1. Introduction. Paper s Questions

Transcription

1 MA Linguistics; Syntax III: Topics in Ellipsis James Griffiths Nominal Ellipsis David Diem, Yixiao Song 13 Dec Introduction Paper s Questions 1. To what extent does the term (nominal) ellipsis adequately describe the (anaphoric) phenomena in (a)-(d) (Japanese), (e)-(g) (Spanish) (pp. 1-6)? (e below stands for gap ) (a) T. s attitude is good, H. s e isn t. (..., Hanako no e wa yokunai.) (b) Please give me 3 red ones(e). (Akai no(e)... ) (c) from old-times. (huru- ku(e) -kara) (d) T.i H.k [[ e(i) e(k) marry] that] promised. ( e e kekkonsuru to ) (e) (a) destructioni of Rome... the (e i) of Kyoto (f) the rich e (los e ricos) (g) i. e work. e trabajan. ii. J. bought applesi and P. bought e i, too. (P. también compró e.).gen ones-thing one-time radical el s radical el s ones-pers S radical el s O radical el s 2. When are these ((a)-(g)) allowed? Paper s Framework / Pre-assumptions Deep vs. surface distinction (Hankamer & Sag, 1976) The DP structure: - every noun phrase is (inside) a D(eterminer)P (Abney, 1987) - and consists of a NumP, an np and a P ( Root Phrase ) (this order) 1

2 2. Empty Nouns vs. Nominal Ellipsis: Some Diagnostics Deep Anaphor: a base-generated (c)overt proform Surface Anaphor: derived by transformation generally need a linguistic antecedent Ellipsis only applies to surface anaphora. (7) Los perros inteligentes y los tontos son indistinguibles. DET:M:PL DOG:M:PL SMART:PL and DET:M:PL fool:m:pl be[prs]:3pl undistinguishable:pl NPE reading: Smart dogs and fool dogs are undistinguishable. [DP D [NumP Num [np n[ P ]]]] Ellipses are surface anaphors, which are derived by transformation (deletion of a full fledged structure in PF) and generally require a linguistic antecedent (Hankamer & Sag, 1976). Their recoverability conditions are related to the theory of identity in ellipsis. EN reading: Smart dogs and foolish people are undistinguishable. [DP [D [NumP Num [np n[human]]]] Empty Noun: a functional nominal category which might encode some syntactic-semantic features such as [HUMAN, SPACE, TIME, FACT, MANNER, THING]. 2.1 Uniformity Tests Uniformity Assumption: Ceteris paribus, the syntactic dependencies in contexts of ellipsis between the remnant constituent and the ellipsis site are obtained in the same way as in non-elliptical sentences Thematic Assignment A crucial difference between EN & NPE: ENs are thematically defective NPEs are thematically complete one anaphora in English: one realizes an empty noun incapable of assigning theta-roles. (8) I bought the car from England and Sam bought the one from Spain. (9) *I met the king of England and Sam met the one of Spain. (10)Jack met the king from England, and I met the one from France. (11)the treatment by the psychologist and the one by the psychiatrist EN analysis: one realizes an empty noun incapable of assigning theta-roles. 2

3 But examples from Payne et al. (2013) (12)This interpretation is contrary to an accepted [one of wrestling] as a sport. (13)Dudley himself was no more eager for the match. Yes, he wanted to marry with a queen, but not [the one of Scotland]. (14) This interpretation is contrary to an accepted [one of wrestling] as a sport. (15)*This interpretation is contrary to wrestling s accepted [NumP one] as a sport. Surface anaphor analysis for one (Llombart-Huesca, 2002): the one-construction and NP-ellipsis have complementary distribution NP complements are part of the ellipsis site (16)*I met the king of England and Sam met the one of Spain. Nominal gaps in Spanish: (17)la destrucción del puente y la [destrucción] de la ciudad DET:F[SG] destruction of:det[m.sg] bridge and DET:F[SG] of DET:F[SG] city the destruction of the bridge and the destruction of the city (18)[DP la [XP [PP de la ciudad]t [np destrucción t]]] (NPE+complement movement) Conclusion: this diagnostic is not reliable at least in English Extraction Tests Extraction: if a constituent can establish a chain dependency with a position within a putative nominal gap, then it can be safely concluded that the gap has an internal structure. (19)Hallottam riportot több miniszterrel. Nem emlékszem, melyik miniszterreli heard interview:acc many minister:with not remember:1sg which minister:with hallottam [hosszút [NP riportot ti]]. heard long:acc interview:acc with. I heard an interview with many ministers. I don't remember which minister I heard a long one Sub-extraction facts in English: extraction is ungrammatical with numerals or quantifiers as remnants (20)*I know who you bought two pictures of, but I don t know who you bought three. 3

4 But (21)I know who you bought two pictures of, but I don t know who you bought three pictures of. (22)I know who, but I don t know whoi you bought [DP three [PP of ti]j [NP pictures [PP t]j]]. Conclusion: the interaction between NPE and extraction is an area almost unexplored and whatever conclusion should be taken as provisory Matching Effects In Spanish: - NPE gaps subcategorize the same categories as their non-elliptical counterparts. - Case markers are inherited in NPEs. (23)El amor de Juan por los autos es más grande que el [amor] mío por los libros. Juan s love for cars is bigger than mine for books. (24)La entrega de los libros de Cortázar a María y la [entrega] de los libros de Borges a Juan tienen que hacerse el mismo día. The delivery of Cortázar s books to María and the delivery of Borges books to Juan have to take place the same day. In English: (25)John s dependence on drugs and Peter s [dependence] on his mom Conclusion: this test gives positive results in indubitable cases of NumP-ellipsis. 2.2 Miscellaneous Diagnostics Antecedents Ambiguous: (26)Los perros inteligentes y los tontos son indistinguibles. DET:M:PL DOG:M:PL SMART:PL and DET:M:PL fool:m:pl be[prs]:3pl undistinguishable:pl NPE reading: Smart dogs and fool dogs are undistinguishable. EN reading: Smart dogs and foolish people are undistinguishable. Not Ambiguous after Swap: (27)Los tontos y los perros inteligentes son indistinguibles. Foolish people and smart dogs are undistinguishable. 4

5 2.2.2 Lexical Identity Gender identity matters: ((35) on p. 26) (28)el tío de María y el de Pedro DET[M.SG] uncle of María and DET[M.SG] of Pedro (29)*el tío de María y la de Pedro DET[M.SG] uncle of María and DET:F[SG] of Pedro (30)el perro de Juan y los de Pedro DET[M.SG] dog:m[sg] of Juan and DET:M:PL of Pedro (31)los perros de Juan y el de Pedro DET:M:PL dog:m:pl of Juan and DET[M.SG] of Pedro Lexical Restrictions and Productivity Empty Nouns ( deep anaphora) can denote - Spanish: [HUMAN] - English: [HUMAN, THING] - Japanese: [TIME, SPACE] This is the (sole) reason that Japanese can have time/space empty nouns (1c in 1) 5

6 Literatur Hankamer, J & Sag, I. (1976). Deep and Surface Anaphora. Linguistic inquiry, 7(3), Llombart-Huesca, A. (2002). Anaphoric one and NP-ellipsis. Studia linguistica, 56(1), Payne, J. & Pullum, G. K. & Scholz, B. C. & Berlage, E. (2013). Anaphoric one and its implications. Language 89(4), Saab, A. Nominal Ellipsis. To appear in J. van Craenenbroeck & T. Temmerman (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Ellipsis. OUP. 6