The Defective Copy Theory of Movement

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nélia Alexandre
Keyword(s):  
Copy Theory Of Movement ◽  
Copy Theory

Sideward Movement

2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jairo Nunes
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Model ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Crucial Aspect ◽  
Computational System ◽  
Copy Theory Of Movement ◽  
Copy Theory ◽  
Primitive Operation ◽  
Chain Links

Assuming the general framework of the Minimalist Program of Chomsky 1995, this article argues that Move is not a primitive operation of the computational system, but rather the output of the interaction among the independent operations Copy, Merge, Form Chain, and Chain Reduction (deletion of chain links for purposes of linearization). The crucial aspect of this alternative model is that it permits constrained instances of sideward movement, whereby a given constituent “moves” from a syntactic object K to an independent syntactic object L. This version of the copy theory of movement (a) provides an explanation for why (some) traces must be deleted in the phonological component, (b) provides a cyclic analysis for standard instances of noncyclic movement, and (c) accounts for the main properties of parasitic gap and across-the-board extraction constructions.

scholarly journals ‘Verb floating’ and VP-ellipsis

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 252-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Thoms
Keyword(s):  
Repair Operation ◽  
Copy Theory Of Movement ◽  
Vp Ellipsis ◽  
Copy Theory ◽  
Lower Copy ◽  
General Conditions

In this paper I propose that ellipsis is licensed by overt movement. Examining variation in VP-ellipsis across English dialects, I show that movement is crucially implicated in whether or not a given element can license ellipsis. I discuss well-known restrictions on VP-ellipsis and present new data that shows that a movement-based account of these restrictions is superior to previous ones. I show that the proposed account can be extended to other cases involving A′ movement with empirical benefits, and I conclude by sketching the technical implementation of the theory, arguing that ellipsis is a ‘repair’ operation that prevents a linearization failure following non-deletion of a lower copy. I suggest that types of movement that are unable to spell out lower copies (i.e. A-movement) do not license ellipsis, thus explaining ellipsis licensing in terms of general conditions on copy deletion. Keywords: ellipsis licensing; VP-ellipsis; sluicing; Copy Theory of Movement; A/A′-distinction

The verb doubling construction in Japanese

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuji Hatakeyama ◽  
Kensuke Honda ◽  
Kosuke Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Copy Theory Of Movement ◽  
Copy Theory ◽  
Doubling Construction ◽  
Verb Tense ◽  
Verb Doubling

AbstractJapanese has expressions such as Basu-ga ki-ta ki-ta ‘A bus has finally come,’ where the verb-tense complex (ki-ta ‘came’ in this example) is doubled. This paper concentrates on these kinds of expressions, calling them the verb doubling construction (henceforth the VDC). The aim of this paper is to investigate the syntactic structure of the VDC in Japanese. Providing five pieces of evidence that the repeated verb-tense complex occupies the head of CP, we claim that the VDC constitutes a CP structure. We further point out that the analysis proposed here strongly supports the copy theory of movement (Chomsky, 1993).

scholarly journals The grammar of relative measurement

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy Ahn ◽  
Uli Sauerland
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Relative Measurement ◽  
Determiner Phrases ◽  
Copy Theory Of Movement ◽  
Copy Theory ◽  
Focus Semantics

Relative measures such as percent and thirds relate one quantity to another. In several languages, determiner phrases containing relative measures can express two distinct construals: 1) The conservative construal in 'The company hired 55% of the women' considers the ratio of the company hires among all women. 2) The non-conservative construal in 'The company hired 55% women' is instead concerned with the ratio of women among the company hires. Other languages that distinguish the two construals using morphosyntactic means include German, Korean, Serbian, French, Georgian, Italian, and Hebrew. We present a syntactic and semantic analysis for the two construals. We argue that the non-conservative construal involves a different constituency of the measure-DP, and that focus semantics combined with a version of the copy theory of movement accounts for the non-conservative interpretation. Keywords: quantification, measurement, relations, fractions, conservativity, universals, copy theory

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