Small nominalized clauses in Khalkha Mongolian: Asymmetries in mixed extended projections

Abstract This paper argues that just as there are small nominals (Pereltsvaig 2006, et seq.), there are also small nominalized clauses —nominalized clauses that lack a DP layer. Data come from four types of embedded clauses in Khalkha Mongolian (Khalkha) that differ from one another with respect to whether they are finite or nonfinite, nominalized or nonnominalized, and if nominalized, how much nominal structure is contained within them. Crucially, while complement nominalized clauses fully parallel possessive nominals in Khalkha in their nominal properties, converbial adjunct nominalized clauses display only a subset of these properties. Building on the idea that nominals may be smaller than DPs, I argue for an analysis that can account for the variation in nominal properties across the two nominalized clause types in Khalkha. I highlight a gap that emerges from this investigation—the absence of a small nominalized clause type containing a full CP structure nominalized by a reduced nominal structure that lacks DP. This suggests the existence of constraints on the construction of mixed extended projections. Building on a previous analysis by Svenonius (2021), I propose that the constraint can be understood in terms of the Williams Cycle (Williams 2003, et seq.) and related work.