trace pronoun

[P2052 at AOL.COM]

I don't find anything peculiar about the construction, which combines these
three basic structures:

                                     SET 1
             a.  A national organization has come to the defense of a Fort
Bragg soldier.
             b.  The soldier's superiors refuse to let him resign.
             c.  The national organization fights for the rights of
homosexual service members.

I would analyze it as follows:

 A national organization that [SUBSTITUTES FOR "The national organization"]
fights for the rights of homosexual service members has come to the defense
of a Fort Bragg soldier whose [SUBSTITUTES FOR "The soldier's] superiors
refuse to let him resign. [Associated Press, Durham, NC, HERALD, 2/16/02, B1]

Thus, "him" is not what is being replaced by "whose."  Rather it is the
possessive NP,  "The soldier's."

Had "him" been the intended target of subordination, the sentence would have
been written as follows:

A national organization that fights for the rights of homosexual service
members has come to the defense of a Fort Bragg soldier [WHOM] superiors
refuse to let [] resign. [Associated Press, Durham, NC, HERALD, 2/16/02, B1]

       The base structures in this case would have be (Notice the difference
between base structure b in the first and second sets.)

                                     SET 2
             a.  A national organization has come to the defense of a Fort
Bragg soldier.
             b.  Superiors refuse to let him resign.
             c.  The national organization fights for the rights of
homosexual service members.

In essence, these two different surface structures are generated from
difference[s] in their underlying, or base, structures ([in this case [b]).


                               P-A-T