Syntactic edges and linearization

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 257-267).In this thesis, I investigate the question of how the units of a linguistic expression are linearly ordered in syntax. In particular, I examine interactions between locality conditions on movement and the mapping between syntax and phonology. I show that Cyclic Linearization of syntactic structure and constraints on domain-internal movement of multiple specifiers predict unique ordering restrictions at the edges of syntactic domains. As a consequence of cyclic Spell-out and conditions on syntactic agreement, elements externally merged as a constituent at the edge of a Spell-out domain cannot be separated by a domain-internal element. This proposal provides a unified account of a variety of types of ordering restrictions in scrambling - in particular, floating quantifier and possessor constructions in Korean and Japanese. Evidence is drawn from interactions among various factors, which include: scrambling, the scope and syntactic position of adverbs, depictive and resultative predicates, possessor constructions, and varieties of floating quantifiers, among others. It is argued that the domain of cyclic Spell-out must include the edge as well as the complement of a Spell-out domain.(cont.) This challenges the view that edges are designated escape hatches in syntax. Other results include arguments that scrambling is feature-driven movement, support for the view that syntactic agreement is feature sharing, as well as a particular repertoire of phases (including VP and well as vP).by Heejeong Ko.Ph.D

Two Ways to the Right : A Hybrid approach to Right-dislocation in Korean

This paper investigates the syntax and semantics of right dislocation constructions (RDCs) in Korean, with special focus on asymmetries between postverbal arguments and postverbal adjuncts. I argue that RDCs are sub-divided into two types: argument RDCs vs. adjunct RDCs. I propose that postverbal arguments undergo focus movement to the root C in a mono-clausal structure, whereas postverbal adjuncts are base-generated at the end of the utterance, and the head of the adjunct may undergo sideward movement onto the host clause. I show that under the current proposal, we can explain a variety of unique properties of RDCs in Korean, which include: root effects, scope, variability in island effects, Negative Polarity Item (NPI) licensing, wh-licensing, and the presence or absence of LBC and CED effects. My proposal also captures otherwise surprising similarities between argument RDCs and specificational focus constructions and a parallelism between adjunct RDCs and parasitic gap constructions

Remarks on Right Dislocation Construction in Korean : Challenges to bi-clausal analyses

This paper investigates the syntax and semantics of postverbal elements in so-called Right Dislocation Constructions (RDCs) in Korean. Recently, a growing number of researchers have argued that RDCs in Korean must be analyzed under the assumption that RDCs contain a bi-clausal structure. This paper aims to closely re-examine and evaluate the validity of current bi-clausal analyses. In particular, I discuss three representative approaches couched under bi-clausal analyses: (i) the scrambling-based analysis, (ii) the pro-predicate based analysis, and (iii) the fragment-based analysis. I show that each of these approaches faces non-trivial challenges. Specifically, I show that the syntax of postverbal elements cannot be equated to either scrambling or a regular fragment answer. An array of intriguing contrasts between RDCs and scrambling, and between RDCs and fragments are presented in this paper. I also present a new set of challenges to the claim that postverbal elements are licensed by a pro-predicate

Gapless Right-Dislocation: The Role of Overt Correlates

This paper examines the syntax of gapless right-dislocations in Korean. I argue that gapless right-dislocation constructions are not uniform, but divided into two types: specificational and repetitive right-dislocation. I propose that specificational right-dislocation constructions are derived by rightward movement in a mono-clausal structure, whereas repetitive right-dislocations are a result of ellipsis in a bi-clausal structure. Evidence for my proposal is drawn from a wide range of syntactic and semantic differences between the two types of gapless right-dislocation. This paper also shows that gapped right-dislocations are a type of a specificational construction. In doing so, I argue that a hybrid approach is necessary to explain the diverse syntactic and semantic patterns observed in right-dislocation

The Role of Presuppositionality in the Second Language Acquisition of English Articles

This article investigates the role of presuppositionality (defined as the presupposition of existence) in the second language (L2) acquisition of English articles. Building upon the proposal in Wexler 2003 that young English-acquiring children overuse the with presuppositional indefinites, this article proposes that presuppositionality also influences article (mis)use in adult L2 acquisition. This proposal is supported by experimental results from the L2 English of adult speakers of Korean, a language with no articles. The experimental findings indicate that presuppositional indefinite contexts trigger overuse of the with indefinites in adult L2 acquisition, as in child L1 acquisition (cf. Wexler 2003). The effects of presuppositionality are teased apart from the effects of other semantic factors previously examined in acquisition, such as scope (Schaeffer and Matthewson 2005) and specificity (Ionin, Ko, and Wexler 2004). The results provide evidence that overuse of the in L2 acquisition is a semantic rather than pragmatic phenomenon. Implications of these findings for overuse of the in L1 acquisition are discussed. This article also has implications for the study of access to Universal Grammar in L2 acquisition, as well as for the number and type of semantic universals underlying article choice crosslinguistically