THE LOWER OPERATOR WITH
PARASITIC GAPS AND
THE COMPUTATIONAL
SPECIFICATION OF SUBJECTS
Handout
based on J. Emonds, “The Lower Operator Position with Parasitic Gaps” in Features
and Interfaces in Romance. Essays in honor of Heles Contreras, J.
Herschensohn, E. Mallén, and K. Zagona, eds., John Benjamins,
Amsterdam, 2001, 85-106. Material here is reproduced with the kind permission
of the publisher.
1. General background
and limitations of study
I
presuppose some familiarity with parasitic gaps ‘PG’ (Chomsky, 1982; Engdahl,
1983; or Culicover, 2001), and limit discussion to English PG. Chomsky (1982,
#56) credits Taraldsen (1981) with the generalization (1).
(1) No
C-command Condition. A trace of the operator binding a PG cannot C-command the
PG.
(2) a. Who did he give [a picture of t]
[to e]?
b. I prefer hosts who [letters to e]
don’t [make t sarcastic].
c. Who did the professor strike
[friends of t] as [unfair to e]?
d. Which candidate did Bill [dismiss
t] [without interviewing e]?
e. Which one did she [criticize t]
[right after introducing e]?
f. ?Here is the author who John [sent
a manuscript to t] [in order to impress e].
g. ?Which guest did Bill [invite t]
[before recalling that Sue hated e]?
Two limitations: I will treat only PG that
are impossible as traces (3), e.g., in adverbial adjuncts as in (2d-g).[1]
(3) *Which
candidate did Bill [dismiss the issues] [without interviewing t]?
*Which
student did she [criticize the supervisor] [right after introducing t]?
*Here is the author John [got a haircut] [in order to impress t].
*Which guest did Bill [go out] after
recalling that Sue [hated t]?
I
also treat only what Postal (1994) calls “true P-gaps”, i.e. licensed by some
leftward movement, and not those he shows are “pseudo-P-gaps” licensed by
rightward movement.
Basic generalization. Chomsky (1982, 45) proposes that a
necessary No C-command Condition between an A-bar bound trace t and
a co-referential parasitic gap e is due to the very definition of an
LF variable:
(4) (Only)
A locally A-bar bound empty XP in a theta position is a well-formed LF
variable.
I
interpret (4) as follows: an empty XP in a theta (argument or A-) position is a
well-formed LF variable only if it has a closest binder, which determines its
range, in an A-bar (non-argument) position.[2]
This
interpretation of (4) accounts for Strong Crossover as in (5), without using
Principle C (Chomsky, 1981):
(5) a. Example: *Which candidatei did
Hillary think that hei had tricked Bill into hiring ti?
b. Generalization: An empty XP variable in
a theta position cannot have a local binder in an A-position.
According to (4), the
traces and the PGs in (2) are both LF variables bound by the same WH
antecedents. If an intervening trace additionally C-commands a potential
variable as in (6), the antecedent of the trace fails to locally bind it
and thus violates (4).
(6) *Who did he describe t to (a friend of)
e?
?Which secretary did Bill promise t that he would hire
e?
*Who
did Bill persuade t that Sue had betrayed e?
*Which
student did she promise t to introduce e to a professor?
*Which city did John prefer t to the residents of e?
*Who did the professor strike t as unfair to e?
Chomsky’s
(4) thus entails the No C-command Condition (1). This is the main charm of
Chomsky (1982). There is no need for the later ad hoc and poorly understood
“chain composition” of Chomsky (1986).
Contreras (1984) and Chomsky (1986) use
Binding Theory Principles to question the No C-command Condition (1) between a
trace t and a PG e. That is, they “undo” the nice result of
Chomsky (1982) and essentially leave the whole topic of parasitic gaps as yet
another unsolved problem. This can be avoided, however.
Principles
of disjoint reference are better characterized in terms of Cmax-command.
