Missing PREP - redux

[LanDi Liu]

On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 2:22 AM, Arnold M. Zwicky
<zwicky at csli.stanford.edu> wrote:
> these have the feel, to me, of a constructional combination -- a main
> construction
>   to anyone who might be interested (1)
> with the softening "you think" (much like a parenthetical in its
> semantics) of
>   to anyone (who) you think might be interested (2).
> so the original
>
>   to anyone you think who might be interested
> is much like
>
>   to anyone, you think, who might be interested
> (though the parenthetical is more comfortable inside the subordinate
> clause).
>
> arnold

I can't see it as  "to anyone, you think, who might be interested",
but rather "to anyone who you think might be interested", where "who"
and "you think" are switched around.  At least that was my initial
reaction.

But looking further, maybe there really are two relative pronouns
here.  Let's look at some other examples that have the optional "that"
relative pronoun intact:

When you sit at the computer naked at the most random times at night
to see who is as sad as you lookin at all the people that you think
who could be naked too...
www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=1235277472

To come back on what you said about some people that you think who
worth the time investment... well I must say that here among the close
familyand also ...
profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=8675264

AHN: I want you to go through the list of celebrities that you think
who had good work done. This doesn't necessary mean you did these
surgeries yourself. ...
transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0310/21/pzn.00.html

shyne tell me who 's not insane...... name one that you think who is
the most perfect human being for you... remember tell me only the
first rank. ...
www.zenguide.com/forum/view.cfm?topicid=4707

In any case, the point of the film is that it is not the girl that you
think who is Gregory's Girl  ...
www.senns.demon.co.uk/wprose.html

Deny it or not, the goverment is ran by politics, otherwise find
something that you think who rans the Gov't. TK said,. January 12,
2007 at 3:09 am ...
subicrapecase.wordpress.com/2007/01/11/like-thieves-in-the-night/

CGEL has some similar examples, but using gaps:

p1047 ex [40]ia. I want a car(i) [that I know [___(i) is safe]].
p1083 ex [16]ii. *He's the man(i) [they think [that ___(i) attacked her]].
p1090 ex [36]iii Here's a book(i) [I think [___(i) might help us]].

Damien -- when you wrote: "(1') Please forward to anyone(i) you think
t(i) who(i) might be interested.", does "t(i)" signify a gap?

--
Randy Alexander
Jilin City, China

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org