An NP-Movement Account of Tough Constructions.
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| Title: | An NP-Movement Account of Tough Constructions. |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Reider, Michael |
| Source: | Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics. 1996 21:99-121. |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 24 |
| Publication Date: | 1996 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Information Analyses |
| Descriptors: | Deep Structure, Linguistic Theory, Sentence Structure, Structural Analysis (Linguistics), Structural Grammar, Syntax |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an alternative analysis of tough constructions for N. Chomsky's 1981 wh-movement analysis of tough constructions. To replace Chomsky's solution and to obviate the need for generalized transformations in Government-Binding (GB) theory, an alternative analysis is proposed in which the tough subject originates as an embedded object, is subsequently reanalyzed as the complement of a derived adjective, and undergoes NP-movement to subject position. It is shown that this analysis accounts for a wide range of data, including tough constructions exhibiting wh-island effects and tough constructions containing a parasitic gap. If the solution advocated here is correct, then it must be concluded that the reintroduction of generalized transformations is simply not motivated in the case of these constructions. The implications of this new analysis are in keeping with Chomsky's own efforts to develop a maximally constrained theory of grammar and overcome M. A. Jones's 1983 objections to Chomsky's analysis. The present solution is essentially a GB version of "standard" Tough Movement Analysis and is assumed to be a typical instance of NP-movement as applied to the derived complement of a reanalyzed structure. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/NAV) |
| Entry Date: | 1996 |
| Accession Number: | ED396543 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an alternative analysis of tough constructions for N. Chomsky's 1981 wh-movement analysis of tough constructions. To replace Chomsky's solution and to obviate the need for generalized transformations in Government-Binding (GB) theory, an alternative analysis is proposed in which the tough subject originates as an embedded object, is subsequently reanalyzed as the complement of a derived adjective, and undergoes NP-movement to subject position. It is shown that this analysis accounts for a wide range of data, including tough constructions exhibiting wh-island effects and tough constructions containing a parasitic gap. If the solution advocated here is correct, then it must be concluded that the reintroduction of generalized transformations is simply not motivated in the case of these constructions. The implications of this new analysis are in keeping with Chomsky's own efforts to develop a maximally constrained theory of grammar and overcome M. A. Jones's 1983 objections to Chomsky's analysis. The present solution is essentially a GB version of "standard" Tough Movement Analysis and is assumed to be a typical instance of NP-movement as applied to the derived complement of a reanalyzed structure. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/NAV) |
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