WH movement 3 Oct. 19, 2012 – Day 21

WH movement 3Oct. 19, 2012 – Day 21 Introduction to Syntax ANTH 3590/7590 Harry Howard Tulane University

Course management • http://www.tulane.edu/~howard/ANTH3590/ • We need to spend our $150 from the Provost’s Undergraduate Activities Fund. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

REVIEW ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

EMBEDDED WH QUESTION TREE (5.26) VP wonder CP From now on, I will collapse the creation of the specifier and the movement to it into a single step. C’ PRN who TP C [EF] ø ---- PRN she T’ ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane AuxP T Af3sPast was+ Aux was VP ----- V dating PRN who -----

REVIEW: MOVE Q WITHOUT N (5.39) CP C’ Q which • Chain Uniformity • Attract Smallest Condition • Left-branch Condition TP C [TNS, EF] ø ----- ----- PRN she T’ was+Af3sPast+ AuxP T Af3sPast ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane ------------- Aux was VP was+ V dating QP ----- Q which N actor -------

Pied-piping of superordinate prepositions ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane Radford §5.6

Introduction • Some data 49) They asked to whom he was referring. • The problem • Whom is the smallest maximal projection containing an interrogative word, so it should move without the preposition, giving: • They asked who(m) he was referring to. • Which is grammatical, but not the sentence we want. • Solution: impenetrability 51) A constituent in the domain of a complementizer or preposition is impenetrable to (and so cannot be attracted by) a higher head c-commanding the complementizer or preposition. • Thus the whole PP can be attracted up to C. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

PREPOSITION STRANDING • But impenetrability prevents us from deriving the colloquial version of this sentence: 52) They asked whom he was referring to. • There must be some way to get the interrogative word out of the c-command domain of the preposition. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

INITIAL STRUCTURE FOR AN EMBEDDED CLAUSE (5.50) C’ TP C [EF] ø PRN he T’ AuxP T Af3sPast ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane Aux was VP was+ V referring PP ----- P to PRN whom

ADD AN EDGE FEATURE FOR P (AND A SPECIFIER) C’ TP C [EF] ø PRN he T’ AuxP T Af3sPast ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane Aux was VP was+ V referring PP ----- P’ P [EF] to PRN whom

THE WH PRONOUN IS ATTRACTED TO SPEC OF PP (5.55) AND THEN ON UP TO SPEC OF CP CP Q who C’ TP C [EF] ø ----- PRN he T’ AuxP T Af3sPast ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane Aux was VP was+ V referring PP PRN who P’ ----- ------- ------ ------ P [EF] to PRN who

REMAINING DETAILS • Evidence for the edge feature of P in informal English (56) • Speaker A: He has been talking to someone. • Speaker B: Who to? • Speaker B: *Whom to? ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

Long-distance wh-movement ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane Radford §5.7

Introduction • A datum • What might he think that she is hiding? • Where does what originate? 57) What might he think that she is hiding what? 58) might he think [CP [C that] she is hiding what ] • Is this a legitimate movement? • No, it violates impenetrability. • But it can be made legitimate by moving the WH word through the intervening specifier of CP: 60) might he think [CP [C that] she is hiding what] ----- What ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane what –––– What

STRUCTURE FOR LONG-DISTANCE WH-MOVEMENT CP C’ TP C [TNS, EF] ø ------ might+ PR he T’ T might VP ----- V think CP C’ PRN who PRN who ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane C [EF] TP ------ ---- PRN who T’ ----- T 3sPast VP V do PRN that -----

SOME CONSEQUENCES • Long-distance movement proceeds as a succession of short steps. • If each intervening CP is called a cycle, then we say that it proceeds in a successive-cyclic fashion. • It can also be called local, since the wh-expression is attracted to become the specifier of the closest C. • Each intervening C must have an edge feature. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

EVIDENCE FOR THE LOCALITY/SUCCESSIVE CYCLICITY OF WH-MOVEMENT • Quantifier stranding or floating in West Ulster English 64) What all did you get for Christmas? 65a) What all did you think that he’ll say that we should buy? 65b) What did you think all that he’ll say that we should buy? 65c) What did you think that he’ll say all that we should buy? 65d) What did you think that he’ll say that we should buy all? ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

EVIDENCE, CONT. • Auxiliary inversion in Belfast English • What did Mary claim they stole? • What did Mary claim did they steal? (68) • Reflexive anaphors 69a) Jim was surprised that Peter wasn’t sure that Mary liked this picture of himself best. 69b) Jim was surprised that Peter wasn’t sure which picture of himself Mary liked best. cf. (72) Peter wasn’t sure which picture of himself Mary liked best. • WH-copying in child English 73a) What do you think what Cookie Monster eats? 73b) How do you think how Superman fixed the car. * ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

TOO MUCH MOVEMENT • A final datum 74a) She might ask where he has been. 74b) Where might she ask he has been. • Freezing constraint (75) • An element moved to a position dedicated to some scope-discourse interpretive property … is frozen in place. * ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

NEXT TIME ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane Q6 Continue WH movement

WH movement 3 Oct. 19, 2012 – Day 21