University of Connecticut
All of us are familiar with the standard argument that deep structure need not satisfy binding conditions. Who has not done or assigned a homework problem based on an example like (1)?
(1) They seem to each other to be clever
(2) _ seem to each other [they to be clever]
Given that deep structure configuration determines theta-relations, the above argument is simultaneously an argument that binding conditions are, at least
in part, independent of argument structure and are, instead, geometric. I
propose to examine a range of such cases in light of recent developments in
syntactic theory. I will be particularly concerned with the precise
configurations created by movement, of both the overt and covert variety, and
the binding theoretic properties of those configurations.
It is well known that in raising constructions like (1), an anaphor can be
bound in the embedded clause as well as the matrix clause:
(3) They seem to have criticized each other
Possibility (a) is excluded by still more complicated examples of the
same general type, but in which the anaphor is in neither the D-structure clause
nor the S-structure clause of the antecedent:
(4) They are certain to seem to each other to have criticized Harry
So far, I have not considered the possibility that LF is the level relevant to
binding conditions, that is, that movement that creates a licit binding
configuration might be covert. Such a possibility is of great significance
within recent 'minimalist' approaches that dispense with S-structure (and, for
that matter, D-structure). The fact that anaphora has obvious semantic aspects
has always suggested that its syntax, the binding conditions, should be
determined at LF, the syntax- semantics interface level, as minimalism evidently
demands. However, Chomsky (1981) presented a very powerful argument that at
least Condition C must be satisfied at S-structure. Chomsky observed
that examples like the following cast grave doubt on a purely LF approach:
(5)  Which book that Johni read did he i like
(6) *Hei liked every book that Johni read
(7) *I don't remember who thinks that hei read
Based on examples like the following, Barss (1986) extends Chomsky's argument
to Condition A, the concern of the initial discussion of the present paper.
(9) *Johni wonders who showed which picture of himselfito Susan
(10) *The men think that Mary likes every picture of each other
(11)  The men think that every picture of each other, Mary likes
(13) A man is t in the room
(14) a. There is/*are a man here
(15) There arrived two knights on each other's horses
(16) Two knights arrived t on each other's horses
The general phenomenon underlying Uriagereka's argument is actually independent
of expletive replacement per se, since, as discussed in some detail by Lasnik
and Saito (1991), even direct objects of transitive verbs generally behave as if
they c-command into certain adjuncts:[3]
(17) I saw two men on each other's birthdays
Under conventional (though not universal[4])
assumptions about deep phrase structure configuration, two men would not be
expected to c-command each other, parallel to the fact considered by Uriagereka.
In certain versions of Case theory, for example one proposed by Chomsky (1991),
and examined further by Lasnik and Saito (1991) and Lasnik (1993), in the LF
component a direct object raises to Spec of AgrO, where its Case
is licensed. (17) might then be a further example of successful licensing of an
anaphor at LF (via A-movement) remedying failure in overt syntax. The
near contradiction between Barss's examples on the one hand, and Uriagereka's and
Lasnik and Saito's on the other remains to be resolved. I will return to that
task.
Before proceeding, I would like to consider a plausible objection to the
classic analysis of (1), repeated as (18).
(18) They seem to each other to be clever
Recall that a major argument for the geometric approach to binding rests on the
standard assumption that (18) crucially involves movement, raising of the
lower subject into matrix subject position. However, Lasnik and Saito (1992)
argued, on grounds quite independent of the issues under consideration here,
that at least some apparent raising examples are actually structurally
ambiguous. According to Lasnik and Saito, (19), for example, is ambiguous
between (20) and (21).
(19) John is likely to win
(20) John1 is likely [t1 to win]
(21) John1 is likely [PRO1 to win]
Lasnik and Saito were concerned with the intriguing contrast between (22) on the
one hand and (23), (24) on the other.
(22)  How likely to win is John
(23) *How likely to be a riot is there
(24) *How likely to be taken of John is advantage
Saito (1989), following a suggestion of Tony Kroch, proposed that (23) and (24)
are excluded by essentially the Proper Binding Condition of Fiengo (1977),
given the representations in (25) and (26).
(25) [how likely t1 to be a riot]2 is there1
t2
(26) [how likely t1 to be taken of John]2 is
advantage1t2
In neither of these representations is t1 bound, in violation of the
condition. But we should then expect (22) to be bad as well, if it must involve
raising. But if it can, as an alternative, involve control, then there is no a
priori reason to expect it to be bad. This constitutes the heart of Lasnik and
Saito's argument that (at least some) classic raising structures have a
base-generated alternative. Note that (23) and (24) are still correctly ruled
out, since existential there and idiom chunks cannot appear as controllers
of PRO, not being arguments. But if these examples must involve raising, then
the Proper Binding Condition cannot be evaded.
While the particular WH-movement paradigm appealed to above is only relevant
with raising adjectives, Martin (1992, 1996) argues that the conclusion
is actually more general. Martin provides extensive evidence that there are two
distinct infinitival Infl's, one associated with raising (including ECM,
an instance of raising to Spec of AgrO, on recent accounts), the
other with control. One of the several diagnostics he provides concerns the
licensing of VP ellipsis. The Infl associated with PRO licenses ellipsis of its
complement; the Infl associated with raising does not. (27) illustrates the
former possibility.