Thus, Principle C should be formulated so that a referring expression can’t
be Cmax-commanded by an antecedent:
(i) *Mary
[VP [V’ criticized himi ] after introducing
Johni to us ].
*John
[VP [V’ read themi ] without buying those
booksi ].
Nor, according to Principle B, can an
antecedent Cmax-command a pronoun in its Governing Category
(roughly, the same IP) in similar configurations:
(ii) *Bill
recalled that [IP Mary [ VP [V’ criticized
Johni ] right in front of himi ] ].
*Bill
was happy that [IP Mary [ VP [V’ had found
Johni a room] for himi ] ].
?Helen
[ VP [V’ married Johni ] because of a picture
of himi ].
Both these Binding Conditions should be
redefined using Cmax-command, where the lowest Cmax
containing the referring expression in (i) and the pronouns in (ii) are VPs.
Thus, although their antecedents fail to C-command John and him, their
antecedents nonetheless (improperly) Cmax-command them,
accounting for the ungrammaticality of (i)-(ii).
I conclude that Principle C need not
be considered as applying to A-bar bound traces or to parasitic gaps.
2. Subjacency effects on parasitic gaps
PGs exhibit subjacency
effects induced by islands. (Kayne, 1983; Contreras, 1984; Stowell, 1985)
(7) *Which
guest did Bill criticize t while recalling [DP the fact that
Sue supported e]?
*Which one did Bill encourage t without
saying [CP where he would publicly support e]?
*What
student did she criticize t right after [DP introducing e to
a professor] was suggested?
Thus, at least some
PGs must be additionally bound at s-structure by a lower operator Oi
in the clause containing the PG. In these cases, e is a trace of Oi
at s-structure.
(8) Which one did Bill dismiss t without [
Oi interviewing e]?
Which
one did she criticize t right after [ Oi introducing e]?
?Which guest did Bill criticize t while
recalling [ Oi that Sue had supported e]?
There
are now two questions that must be posed about this lower operator with PGs.
First:
(9) What can be the location of the lower
operators Oi?
Second,
if the definition of a variable (4) is to continue to describe the relation in
LF between the higher operators and PGs e, then the s-structure
lower operators Oi must be deleted in LF.
(10) How do the lower operators Oi
come to be deleted in LF?
If
these Oi are not deleted in LF, then PGs are in reality not
parasitic and Chomsky’s crucial definition of variables (4) lacks generality
and hence interest.
3. The location of the parasitic operator Oi
It
is often quickly concluded that parasitic gaps occur freely in various
adverbial clauses. This is far from so, and limitations on where they can occur
provide important clues as to the location of the parasitic operator Oi.
I
then attribute the lack of PGs in constructions to the lack of this Oi.
3.1. Simple participial PG clauses are fine while simple
finite PG clauses are not.
Contrary to commentary
about all PG clauses being marginal, finiteness provides the real contrast in
English.[3]
(11) I
liked the painting that the expert scrutinized t before describing e
to the owner.
Which
books did he make a list of t while putting e away?
Which
students did she criticize t after introducing e to the professor?
(12) *I
liked the painting that the expert scrutinized t before Mary described
e to the owner.
*Which books should I make a list of t while we
are putting e away?
*Which students did she criticize t after the boss
had introduced e to the professor?
(13) *Which
books did so many people take out t that Sue had to rebind e?
*I
didn’t meet the people John invited t in order that I might speak to
e about a job.
*How many tools did you bring t in case the
carpenters need e?
3.2. No
Oi in infinitives with overt subjects.
(14) Who
do we have to take t to a jazz club in order (*for you) to impress e?
The computer they bought t in order (*for their kids)
to take e on their trip was faulty.
Cf. Bordelois (1985) for
Spanish paradigms making the same point, contra a point in Culicover (2001).
3.3. PGs
are not good in adverbial participles lacking conjunctions.
