16.3604, Diss: Syntax: Kotzoglou: 'Wh-extraction and Locality...'

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-3604. Mon Dec 19 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.3604, Diss: Syntax: Kotzoglou: 'Wh-extraction and Locality...'

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1)
Date: 17-Dec-2005
From: George Kotzoglou < kotzoglou at gmail.com >
Subject: Wh-extraction and Locality in Greek 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 08:47:25
From: George Kotzoglou < kotzoglou at gmail.com >
Subject: Wh-extraction and Locality in Greek 
 


Institution: University of Reading 
Program: School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Linguistic Science Division 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2005 

Author: George Kotzoglou

Dissertation Title: Wh-extraction and Locality in Greek 

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax

Subject Language(s): Greek (ell)


Dissertation Director(s):
Irene Philippaki-Warburton

Dissertation Abstract:

This study revisits the correlation between the null subject parameter and
the lack of certain locality effects and reformulates within the minimalist
framework some leading intuitions of syntactic research of the early GB-period.

With the main focus on Greek, it is observed that the lack of
Complementizer-trace effects and the amnestying of Subject Condition
violations in some (mostly, null subject) languages cannot be attributed to
T-to-C movement alone, as Greek and a number of other null subject
languages lack both T-to-C and the Complementizer-trace effect or the
Subject Condition. It is also observed that free subject inversion
cannot fully capture these phenomena, either, as extraction of and from
subjects in the preverbal position is evidenced too.

The proposed analysis can be summarized as follows: First, it is claimed
that the null subject parameter in Greek and elsewhere is due to the
complete lack of an uEPPT-feature (a feature that triggers obligatory
movement of the subject to [Spec,TP]). Then, it is argued that the lack of
Comp-trace and Subject Condition effects in Greek can be attributed to the
lack of this EPPT-feature. Subjects are not attracted to [Spec, TP] in null
subject languages, but they are base generated either in [Spec,vP] or in a
peripheral position.

It is proposed that a PF condition, termed Restriction on Copy Reduction
(RCR), prohibits the phonological deletion of more than one movement copies
of an element per syntactic phase. In languages which require movement of
the subject to a non-edge peripheral position (such as [Spec, TP]) any
further movement from the EPP-position will result in a violation of the
Restriction on Copy Reduction. Hence the impossibility of extraction of and
from subjects raised to [Spec, TP]. This account reflects the familiar idea
that no movement can take place out of already displaced domains.

Finally, it is shown that the Restriction on Copy Reduction makes the
correct predictions for a number of -superficially distinct- phenomena and
that it is compatible with ongoing research on locality. 




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