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.
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.
The Nature of Long Distance Scrambling
Two Types of Long Distance Scrambling
Description: Long distance scrambling (LDS) has been viewed as exceptional and distinct from typical A’ operator movement (e.g., wh-movement) for two reasons: First, unlike wh-movement, LDS is observed to exhibit obligatory scope reconstruction (radical reconstruction). Second, unlike wh-movement, LDS does not seem to be sensitive to weak islands. However, evidence also suggests that certain types of LDS, particularly the clause-external scrambling of wh-phrases, behave just like wh-movement. This project suggests that these two seemingly incompatible facts point to two distinct types of LDS that may co-exist internal to a single language, through a detailed study of weak island effects in Mongolian LDS.
Publications & Ongoing Manuscripts
2024. Gong, Z. M. Two Types of Long Distance Scrambling in Mongolian. ms [pdf].
2024. Gong, Z. M. & Despić, M. On the Nature of Reflexive Possessive Agreement In Mongolian: From Nominals to Clauses. in Proceedings of WAFL17. [pdf]
2023. Gong, Z. M. A/A’-operations at the Mongolian clausal periphery. Journal of East Asian Linguistics. Open Access. 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. [pdf]. 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. [pdf]
2021. Gong, Z. M. Postsyntactic Lowering and linear relations in Dagur noun phrases. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics. 6(1), 42. Open Access. 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. [pdf]
Selected Presentations
2024 Dissecting Relative Clauses with Genitive Subjects – A Methodology (with Eszter Ótott-Kovács). USC Seminar in Syntax: Topics in Turkic. [pdf]
2024 Reflexive Binding in Mongolian (with 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. [pdf]. DOI: http://doi.org/10.7298/fjnb-7193