(15) *I disliked the one that she scrutinized
t describing e to the owner.
*What
dishes should I dry t putting e away?
*Which students do we need to praise t introducing e
to you?
3.4. PGs are excluded in absolute
constructions.
(16) *The
papers I can't locate t with the staff putting e away so soon are important.
*Which supplies don't you trust t with Bill getting e
so cheap?
The
four puzzles suggest that exactly the sequence: overt P + non-finite V plays a
curious role in allowing PGs with parasitic operators Oi. This
previously unrecognized factor is the basis of the present analysis.
4. The lower operator Oi is not in
SPEC(CP). Rather, it is in SPEC(IP) or SPEC(DP).
The
adverbial constructions introduced by overt P + non-finite V, even though it
favors PGs, otherwise exhibit no COMP phenomena of the type which motivates
SPEC(CP).
4.1. The constructions P + non-finite V show no
evidence of a long distance escape hatch for A-bar movement; see examples (3). This
restriction on movement motivates Huang’s (1982) Condition on Extraction
Domains.
4.2. These adjunct
constructions show no evidence of null operators other than the PG lower
operator itself:
(17) *Bill
had to find a walli Oi before leaning the boards against ti.
*We must justify more receiptsi Oi
in order to list ti for the tax investigation.
4.3. The constructions P +
non-finite V can contain no overt WH phrases:
(18) *Bill
hired the candidate in order who(ever) to please in his home state.
*She might criticize us after whatever tasks doing for
low pay.
We
need to find some other landing site, presumably also a SPEC, to house the
lower operator for PGs.
(14) Who
do we have to take t to a jazz club in order (*for you) to impress e?
The computer they bought t in order (*for their kids)
to take e on their trip was faulty.
Certain subordinating P
do not impose obligatory control on their DP-gerund (V + ing)
complements (19):
(19) She
scrutinized the paintings without the owner(‘s) knowing about it.
Instead
of John putting away the dishes, let’s leave now.
But with
parasitic gaps, these same gerunds tolerate no overt subject (20):
(20) Which
paintings could she scrutinize without (*the owner) bringing to the gallery?
These are the dishes you should leave out instead of
(*John) putting away.
(14)
and (19)-(20) suggest a first, descriptive version of my hypothesis for the
lower operator in parasitic gaps:
(21) Lower
Operator Hypothesis (tentative): A non-case-marked SPEC(IP) can house a lower
or parasitic operator for PGs.
The LOH (21) immediately
explains why PGs are ill-formed in finite clauses (12)-(13) or infinitives with
overt subjects (14). Similarly, Absolute constructions must contain an overt
lexical subject and so exclude PGs (16).
The
Lower Operator Hypothesis can explain (15) if extended from infinitive clauses
to V + ing clauses, i.e., to all non-finite clauses, along the following
lines.
English introduced and
headed by V + ing are generally of two types:
(22) a.
DP gerunds are generated freely in all structural DP positions. They translate
as Spanish infinitives or finite clauses, but never as ‘gerundios’ introduced
by V + ndo. English gerunds pass all DP tests (Rosenbaum, 1967;
Emonds, 1976).
b. Non-DP participles are generated freely in structural AP
positions. They always translate as Spanish ‘gerundios’. English participles
fail all DP tests in both languages (Emonds, 1985, Ch. 2).[4]
We can’t easily tell
which of these two types includes the PG-favoring adverbial sequence in (15),
i.e., “overt P + V + ing”, because Huang’s CED independently stops us
from using movement to test these for DP status:
(23) *It’s
{ the dinner party/ introducing me } that you should reveal our secret after.
*It was { a fair interview/ reviewing his book } that
Bill dismissed her without.
Moreover, obligatory
control actually says nothing about whether a sequence V + ing is a DP
(22a) or not (22b), since gerunds can also exhibit such control.
(24) She avoided (*the owner's) selling the
painting.
Sue tried (*my) lecturing the new students.
