Reanalyzing relative clause island effects

81 Pages·2009·0.28 MB·English

by  Akira Omaki

Reanalyzing relative clause
island effects
Dave Kush, Akira Omaki and Norbert Hornstein
University of Maryland
PPrreevviieeww
Two issues:
11.. IIss tthheerree ccrroossss-lliinngguuiissttiicc vvaarriiaattiioonn wwiitthh rreessppeecctt
to strong Island-sensitivity?
1. Are islands reducible to information effects?
RRooaaddmmaapp
1. Scandinavian Island-violations
22.. SSttrruuccttuurraall ffaaccttoorrss ccoonnttrriibbuuttiinngg ttoo eexxttrraaccttaabbiilliittyy
3. Experiments showing similar factors ameliorate
iissllaanndd vviioollaattiioonnss iinn EEnngglliisshh.
4. Possible explanations for the observed effects.
PPrreevviieeww
We will argue:
• Strong Islandhood is Universal.
• Apparent violations of strong Islands are
iilllluussoorryy.
• Constraints stated over structural descriptions
are still necessary.
IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn
Islands for extraction have been studied since Ross (1967).
Strong Islands:
(CSC) *Who did John dance with Mary and ?
(Subj) *What was the theory that predicted t disproved?
(RC) *What did John give the book to the man who liked t?
Weak Islands:
((CCNNPPCC)) **WWhhoo ddiidd JJoohhnn hheeaarr tthhee rruummoorr tthhaatt MMaarryy kkiisssseedd tt??
(Wh) *Who did John wonder when Mary kissed t?
IIssllaannddss
- Subjjacencyy, Barriers, ECP, Phases
(Chomsky 1973, 1977, 1986, 2000; among others)
- Relativized Minimalityy
(Rizzi 1990; MLC in Chomsky 1995)
- IIlllliicciitt PPFF//LLFF rreepprreesseennttaattiioonnss
(Chomsky 1972; Fox & Lasnik 2003; Lasnik 2001; Lasnik & Saito 1992;
Merchant 2001; Ross 1967, 1969; Szabolsci & Zwarts 1993; Uriaggereka
1999)
strong iisllandds = uniiversall, syntactiic constraiints
CChhaalllleennggee
Challenges to Universality:
- Various Scandinavian languages allow
(some) island violations.
AAllllwwoooodd((11997766)), EEnnggddaahhll ((11998899, 11999977, 22000088)), EErrtteesscchhiikk-SShhiirr ((11997733)),
Mailing & Zaenen (1982), Taraldsen (1981)
SSaattssfflläättaa
Denne Svesisme er det visst ingen som har vært radikale nok
til å låne.
TThhiiss SSwweeddiisshhiissmm, tthheerree iiss [[aappppaarreennttllyy]] nnoo oonnee wwhhoo [[hhaass bbeeeenn]] rraaddiiccaall
enough to [borrow].
(Norwegian, Creider 1987)
SSaattssfflläättaa
• Constraints usually stated in coarse-grained
ssyynnttaaccttiicc vvooccaabbuullaarryy.
• Apparent violations in a subset of the structures
that were supposedly disallowed.
IInnffoorrmmaattiioonn SSttrruuccttuurree
Informational accounts of islands
• Informational Status of the displaced element
is the pprimaryy factor determiningg
extractability.
(Engdahl, Erteschik-shir, Kuno, inter alia)
 If this is tenable, it requires reconsideration of
tthhe ttrraddiittiionnall, synnttacttiic apprroachhes tto iisllanndd
constraints