constraining equations question

[Ash_Asudeh]

Dear Steve

That's a difficult question, but my understanding is that it should be satisfied: since the constraint has existential force, it should at least logically be satisfied if 
there is some f-structure that satisfies it and, on your scenario, there is some f-structure that satisfies it. 

In the scenario you describe, I think the final f-structural result would not be well-formed, because it would be disconnected, but that is for reasons other than the constraining equation in question (i.e., it would be due to a general, global constraint on f-structural well-formedness).

Ash

On 2011-04-27, at 8:36 AM, Stephen Wechsler wrote:

> Hi all,
> Can anyone answer this question for me?  Is a constraining equation (f
> ATT) =c VAL satisfied, or not, in a case where the f-structure for the
> root node does not contain the function f, but the 'orphaned'
> f-structure for a lower node in the tree does contain f with the
> feature [ATT VAL] ?  This is possible where a c-structure node fails
> to pass up some information.
> 
> Steve