Janke, Vikki and Neeleman, A. (2012) Ascending and Descending VPs in English. Linguistic Inquiry, 43 (2). pp. 151-190. ISSN 0024-3892. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided)
We argue that English allows both rightward-descending VP shell structures and more traditional rightward-ascending VPs. The choice between these depends on case theory and economy. Case theory triggers VP shell formation whenever the verb is merged with a DP object after it has been merged with some other category. The reason is that VP shell formation allows verb and object to surface in adjacent positions, a prerequisite for case licensing in English. Economy has the effect that in all other circumstances, VP shell formation is blocked. Our argument is based on a range of intricate data, many of which involve the distribution of object-oriented floating quantifiers. We end with a discussion of the binding data that are often taken to support a uniformly descending structure—incorrectly, in our view.
|Subjects:||P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics|
|Divisions:||Faculties > Humanities > School of European Culture and Languages > English Language and Linguistics|
|Depositing User:||Fiona Godfrey|
|Date Deposited:||13 Aug 2012 14:09|
|Last Modified:||14 Aug 2012 11:54|
|Resource URI:||https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/30120 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)|