Composite Probing in Standard Arabic Preverbal Dependencies

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate whether Chen’s (2025) theory of composite probing can be generalized to Standard Arabic preverbal dependencies. Chen (2025) argues that there are some movements that are neither purely A-movement nor Ā-movement, but are instead triggered by the presence of a composite probe such as [φ + TOP] or [φ + FOC]. Standard Arabic has various types of preverbal dependencies, including VSO/SVO alternation, agreement asymmetry, case dependencies, null subjects, object fronting, wh-movement, and clitic left-dislocation. The results of this investigation indicate that Standard Arabic does exhibit behavior that is best described as composite probing, but only under a restricted formulation. Object fronting is the best candidate for composite A/Ā-movement, since the object of the fronted clause retains its case with the object of the sentence. However, subject movement in SVO clauses is better described as A-movement to Spec-TP, and clitic left-dislocation occurs through base-generation in the left periphery of the clause. The paper concludes that Standard Arabic does support the idea of composite probing as a type of derivational process for the language. Yet, a distinction should be made between A-movement, composite A/Ā-movement, pure Ā-movement, and any process of base-generating topics.