Asymmetry of Locality

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 115-129
Author(s):  
Young-Sik Choi

Abstract. This paper deals with an old, but recurrent, topic of a certain asymmetry of in situ wh-words with respect to classical extraction domains. Huang's analysis (1982) of wh-word scope tak-ing cannot offer an empirically adequate account for this important asymmetry, apart from the conceptual problem that does not fit into the minimalist assumption of computation (Chomsky 1995). I suggest two ways of scope taking at LF: movement of way 'why' vs. unselective binding of indefi-nite wh-words by the question morpheme. I will show that scope taking of in situ wh-words along this way can nicely account for the observed asymmetry of in situ wh-words with respect to islands, conforming to the minimalist thesis of movement as a last resort.

2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Bruening

Two theories, the Clausal Typing Hypothesis (Cheng 1991) and the unselective binding theory of wh-in-situ, have linked wh-in-situ to two other phenomena typologically: the use of a question particle, and the use of wh-words as indefinites. This article shows, through a typological survey and a detailed comparison of Passamaquoddy and Mandarin Chinese, that there is no connection between wh-in-situ and either property. Passamaquoddy uses wh-words as indefinites in all the contexts Chinese does, but it is a robust wh-movement language. Crosslinguistically, languages of all possible types are attested: most crucially, wh-in-situ languages without question particles exist, and wh-in-situ languages that do not use wh-words as indefinites also exist. In fact, most languages, regardless of whether they are wh-movement or wh-in-situ languages, have question particles, and most languages use wh-words as indefinites.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamoru Saito

Abstract Japanese wh-expressions appear in various kinds of operator-variable structures, including wh-questions and sentences with universal and existential quantification. The nature of the operator-variable relation is determined by an associated particle, such as the question marker ka or the universal particle mo. Given this, it has been widely assumed since Kuroda (1965) that the wh-expressions are to be interpreted as variables bound by those quantificational particles. This paper argues against this prevailing view by proposing that these wh-expressions are operators with unspecified quantificational force. Building on an insight by Nishigauchi (1990), I argue that they must covertly move to positions that allow them to probe particles and to acquire specific quantificational forces from them. I demonstrate that this analysis captures the main properties of Japanese wh-expressions as well as the differences between them and their Chinese counterparts. Huang (1982) proposed a covert movement analysis for argument wh-phrases in Chinese, which was extended to Japanese, for example, in Lasnik & Saito (1984) and Richards (2001). But Tsai (1999) has convincingly shown that they are subject to unselective binding and are interpreted in situ as variables. If the analysis for Japanese in this paper is correct, it shows that Huang’s approach can be – and should be – maintained for wh-phrases in Japanese with some refinements.


1984 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 743-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry T. Nock

ABSTRACTA mission to rendezvous with the rings of Saturn is studied with regard to science rationale and instrumentation and engineering feasibility and design. Future detailedin situexploration of the rings of Saturn will require spacecraft systems with enormous propulsive capability. NASA is currently studying the critical technologies for just such a system, called Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP). Electric propulsion is the only technology which can effectively provide the required total impulse for this demanding mission. Furthermore, the power source must be nuclear because the solar energy reaching Saturn is only 1% of that at the Earth. An important aspect of this mission is the ability of the low thrust propulsion system to continuously boost the spacecraft above the ring plane as it spirals in toward Saturn, thus enabling scientific measurements of ring particles from only a few kilometers.


Author(s):  
R. E. Herfert

Studies of the nature of a surface, either metallic or nonmetallic, in the past, have been limited to the instrumentation available for these measurements. In the past, optical microscopy, replica transmission electron microscopy, electron or X-ray diffraction and optical or X-ray spectroscopy have provided the means of surface characterization. Actually, some of these techniques are not purely surface; the depth of penetration may be a few thousands of an inch. Within the last five years, instrumentation has been made available which now makes it practical for use to study the outer few 100A of layers and characterize it completely from a chemical, physical, and crystallographic standpoint. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) provides a means of viewing the surface of a material in situ to magnifications as high as 250,000X.


Author(s):  
J.R. Mcintosh

The mitotic apparatus is a structure of obvious biological and medical interest, but it has proved to be a difficult cellular machine to understand. The chemical composition of the spindle is only slightly elucidated, largely because of the difficulties in preparing useful isolates of the structure. Chemical studies of the mitotic spindle have been reviewed elsewhere (Mcintosh, 1977), and will not be discussed further here. One would think that structural studies on the mitotic apparatus (MA) in situ would be straightforward, but even with this approach there is some disagreement in the results obtained with various methods and by different investigators. In this paper I will review briefly the approaches which have been used in structural studies of the MA, pointing out the strengths and problems of each approach. I will summarize the principal findings of the different methods, and identify what seem to be fruitful avenues for further work.


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