Adjunct extraction

In current linguistic theory, the theoretical status of adjunct extractions, as in for example How often do you think Robin sees Kim? is, somewhat surprisingly, an unresolved issue, with some investigators arguing that only arguments extract syntactically, entailing analyses of adverbial gaps via fundamentally different mechanisms from those posited for argument extraction. We adduce extensive evidence against such positions from a number of languages which exhibit morphological or syntactic phenomena which are sensitive to binding (extraction) domains and where this morphosyntactic flagging is present in instances of adjunct extraction as well as argument extraction. We also present language-internal arguments for the syntactic nature of adjunct extraction in English, including the coextensiveness of adjunct and argument extraction and their parallelism with respect to strong/weak crossover effects. Finally, we discuss the challenge which binding domain effects pose for accounts of adjunct extraction in various frameworks.

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Weak Crossover as a Scope Phenomenon

Linguistic Inquiry ◽

10.1162/002438900554424 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 513-539 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

E. G. Ruys

Keyword(s):

Weak Crossover ◽

Crossover Effects ◽

Relevant Condition ◽

Intended Interpretation ◽

Syntactic Restrictions ◽

Scope Assignment ◽

The Way

This article investigates the proper characterization of the condition that is responsible for weak crossover effects. It argues that the relevant condition belongs to scope theory and that weak crossover arises from the way in which scope is determined in syntax. This implies that weak crossover can occur whenever an operator must take scope over a pronoun, even when the pronoun and the operator are not coindexed and the intended interpretation of the pronoun is not as a variable bound by the operator. It also implies that, when an operator is for some reason assigned scope in an exceptional manner and escapes the usual syntactic restrictions on scope assignment, bound variable licensing will be exceptionally allowed as well.

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Team Weak Crossover

Linguistic Inquiry ◽

10.1162/ling_a_00072 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 1-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Calixto Agüero-Bautista

Keyword(s):

Semantic Relation ◽

Crossover Effect ◽

Weak Crossover ◽

Crossover Effects ◽

The Given

It is generally assumed that the weak crossover (WCO) effect arises when an operator fails to bind a pronoun that stands in a particular syntactic configuration with the given operator. In this article, I introduce a new kind of crossover effect in which the binding dependencies of two different operators work in tandem to yield the given effect. The new effect is radically different from the traditional crossover cases, which involve the binding dependency of just one operator. I show that theories that define the WCO principle as a condition regulating the binding of pronouns cannot account for the new effect. I also show that to account for all the varieties of crossover effects, the WCO principle must be defined as a condition regulating the semantic relation of dependence and must make use of the notion of Spell-Out domain discussed by Chomsky ( 2001 , 2004 ).

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The configurational structure of a nonconfigurational language

Linguistic Variation Yearbook ◽

10.1075/livy.1.05leg ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 61-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Julie Anne Legate

Keyword(s):

Syntactic Structure ◽

Left Periphery ◽

Weak Crossover ◽

Present Evidence ◽

Verb Phrase ◽

Crossover Effects

In this article, I present evidence for hierarchy and movement in Warlpiri, the proto-typical nonconfigurational language. Within the verb phrase, I identify both a symmetric and an asymmetric applicative construction, show that these are problematic for an LFG-style account that claims Warlpiri has a flat syntactic structure, and outline an account of the symmetric/asymmetric applicative distinction based on a hierarchical syntactic structure. Above the verb phrase, I establish syntactic hierarchy through ordering restrictions of adverbs, and ordering of topics, wh-phrases, and focused phrases in the left periphery. Finally, I present evidence that placement of phrases in the left periphery is accomplished through movement, with new data that show island and Weak Crossover effects.

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On the formal expression of natural rules in phonology

Journal of Linguistics ◽

10.1017/s0022226700003765 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 223-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Matthew Chen

Keyword(s):

Annual Meeting ◽

Linguistic Theory ◽

Phonological Process ◽

Formal Expression ◽

Guiding Principle ◽

Theoretical Status

While the notion of naturalness or plausibility has been a tacit guiding principle for past generations of phonologists, the effort to accord the notion of naturalness a theoretical status and to incorporate this notion into the descriptive formalism of a linguistic theory was a major innovation by the generative school. In accordance with what we may refer to as the ‘formalness condition’, the generativist requires that the substantive naturalness of a phonological process be explicitly recognizable in the very formalism used to state the process. The lively interest in and the on-going search for a ‘natural’ phonology is very much in evidence, witness, e.g., the titles of papers presented at the 1971 Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America.

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In Defense of a Quantificational Account of Definite DPs

Linguistic Inquiry ◽

10.1162/ling.2006.37.2.275 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 37 (2) ◽

pp. 275-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniela Isac

Keyword(s):

Weak Crossover ◽

Narrow Scope ◽

Crossover Effects ◽

Witness Set

Two types of arguments support a quantificational view of definite DPs. First, definite DPs share properties with other quantified expressions. In particular, they pattern together in antecedent-contained deletion constructions, they show weak crossover effects, and at least some of them interact scopally with other quantified expressions. Second, the apparent failure of (some) definite DPs to interact scopally with other quantified expressions and to exhibit island effects stems from two properties of definite DPs: they are all principal filters, and the witness set of singular definite DPs is a singleton. These two properties have the effect of rendering the wide and narrow scope readings of definite DPs indistinguishable.

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Binding reconstruction and two modes of copy-chain interpretation

Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America ◽

10.3765/plsa.v6i1.5008 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 734

Author(s):

Kenyon Branan ◽

Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine

Keyword(s):

Weak Crossover ◽

Crossover Effects ◽

Copy Theory Of Movement ◽

Copy Theory

We present a theory for the interpretation of Ā-movement chains at LF in the copy theory of movement where the NP restrictor of a DP Ā-movement chain is interpreted in only one copy. Such a view is motivated for English by evidence from reflexive binding, building on observations in Barss 1986, and its interaction with parasitic gap licensing and weak crossover effects. Our approach offers a means for understanding the classification of Ā-movement types in Cinque 1990 and Postal 1994 in copy-theoretic terms.

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