But what decides that the
sequences P + V + ing in (15) are deep DPs is that they otherwise
fit with (22a). They translate as Spanish infinitives introduced by P,
and never as ‘gerundios’.
(25) Lower
Operator Hypothesis: A non-case-marked SPEC(IP) or SPEC(DP) can house a
lower or parasitic (A-bar) operator for PGs.
By requiring a
non-case-marked SPEC, the LOH (25) accounts for why IPs with a lower operator Oi
are infinitival and why DPs with O i are gerundive.
5. Explaining why
parasitic gaps must be DPs
Emonds
(1985) and Lasnik & Stowell (1991): PGs are limited to DPs and cannot be
PPs or APs.
(26) a. *This is a neighborhood in which you
should look around t before residing [PP e].
This
is a neighborhood which you should look over t before residing in [DP
e].
b. *For whom did he ever work t without
praying [PP e]?
Who would he ever work
with t without praying for [DP e]?
c. *How sick did John say he felt before actually
getting [AP e]?
d. *How clever does she look while acting [AP
e] in company?
Lasnik & Stowell's
proposal is that PGs are limited to DPs because empty operators Oi
only bind names and names are DPs; but this stipulation is incorrect for many Oi
beyond PGs:
(27) In the hall would be a good place Oi
to put it [PP ei ].
Less
abrasive would be an appropriate way Oi to act [AP ei
].
Summary of data patterns. The LOH (25) thus successfully explains (i) the DP status
of PGs, (ii) paradigms for (3.1)-(3.4), (iii) the paradigms supporting
(4.1)-(4.3), (iv) subjacency effects on PGs, and (v) the No C-Command Condition
(1). No competing account of PGs makes so many predictions. They follow with no
extra stipulations beyond the Lower Operator Hypothesis itself and whatever
answers the remaining question (10).
(10) How do the lower operators Oi
come to be deleted in LF?
The
LOH is so strongly supported that theory should accommodate it and not
vice-versa.
The
LOH and (10) thus reduce to the two intriguing problems (28)-(29), still to be
derived:
(28) In the structure [IP/DP (DP')
- I/D – XP ], the SPEC position DP' may have binding properties of an A-bar
(non-argument) position, provided it is deleted in LF. Cf. also Deprez (1994).
(29) In this same structure, if DP' is an
A-bar position and X = V, the subject of V cannot be in SPEC position but must
be elsewhere (higher).
The
solution to (28) is a nearly trivial extension of the system of LF
deletions in Lasnik and Saito (1984).
The
solution to (29) is based on applying the structural definition of
subject in Emonds (1985) to trees at LF, and not earlier in a
derivation.
6. The sequence of T-model operations on a
Cyclic Domain
(28) becomes less
puzzling by conceptualizing Chomsky & Lasnik’s (1977) T-model as applying
not to deep structures but rather to a series of derivational “phases,” such as
the cyclic domains IP and DP.
(30) First, heads of YP are selected in
terms of subcategorized complements of Y (Merge).
(31) Second, phrases can Move to SPEC(YP)
positions, including SPEC(IP) and SPEC(DP).
This second step becomes
A-movement (to a subject position) if and only if case is directly assigned to
the SPEC position. I
assume case assignment is always optional, resulting in Case Filter violations
in argument chains if not applied. If case is not assigned, movement to SPEC is
A-bar movement.
Thus, when a DP moves to
a subject position SPEC(DP) by the structure-preservation of Emonds (1976),
SPEC can be an A-bar position if no case assigner assigns case. Similarly on an
IP domain: if no case assigner assigns case, SPEC(IP) can be an A-bar position.
That is, these SPEC positions can house A-bar binders.
However, these A-bar
SPEC positions are not automatically interpretable operators, due to (32)-(33).
(32) Specific interpretive rules for LF must
license any configurations that are not licensed by Merge.
