Article
On the composite nature of subject islands: a phase-based approach
Author/s | Jiménez Fernández, Ángel Luis
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Department | Universidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Filología Inglesa (Lengua Inglesa) |
Publication Date | 2009 |
Deposit Date | 2014-11-27 |
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Abstract | This paper focuses on the complex factors which render subject domains opaque to subextraction.
Subjects have been held to be islands for extractability possibilities. Gallego
& Uriagereka (2006) suggest that sub-extraction ... This paper focuses on the complex factors which render subject domains opaque to subextraction. Subjects have been held to be islands for extractability possibilities. Gallego & Uriagereka (2006) suggest that sub-extraction is banned from subjects when they occupy the specifier position of TP because TP is a phase in Romance. By contrast, I show that this is not the right constraint in languages such as Spanish or Italian, in which sub-extraction is licit from both post-verbal and pre-verbal subjects. In addition, English and other non-Romance languages also instantiate cases of sub-extraction from subjects, irrespective of their pre-verbal or post-verbal position. Building on Chomsky’s (2008) notion of phase, I propose that DPs may be strong or weak phases depending on two major discourse-related factors; namely, Definiteness and Discourse-Linking. Thus, sub-extraction from a weak DP phase is possible if the DP is marked as indefinite and discourse-linked. |
Citation | Jiménez Fernández, Á.L. (2009). On the composite nature of subject islands: a phase-based approach. SKY Journal of Linguistics, 22, 91-138. |
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