Abstract
Languages differ with respect to which functional categories they overtly realize. Whereas some overtly realize case, others overtly realize the initiation node in the verb phrase (also known as ?little v?). This project aims at investigating which functional categories are overtly realized in so-called ?analytic? languages and to find out whether they form a natural class. To this end we will study two language groups, which are both supposedly analytic, but which are geographically and genetically wide apart from one another, Sinitic (East Asia) and Kwa (West Africa). The results will be relevant for general theorizing on (i) language types; (ii) the nature of functional categories; (iii) the distribution of functional categories; and (iv) the question whether the verbal and nominal domains are as parallel in structure as is often assumed.