(33) English operators can be licensed
for LF only in SPEC(CP).
Consequently such A-bar
DPs (i.e., the lower operators with parasitic gaps) must eventually delete.
This happens as the bottom up sequencing of operations on cyclic domains
continues:
(34) Third, Spell Out derives Phonological
Form on the YP domain.
(35) Fourth,
Logical Form on the YP domain is derived after Spell Out, by (33) and by
deleting uninterpretable empty elements under appropriate identity of indexing.
7. Deriving LF: deleting
and pruning empty categories
When (35) processes a
domain YP whose SPEC contains an empty (parasitic) operator Oi,
nothing happens to prepare Oi for LF. However, on the next
largest domain XP, which always exists for parasitic operators, this now
“lower” operator Oi can delete if it is co-indexed with (i.e.,
locally bound by) some ZPi in XP.[5]
This deletion on the
higher XP domain conforms to the system of deleting “intermediate traces” in
COMP in Lasnik & Saito (1984). There is no reason not to consider it rather
as applying to a chain of operators.
There may be reasons for
allowing LF deletion to apply only to operators, i.e. to non-argument
positions. The intermediate argument trace ti’ must remain in LF to
properly bind the anaphor in (36).
(36) Johni is likely ti’
to seem to himself ti to be incompetent.
A lower operator binding
PGs fulfills the same range of conditions as do “intermediate operators” in
successive cyclic chains of WH-movement:
(37) a. They are empty categories in the highest
SPEC position of a cyclic domain @.
b. They are locally bound by an operator not
in a theta position, in the smallest cyclic domain above @.
c. They are not in a case-marked position.
d. They are in a position where they
typically alternate (and cannot co-occur) with a phonologically realized
phrase.
e. They are freely generated only when they
bind arguments, not when they bind adjuncts.
These parasitic operators
are forced to delete. Then, adjuncts bound by these operators in PG
s-structures are ill-formed when that operator disappears in LF.
(38) *Which
room did the artist move out of t before painting her portraits in e?
?This
is the car that Joan wants to sell t instead of driving to work in e.
?Who
are they preparing to see now t in order to visit museums with e
next week?
(39) ?Which room did the artist move out of
before putting her portraits in?
This is the road that Joan avoids
instead of driving along.
Who are they telephoning now in
order to visit next week?
I attribute the operator
deletion to a step which is not part of a derivation but of the definition of
projection. (revising a proposal by S.-Y. Kuroda).
(40) Pruning: YP disappears when its head has no marked
features and its SPEC is deleted.
Thus in LF, a clause
with a typical PG looks like (41); the bold nodes delete and prune in LF and
are thus absent in the final interface representation. I simplify the representation
of gerunds as VPs in an NP position.
_files/image001.gif)
(41) CP
![]()
SPEC(CP) Ci IP
![]()
![]()
DPk
![]()
![]()
Which
did DPj Ii VP
candidate
![]()
Bill
ø V’ PP
![]()
V DPk P DP
![]()
dismiss
ø without SPEC(DP) D'
DPk
![]()
ø
D [NPVP]
![]()
![]()
ø V DPk
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
interviewing ø
The No C-command
condition (1) again holds in full generality: the two empty non-bold DPk
in (41) are not in a C-command relation, and both are locally bound by the same
LF operator which candidate.
There remains a
question, however. Where is the subject of the lower V in (41) in LF?
8. Extending the analysis to long distance
movement
Lifting the limitation
to PGs, we can observe the same processes in arguments as are at work in
adjuncts: The possessive position in English DP gerunds can act like a
deletable intermediate operator.
(42) Lower Operator Hypothesis
(extended): A non-case-marked SPEC(DP) with V + ing can house a lower or parasitic (A-bar) operator.
When SPEC(DP) is a
subject (with its own theta role), i.e., disjoint in reference from any higher
subject, it must survive at LF. This makes long distance movement through
SPEC(DP) impossible.
