Data at the grammar-pragmatics interface: the case of resumptive pronouns in English (original) (raw)
Related papers
Resumptive pronouns can be syntactically bound
Linguistic Inquiry, 1981
In this squib, we will argue that the binding relation between a wh-element and a" resumptive" pronoun is, at least in some languages, of the same nature as the binding relation between a wh-element and a trace. We will call this relation syntactic binding. The intended relation is exemplified for English in (1).
Resumptive Pronouns and Competition
A Minimalist hypothesis about resumptive pronouns is that they should be no different from ordinary pronouns (McCloskey 2006). The paper substantiates this hypothesis with respect to a particular view of pronouns: pronouns are ‘elsewhere’ elements. Just as the interpretation of ordinary pronouns, on this view, is determined by competition with anaphors, the interpretation of resumptive pronouns is determined by competition with gaps. Based on new facts in Hebrew and systematic differences between optional and obligatory pronouns, I argue that the tail of a relative clause movement chain is realized as the least specified form available. Since their interpretive properties are fully determined by external factors, resumptive pronouns must be part of the syntactic derivation, not items merged from the (traditional) lexicon.
This paper will discuss pronominal reanalysis in English and other languages, including Japanese. It forms part of a series of working papers on personal pronouns : Howe a , a preliminary comparison of personal pronouns in English and Japanese, Howe a on pronoun morphology, Howe b on new pronouns and loss of pronouns, Howe on pronouns and politeness, and Howe forthcoming a on reference and ellipsis.
Truly intrusive: Resumptive pronominals in questions and relative clauses
Lingua, 2010
The paper argues that true or grammatical resumption arises through the generalisation of intrusive resumption, a resumptive strategy available in most grammars as a last resort device to overcome processing complexity. Intrusive resumptive structures involve mixed chains, specified for movement, thus, incurring processing costs associated with movement, but in which the involvement of a pronominal, providing an argument locally, gives rise to an anaphoric resolution of the dependency. Generalising the resumptive strategy involves shifting from such mixed chains to chains where the movement option is cancelled altogether and, complexity associated with movement is dispensed with. Technically, this amounts to dispensing with the Op feature of C. The hypothesis immediately explains why variation in resumption is associated with C rather than the pronominal. A crucial trigger in this process is the presence of rich agreement in a grammar in two areas: (i) the association of C of relative clauses with nominal features that enter in agreement relations with the relativised element and (ii) the existence of pronominal clitics that can be (re-)analysed as agreement features on verbal forms.
On the status of Resumptive Pronouns in Restrictive Relative Clauses
We discuss the status of Modern Greek Resumptive Pronouns, focusing on Restrictive Relative Clauses. Several analyses have been proposed to account for the phenomenon of resumption in Modern Greek Relative Clauses arguing in favour of a similar treatment of gaps and resumptive pronouns, suggesting that Binder-Resumptive Dependencies are triggered by the same mechanism as Filler-Gap Dependencies. In this paper, it is argued that resumptive pronouns are the ordinary pronoun forms of the language and that they are not alternative manifestations of gaps, presenting evidence from Asudeh’s (2004) criteria for Hebrew, Irish and Swedish. Following this, we propose an LFG analysis for resumption in Modern Greek pu and o opios Restrictive Relative Clauses, distinguishing between two types of Dependencies (Filler-Gap and Binder-Resumptive Dependencies), following Asudeh (2004)’s treatment of the syntax of resumptives in these languages.
Many languages, including Arabic, have unbounded dependencies which sometimes involve a gap and sometimes involve a resumptive pronoun. On the contrary, English unbounded dependencies involve only a gap. I am seeking a characterization of Arabic resumptives from the syntactic and semantic perspective. My research will discuss such issues as reference, the nature of movement, island sensitivity and reconstruction in Arabic. Ultimately, There will be a contrast of the findings from Arabic with available explanations of the same phenomenon in English.