](https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.123.2.162)