What some its are: Non-referential it, extraposition, and copies.
Item
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Title
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What some its are: Non-referential it, extraposition, and copies.
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Identifier
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AAI3310755
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identifier
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3310755
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Creator
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Shahar, Jed.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Marcel den Dikken
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Date
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2008
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Language, Linguistics
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Abstract
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This thesis looks to explain the syntactic and semantic behavior of non-referential uses of it that co-occur with embedded clauses. It is argued that a copy theory of movement that allows pronominal instances of displaced elements (in these cases, the embedded clause) explains many of the problems these constructions have presented to the generative grammar approach. I propose embedded clauses may be used to check an EPP feature in functional projections of the syntax. However, as the clauses are not licensed to appear as clauses in these positions, one of two options is exploited by the syntax. Either the clause is right-adjoined (extraposed) to the clause, or it is spelled out in its base position. In both cases an underspecified copy of the clause, it, is needed for the functional projection's specifier position. This analysis holds that the it is not (generally) an expletive. The need to treat the it as an underspecified copy of the embedded clause is motivated by its ability to control PRO in non-finite clauses requiring obligatory control. Chapter 2 presents this argument for it as a controller. Chapter 2 also presents empirical data motivating extraposition, arguments against previous accounts of non-referential it, and a detailed representation for extraposed clause constructions. All of the data in chapter 2 is focused on monadic predicates. Chapter 3 expands the focus of the study to include dyadic predicates as well as French extraposition constructions. A distinction is made between the extraposition and base-position options for spell out, and an explanation is provided for why both derivations are needed. Chapter 4 focuses on postverbal instances of non-referential it. The claim is that in addition to the syntactic conditions that license postverbal instances of it, there are pragmatic implications for postverbal instances of non-referential it. The treatment is extended to Hungarian azt. Chapter 1 introduces the theoretical foundations for the investigation, and chapter 5 summarizes the results.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
