Course Overview

This course is designed to introduce participants to issues and problems in the area of the syntax of movement constructions, and to construct a broad picture of the fundamental role that these questions have played in shaping and defining various aspects of linguistic theory. Specific topics to be covered include (in roughly the order of discussion):

• Clause structure, subjects, and the A/A-bar distinction
  
• Diagnostics of wh-movement: unbounded dependencies, islands, crossover, parasitic gaps
  
• Covert movement: quantifier raising, multiple wh-questions, reconstruction effects
  
• Constraints on movement: derivation vs. representation, "referentiality" and other semantic effects, the argument/adjunct distinction, LF vs. PF constraints
  
• Scrambling and the A/A-bar distinction revisited

This course will combine the elements of an introductory class and a research seminar. As such, it will be driven by a balance between lecture and discussion. In order to make this work, all of the readings must be done prior to the classes for which they are assigned: their content will be assumed.

Requirements

No more than two or three homeworks will be assigned; these will focus on developing analytical skills and exploring particular empirical phenomena. In addition, I will assign at least one brief (1 page) summary of an article. Finally, each student will be required to write two squibs (short papers exploring a single theoretical question or empirical phenomenon) and to present their work during reading week. The requirements and their proportional contributions to the overall evaluation are summarized below:

• Overall participation in the class [10%]
  
• 2 or 3 homework assignments [20%]
  
• One page summaries of 1-2 readings (assigned at instructor's discretion) [10%]
  
• Two squibs [50%]
  
• Presentation of research [10%]

The first squib is due on 2.10.98, and the second on 3.15.98. If appropriate, the second squib may be a revised version of the first. During the reading week classes, we will have a workshop in which each student will give a presentation of her research (the work corresponding to either the first or second squib, at the student's discretion).

Syllabus

Week 1 (2): Introduction
TBD The goals and assumptions of linguistic theory [ch. 1 of Chomsky 1965, Chomsky & Lasnik 1993]
1.11Subjects, subject positions, and the general properties of "A-movement" [McCloskey 1997]

Weeks 2-3: Properties of A-bar movement constructions
1.13-18Islands, gaps, and crossover: types of A-bar dependencies [Chomsky 1977, Bresnan 1975, Ross 1969]
1.20 Parasitic gaps [Engdahl 1983]

Weeks 4-5: Covert movement and Logical Form
1.25-27 Wh-in situ [Higginbotham and May 1981, Pesetsky 1987, Huang 1982]
2.1 Quantifier raising and antecedent-contained deletion [Kennedy 1997, Hornstein 1994]
2.3 Reconstruction effects [Lebeaux 1991, Heycock 1995]

Weeks 6-8: Constraints on movement
2.8-10 Relativized Minimality and the Empty Category Principle [Rizzi 1991, Cinque 1991]
2.15 Referentiality in Chamorro [Chung 1994]
2.17When do constraints on movement apply? Exploring interface levels [Kennedy & Merchant 1998, Chomsky 1991, Richards 1998, Fox 1995]
2.22 [open]

Week 9: Scrambling
3.3Properties of scrambling constructions cross-linguistically [selected readings from Corver and van Riemsdijk 1994]
3.5 Scrambling and the A/A-bar distinction revisited

Week 10: Workshop
3.8-10 Student presentations

Readings

Bresnan, J. 1975. Comparative deletion and constraints on transformations. Linguistic Analysis 1.1:25-74.
Cinque, G. 1991. Types of A-bar Dependencies. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. 1977. On wh-movement. In P. Culicover et al. (eds.), Formal Syntax. Academic Press: New York.
Chomsky, N. 1991. Some notes on economy of derivation and representation.
Chomsky, N. and H. Lasnik. 1993. The theory of principles and parameters. In Jacobs, J., A. von Stechow, W. Sternefeld, and T. Vennemann (eds.), Syntax: An International Handbook of Contemporary Research. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Chung, S. 1994. Wh-agreement and "referentiality" in Chamorro. Linguistic Inquiry 25.1:1-44.
Corver, N. and H. van Riemsdijk. 1994. Studies on Scrambling: Movement and Non-movement Approaches to Free Word Order Phenomena. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Engdahl, E. 1983. Parasitic Gaps. Linguistics and Philosophy 6:5-34.
Fox, D. 1995. Economy and Scope. Natural Language Semantics.
Heycock, C. 1995. Asymmetries in reconstruction. Linguistic Inquiry 26.4:547-570.
Higginbotham, James and Robert May. 1981. Questions, quantifiers, and crossing. The Linguistic Review 1:41-79.
Hornstein, N. 1994. An argument for minimalism: The case of antecedent-contained deletion. Linguistic Inquiry 25.3:455-480.
Huang, J. 1982. Logical relations in Chinese and the theory of grammar. Doctoral dissertation, MIT.
Kennedy, C. 1997. Antecedent-contained deletion and the syntax of quantification. Linguistic Inquiry 28.4:662-688.
Kennedy, C. and J. Merchant. 1998. Attributive comparative deletion. Ms., Northwestern University and University of California, Santa Cruz.
Koopman, Hilda, and Dominique Sportiche. 1982. Variables and the Bijection Principle. The Linguistic Review 2:136-61.
Lebeaux, D. 1991. Relative clauses, licensing, and the nature of the derivation. Syntax and Semantics 25: Perspectives on Phrase Structure. Academic Press: New York. 209-239.
McClosky, J. 1997. Subjecthood and subject positions. In Haegeman, L. (ed.) Elements of Grammar: Handbook of Generative Syntax. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Pesetsky, David. 1987. Wh-in-situ, movement, and unselective binding. In Eric Reuland and Alice ter Meulen (eds.). The representation of (in)definiteness. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Ross, John R. 1967. Constraints on variables in syntax. Doctoral dissertation, MIT.

Book at Great Expectations Bookstore (911 Foster St., Evanston):

Rizzi, L. 1990. Relativized Minimality. Cambridge: MIT Press.