Probe Specification and Agreement Variation: Evidence from the Algonquian Inverse

The distribution of a special agreement pattern known as the “inverse” varies across the Algonquian languages. This article shows that, under an interaction-and-satisfaction model of ϕ-agreement (Deal 2015, 2021), twelve distinct distributions of inverse agreement can be derived simply by varying the interaction and satisfaction conditions of the probe on Infl. This syntax-based approach to agreement variation has strong predictive power: it not only accounts for the twelve attested patterns but also rules out the unattested patterns, a result that a less restrictive postsyntactic approach cannot deliver. The Algonquian data thus provide support for a syntactic model of agreement patterns in general, and for the interaction-and-satisfaction model in particular.