Defaults and agreement: feature valuation in Arabic and French

Abstract This paper investigates the mechanics of φ-feature valuation by comparing agreement patterns in French and Arabic, showing how differences in [± human ] specification regulate the outcomes of the Agree operation. French exhibits maximally transparent agreement: probes fully value φ-features regardless of the controller’s [± human ] specification. In Arabic, [+ plural , − human ] controllers, whether animate or inanimate, regularly yield deflected agreement, surfacing as third person feminine singular morphology. We argue that [− human ] disrupts φ-feature valuation without eliminating Agree, thereby yielding a distinct failed-agreement default, which is separate from the no-agreement default (third person masculine singular). This dual-default system challenges the standard view of default agreement as morphologically uniform and reveals a three-way outcome for Agree: full valuation, failed valuation, and no valuation. The findings refine the typology of agreement mismatch and show that semantically interpretable features can be syntactically active , influencing valuation pathways and morphological realization in ways unattested in morphosyntactically inert systems like French.