On sloppy readings, ellipsis and pronouns
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Josep Quer
Abstract
The existing syntactic accounts of null arguments typically rely either on the specific licensing conditions for different types of empty categories such as pro and (topic-)bound variables, or else on different kinds of ellipsis. In trying to address the radical argument drop character of Catalan Sign Language (LSC), this paper critically reassesses the two main trends in the analysis of this phenomenon in East Asian languages and their extensions to American Sign Language (ASL). Both hybrid and uniform approaches to empty arguments turn out to be unable to account for the non-negligible differences observed across East Asian and sign languages. Most importantly, the availability of sloppy readings for empty arguments as a criterion to identify ellipsis vis-à-vis empty pronouns is shown to be empirically incorrect on the basis of fresh data from Catalan and English. After intensive research in this domain over the years, a satisfactory theory of null arguments that does justice to the wealth of crosslinguistic variation is still lacking.
Abstract
The existing syntactic accounts of null arguments typically rely either on the specific licensing conditions for different types of empty categories such as pro and (topic-)bound variables, or else on different kinds of ellipsis. In trying to address the radical argument drop character of Catalan Sign Language (LSC), this paper critically reassesses the two main trends in the analysis of this phenomenon in East Asian languages and their extensions to American Sign Language (ASL). Both hybrid and uniform approaches to empty arguments turn out to be unable to account for the non-negligible differences observed across East Asian and sign languages. Most importantly, the availability of sloppy readings for empty arguments as a criterion to identify ellipsis vis-à-vis empty pronouns is shown to be empirically incorrect on the basis of fresh data from Catalan and English. After intensive research in this domain over the years, a satisfactory theory of null arguments that does justice to the wealth of crosslinguistic variation is still lacking.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Information structure, agreement and CP 1
- The complementiser system in spoken English 11
- ‘Phasing’ contrast at the interfaces 55
- The alternation between improper indirect questions and DPs containing a restrictive relative 83
- Referentiality in Spanish CPs 117
- Binding at the syntax-information structure interface 141
- Deriving “wh-in-situ” through movement in Brazilian Portuguese 175
- On ‘focus movement’ in Italian 193
- Clause-typing by [2] – the loss of the 2nd person pronoun du 'you' in Dutch, Frisian and Limburgian dialects 217
- Degree phrase raising in relative clauses 255
- Low, high and higher applicatives 275
- On richness of tense and verb movement in Brazilian Portuguese 297
- Vocalic adjustments under positional markedness in Catalan and other Romance languages 319
- On sloppy readings, ellipsis and pronouns 337
- Index 371
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Information structure, agreement and CP 1
- The complementiser system in spoken English 11
- ‘Phasing’ contrast at the interfaces 55
- The alternation between improper indirect questions and DPs containing a restrictive relative 83
- Referentiality in Spanish CPs 117
- Binding at the syntax-information structure interface 141
- Deriving “wh-in-situ” through movement in Brazilian Portuguese 175
- On ‘focus movement’ in Italian 193
- Clause-typing by [2] – the loss of the 2nd person pronoun du 'you' in Dutch, Frisian and Limburgian dialects 217
- Degree phrase raising in relative clauses 255
- Low, high and higher applicatives 275
- On richness of tense and verb movement in Brazilian Portuguese 297
- Vocalic adjustments under positional markedness in Catalan and other Romance languages 319
- On sloppy readings, ellipsis and pronouns 337
- Index 371
