non-constituent coordination

[Neal Whitman]

 Hi, Berthold,

 This sentence is the slightest bit awkward for me, but
still OK:

(1)   I gave the dog a bone, and the toy to the cat.

It's even better if the context makes the dog and the
toy especially salient; for example...

(2)   So Neal, did you give the dog that toy like
       you were planning to do?

       Me:  No, actually I changed my mind.  I gave
       the dog a bone, and the toy to the cat.

 However, it's not so good when the conjuncts are reversed,
as Ash noted.

 Now here's what I *really* can't get:

(3) *I gave the dog a bone and to Kim.


 Interestingly, this contrast is not as striking in the
following pair:

(4)  a.  ?We loaded the crates with oranges and onto the truck.
      b.  ?We loaded the crates with oranges and
            the melons onto the truck.

 As Carl noted earlier, I'm working a lot with these and
several other valence alternations in my dissertation
(specifically Chapter 4); the internet data Carl refers
to is actually for Chapter 3, where I discuss interrogatives
such as:

(5)  Learn to control what and when you eat.


If you're interested, I can send you a draft of the relevant
chapter(s).

 Best,

Neal