scholarly journals Missing objects in Hebrew: Argument ellipsis, not VP ellipsis

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Idan Landau
Keyword(s):  
Argument Ellipsis ◽  
Vp Ellipsis

On the Nonexistence of Verb-Stranding VP-Ellipsis

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idan Landau
Keyword(s):  
Head Movement ◽  
Simple Argument ◽  
Argument Ellipsis ◽  
Vp Ellipsis

An increasingly popular analysis of object gap sentences in many languages derives them in two steps: (a) V-raising out of VP, and (b) VP-ellipsis of the remnant, stranding the verb (V-stranding VP-ellipsis, VSVPE). For Hebrew, Hindi, Russian, and Portuguese, I show this analysis to be inadequate. First, it undergenerates elliptical objects in various environments, and second, it overgenerates nonexisting adjunct-including readings. For all the problematic data, simple argument ellipsis provides a unified explanation. The absence of VSVPE in languages that do allow V-raising and Aux-stranding VP-ellipsis raises an intriguing problem for theories addressing the interaction of head movement and ellipsis.

Null Objects in Korean: Experimental Evidence for the Argument Ellipsis Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-340
Author(s):  
Chung-hye Han ◽  
Kyeong-min Kim ◽  
Keir Moulton ◽  
Jeffrey Lidz
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Correlation Experiment ◽  
Argument Ellipsis ◽  
Null Objects ◽  
Null Object ◽  
Vp Ellipsis ◽  
Verb Raising

Null object (NO) constructions in Korean and Japanese have received different accounts: as (a) argument ellipsis ( Oku 1998 , S. Kim 1999 , Saito 2007 , Sakamoto 2015 ), (b) VP-ellipsis after verb raising ( Otani and Whitman 1991 , Funakoshi 2016 ), or (c) instances of base-generated pro ( Park 1997 , Hoji 1998 , 2003 ). We report results from two experiments supporting the argument ellipsis analysis for Korean. Experiment 1 builds on K.-M. Kim and Han’s (2016) finding of interspeaker variation in whether the pronoun ku can be bound by a quantifier. Results showed that a speaker’s acceptance of quantifier-bound ku positively correlates with acceptance of sloppy readings in NO sentences. We argue that an ellipsis account, in which the NO site contains internal structure hosting the pronoun, accounts for this correlation. Experiment 2, testing the recovery of adverbials in NO sentences, showed that only the object (not the adverb) can be recovered in the NO site, excluding the possibility of VP-ellipsis. Taken together, our findings suggest that NOs result from argument ellipsis in Korean.

ellipsis in simpler syntax

2018 ◽  
pp. 161-187
Author(s):  
Peter W. Culicover ◽  
Ray Jackendoff
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Domain ◽  
Argument Ellipsis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Vp Ellipsis ◽  
Fixed Expressions ◽  
Linguistic Categorization

Same-Except is a fundamental domain-general cognitive relation in which entities in proximity to one another are judged to be the Same, Except for some part or property where they differ. This relation can be attested in non-linguistic modalities such as vision, audition, and taste, and it plays an important role in non-linguistic categorization. The chapter shows that this relation is expressed linguistically by means of a wide range of devices, including (a) lexical expressions such as same and except, (b) contrastive stress, (c) anaphora (e.g. definite and indefinite NP anaphora and VP anaphora), (d) ellipsis (e.g. bare argument ellipsis, sluicing, gapping, and VP-ellipsis), and (e) fixed expressions such as vice versa. This approach thereby unifies the semantics of all these phenomena under a common account that is based on a domain-general cognitive principle. The approach is compared with accounts of ellipsis based on syntactic copying or deletion, showing that both approaches have their difficulties.

VP-ellipsis, Stripping, and the Functions of the Delimiter –to in Korean

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-110
Author(s):  
So-Jee Kim ◽  
Sae Youn Cho
Keyword(s):  
Vp Ellipsis

Interpretation of reflexive anaphora in second language VP-ellipsis: Relevance Theory and paradigms of explanation

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xosé Rosales Sequeiros
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Comprehension Strategies ◽  
Processing Cost ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Vp Ellipsis ◽  
Processing Effort ◽  
Maximal Relevance ◽  
The Impact

This article explores second language (L2) learners’ interpretation of reflexive anaphora in VP-Ellipsis by critiquing the work of Ying (2003), who applies Relevance Theory to explain elliptical anaphora. It argues against four claims made in his analysis: that L2 learners apply maximal relevance in anaphoric interpretation; that a procedural account of the impact of referential sentences on VP-ellipsis disambiguation is appropriate; that an account of anaphoric interpretation preferences should be based on processing cost; and that differences in experimental results between intermediate and advanced L2 learners are due to the use of different comprehension strategies (see Sperber, 1994). Instead, it argues: that it is not maximal but rather optimal relevance that is at work; that the key in disambiguating anaphora in VP-elliptical sentences is the achievement of an optimally relevant interpretation; that the role of contextual assumptions in anaphora resolution is to enable L2 learners to derive enough contextual effects to make it worth their effort and, in doing so, identifying (as a side effect) what they take to have been the intended referent; and that what is crucial in the use of comprehension strategies is not processing effort, but rather consistency with the second principle of relevance. Overall, all these factors provide the basis for an alternative and more comprehensive explanation of the experimental results discussed by Ying.

Quantificational Null Objects and Argument Ellipsis

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daiko Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Traditional View ◽  
Argument Ellipsis ◽  
Null Arguments ◽  
Null Objects

This article provides a new argument for the analysis of null arguments in terms of ellipsis by considering null objects that behave like quantifiers. It is shown that the presence of quantificational null objects and their scopal property are difficult to accommodate under the traditional view of null arguments as pronouns but are best accounted for by the ellipsis analysis. Among the consequences of the present study are the need to postulate phonetically invisible/inaudible scrambling and its obedience to the economy requirement.

An Asymmetry in Voice Mismatches in VP-Ellipsis and Pseudogapping

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Merchant
Keyword(s):  
Vp Ellipsis

scholarly journals Argument ellipsis in Colloquial Singapore English and the Anti-Agreement Hypothesis

2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
YOSUKE SATO
Keyword(s):  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Recent Theory ◽  
Argument Position ◽  
Comparative Syntax ◽  
Argument Ellipsis ◽  
Principled Explanation ◽  
The Subject

This paper provides new data from Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) showing a hitherto unnoticed subject–object asymmetry: empty objects, but not empty subjects, exhibit sloppy/quantificational readings. According to a recent theory of argument ellipsis in Japanese/Korean (Oku 1998; S. Kim 1999; Takahashi 2007, 2008a, b, 2010), these readings obtain as a result of the LF-Copy of an overt argument from a full-fledged clause onto the corresponding empty argument position in an elliptical clause. Şener & Takahashi (2010) and Takahashi (2010) hypothesize that this operation is blocked by ϕ-agreement. This hypothesis provides a principled explanation for the subject–object asymmetry in CSE, coupled with the new observation that primary substrates of CSE – Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Malay – exhibit the same asymmetry as CSE. My analysis has significant implications for the comparative syntax of argument ellipsis and for theories of contact genesis. Among others, the analysis supports the claim (Miyagawa 2010) that Chinese possesses ϕ-agreement despite the lack of morphological manifestations. The results in this paper also provide strong evidence for the general substratist explanation on the emerging grammar of CSE (Bao 2005).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document