(43) *Which
prisonersi did they criticize PROj executing ti
for petty crimes?
*Whati
did John enjoy Mary's showing off ti at the party?
*The
jobsi we talked about Bill’s having lost ti never
paid well.
Now the SPEC of this
gerund can serve as a deletable intermediate trace, exactly as in PG
constructions:
(44) Which prisonersi did they
avoid executing ti for petty crimes?
Whati did John enjoy showing off ti
at the party?
He asked which lettersi I was worried about
having lost ti.
Long distance movement
blocked by unlike subjects in (43) is perfect when the subjects are the same in
(44).
9. A generalized definition of Subject
(29) In the structure [IP/DP
(DP') - D - XP ], if DP’ is an A-bar
position and X = V, the subject of V cannot be in SPEC position but must be
elsewhere.
(45) Extended Projection Principle. Every
interpreted V that heads a phrase must have a subject in LF.
This statement of the
EPP of Chomsky (1981) is more general and explanatory than “the strong
D-feature on Tense” in the minimalist program (see Emonds 2001, Chs. 1, 6, 10).
Generative studies have
been laboring for decades under a misconception, namely that structural
subjects, e.g. those that satisfy the EPP, must somehow be specified as such
early in or even at the beginning of derivations.
For a variety of
constructions (passives and Romance causatives with post-posed agent phrases,
Romance restructuring constructions, auxiliaries), superior accounts emerge if
we identify subjects of Vs only in the final LF interface representations
such as (41), i.e., in which the bold nodes are absent.
DP subjects are not
sisters of predicates but are rather the lowest DPs that c-command them, as
determined by the following definition:[6]
(46) Generalized definition of Subject.
DPj is the subject of X0 in LF if and only if DPj
is the lowest DP c-commanding X1 such that DPj and X1 are in all the same
DP and IP.
Eventually, (46) will
sound simple: “the subject DP of X0 is the closest DP to X1.”
Why? Because all syntactic relations will require “c-command,” and only nodes
in the same “phases” or “cyclic domains” will be relatable.
Given the pruning of the
bold nodes in the LF of (41), this general definition of subject successfully
relates the verb interviewing in the adverbial clause with the higher
subject DPj Bill.
Since every head V
interpreted in LF must have its own subject position in LF (by the EPP), the
structure (41) can survive only through deletion of the DP in the lower SPEC
position.
For if the DP in the
lower SPEC remained, it would be the subject of the lower V, by (46). But since
parasitic operators are forced to delete (37), it could not have index k, in
which case movement of the object to subject position would not take place and
the lowest empty DPk would be unlicensed.
The generalized definition of Subject (46) is thus
compatible with deletion of a parasitic operator and the consequent Pruning
(40) of the DP (or IP) over a non-finite adverbial clause containing a PG.
But the definition of Subject (46) must apply “late”
in a derivation after steps (32)-(35)
and (40), in order to successfully locate the “missing subject” in
non-finite PG clauses, and thus complete the present analysis.
In conclusion, not only is there no need to properly
identify subjects “early” in a derivation. Defining subjects in prior to LF in
fact obscures and interferes with effective accounts of the many paradigms in
this study, some well known and some newly presented.
In
fact, “early subjects” make a successful account of parasitic gaps essentially
impossible.
REFERENCES
Bordelois, Ivonne. 1985.
“Parasitic Gaps: Extensions of
Restructuring” In Generative Studies in Spanish Syntax, ed. by Ivonne
Bordelois, Heles Contreras and Karen Zagona.
Dordrecht: Foris. pp. 1-24.
Chomsky, Noam. 1970.
“Remarks on Nominalizations”. Studies on Semantics in Generative
Grammar. The Hague: Mouton, 1-61.
Chomsky, Noam. 1981. Lectures on Government and Binding.
Dordrecht: Foris.
--------.
1982. Concepts and
Consequences. Cambridge: MIT Press.
--------.
1986. Barriers. Cambridge:
MIT Press.
Chomsky, Noam. and Howard Lasnik. 1977.
“Filters and Control”. Linguistic Inquiry 8.425-504.
Contreras, Heles. 1984. “A Note on Parasitic Gaps”.
Linguistic Inquiry 15.698-701.
Culicover, Peter. 2001.
“Parasitic Gaps: A History” In Parasitic Gaps, ed. by Peter
Culicover and Paul Postal.
Cambridge: MIT Press, 3-68.
Deprez, Viviane. 1994. “Parameters of
Object Movement" In Studies on Scrambling, ed. by N. Corver
and H. van Riemsdijk. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Emonds,
Joseph. 1976. A Transformational Approach to
English Syntax. New York: Academic Press.
--------. 1985. A
Unified Theory of Syntactic Categories. Dordrecht: Foris.
--------. 2000. Lexicon
and Grammar: the English Syntacticon. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Engdahl, Elisabet. 1983. “Parasitic Gaps”. Linguistics and
Philosophy 6.5-34.
Huang, James. 1982. Logical
Relations in Chinese and the Theory of Grammar, Ph.D.
Dissertation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
Kayne, Richard. 1983.
“Connectedness”. Linguistic Inquiry 14. 223-249.
Lasnik, Howard and Mamoru Saito. 1984.
“On the nature of Proper Government”. Linguistic Inquiry 15.245-289.
Lasnik, Howard and Timothy Stowell. 1991.
“Weakest Crossover”. Linguistic Inquiry 22.687-720.
Plann,
Susan. 1981. “The Two el + infinitive Constructions
in Spanish”. Linguistic Analysis 7.204-240.
Postal, Paul. 1994.
“Parasitic and Pseudoparasitic Gaps”. Linguistic Inquiry
25.64-117.
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Stowell, Timothy. 1985.
“Conditions on Null Operators”. Proceedings of the West Coast
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Westcoat. Stanford: Stanford Linguistics Association.
Taraldsen,
Knut Tarald. 1981. “The Theoretical
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Language 8.44-61.
[1] Lack
of C-command by a trace is not always sufficient to permit a potential
parasitic gap. The following two structurally similar examples contrast with
respect to permitting a PG.
(i) *Which student did the professor speak
with t about (friends of) e?
(ii) Which neighborhood did the councilman
talk about with the residents of?
[2] It
might be thought that the bold A-bar binder which for the variable e
in example (i) from Stowell (1985, 315) is not local, because of the
intervening who.
(i) This
is the type of book which [ laymen [ who try to read e ] ]
usually can’t understand t.
However, the relative who may
simply not be raised out of IP here into the CP projection. When CP clearly
contains a potential closer A-bar binder, a PG is impossible:
(ii) *This
is the type of book which [ laymen [ who we consult about e ] ]
usually can’t understand t.
[3] Chomsky’s
(1982) example, This is the kind of food you must cook before you eat,
sounds better than the more typical structures below, because a) its two overt
subjects are identical unstressed pronouns, and b) intransitive eat can
pragmatically be construed as referring to the food being cooked (John
cooked the fish and then we ate).
*These
are the tools that I broke before Mary could sell cheap.
*Which
articles did she file if the boss put on her desk?
*Here’s
the editor who we sent your manuscript to just after Mary contacted.
*This is the kind of food this restaurant overcooks when we order.
[4]
Emonds
(1985) argues further that participles without introductory P as in (22b) are
not IPs either.
[5] There
are limitations on permissible positions for ZP, but generally any ZP which is
a WH-phrase in SPEC(CP) seems to be a candidate for properly binding a lower Oi.
[6] Emonds (2000, Ch. 1) argues that subjects of various DP-internal predicates are not always full DPs but sometimes only intermediate N-projections. Hence (46) should be modified (generalized) using “N-projections” including DPs.