(27) John tried to be courageous, and Mary tried to also
And (28) and (29) illustrate the latter, with ECM and passive-raising
respectively.
(28) ?*I believe John to be courageous, and I believe Mary to also
(29) ?*John is believed to be courageous, and Mary is believed to also
Raising adjectives and verbs at first seem not to conform to this pattern:
(30) ?John is likely to be courageous, and Mary is likely to also
(31) ?John seems to be courageous, and Mary seems to also
However, when we replace the matrix subject with an NP that couldn't be a
controller, hence must have raised, the results are in accord with the predicted
pattern:
(32) *John said there was likely to be a solution, and there is likely to
(33) *John said there seems to be a solution, and there does seem to
Of direct relevance to the discussion here is Martin's further observation that
when 'raising' predicates occur with an experiencer, they pattern strictly
as raising, the control properties disappearing. For example, in (34), the
addition of the experiencer renders VP ellipsis much less acceptable.
(34) Although John didn't actually hit Bill, he seemed(?*to Mary) to
Since the crucial example (18) necessarily contains an experiencer, by Martin's
argument it must involve raising. Thus, the potential alternative to
movement into a binding configuration is eliminated.
In recent years, Chomsky has argued at length that movement is invariably
driven by the need for formal features to be checked. Thus, it is really only
formal features that are involved in the operation of movement. One would then
expect that movement would never be of an entire syntactic category, but only of
its formal features. However, PF requirements will normally force movement of a
category containing the formal features, via a sort of pied-piping, under the
reasonable assumption that a bare feature (or set of features) is an ill-formed
PF object. If only features 'really' move, and given that movement creates
binding configurations, we might be led to conclude that binding involves
precisely a relation between features. In fact, Chomsky (1995) argues for
exactly that position. I will return to his arguments. Before that, I
will consider how this feature movement approach resolves a long-standing problem
with expletive replacement. In Chomsky's original proposal (1986), the
associate literally replaced the expletive, giving LF (36) for S-structure
(35).
(35) There is a man here
(36) A man is t here
But true replacement also gives identical LFs for (37)and (38).
(37) A man is likely to be here
(38) There is likely to be a man here
Yet the interpretive possibilities diverge, as was immediately noted. In (37),
a man can evidently have wide or narrow scope with respect to likely, while
(38) allows only narrow scope. Chomsky (1991) observes a similarly incorrect
scope prediction for (39).
(39) There aren't many linguistics students here
If many linguistics students were to substitute for there, it would be expected
to have wide scope with respect to negation, but, in fact, it has only
narrow scope. The feature movement analysis of existential constructions has the
potential to solve these scope problems. For instance, if in LF, only the
formal features of many linguistics students, rather than the entire expression,
move to a functional head or heads above negation, it is reasonable to conclude
that the quantificational properties remain below negation. Then, if it is this
structure that determines scope (that is, if QR either cannot alter these
hierarchical relations or does not exist) the desired results are obtained.
Chomsky proposes that binding crucially differs from scope with respect to
feature movement. While such movement does not alter scope relations,
Chomsky claims that it does alter binding relations. Notice that under this
assumption, a version of Uriagereka's account (15)-(16) above, repeated here as
(40)-(41) is immediately available.
(40) There arrived two knights on each other's horses
(41) Two knights arrived t on each other's horses
In LF, two knights does not replace there. Rather, the formal features of two
knights raise to a functional head (presumably AgrS, given the
agreement properties of the construction) in which position they bear
the appropriate command relation to each other. A very similar analysis is
apparently available for the Lasnik and Saito example (17), repeated as (42).
(42) I saw two men on each other's birthdays
The features of the direct object two men raise to Agr, AgrO in this
instance, and in that position command the temporal adverb if, for instance, it
is adjoined to VP.
Thus far, we seem to have a principled and empirically supported dichotomy: LF
movement (at least of the 'A-movement' variety) has binding effects but no
scope effects: binding involves merely formal features whereas scope involves
quantificational properties that are not (or not just) formal features. Notice
too that Barss's Condition A problem is also solved. Recall that in his
examples, LF movement of a phrase containing an anaphor fails to create a new
licensing configuration for that anaphor, even though seemingly analogous overt
movement does create a licensing configuration:
(43) *Johni wonders who showed [which picture of
himselfi] to Susan
(44)  Johni wonders [which picture of himselfi] Mary showed
to Susan
However, under the feature movement analysis of LF movement, in (44), even if
there is LF WH-movement, only the formal features of which picture of
himself would move, leaving the anaphor in the lower 'governing category'.
Chomsky's Condition C problem receives a parallel solution. In Chomsky's
examples, LF movement of a phrase containing an R-expression fails to remove
that R-expression from the command domain of a pronoun, while analogous overt
movement does remedy the potential Condition C violation:
(45) *Hei liked [every book that John i read]
(46) *I don't remember who thinks that hei read
(47)  [Which book that Johni read] did hei like
By (new) hypothesis, only the formal features of the bracketed expressions in
(45) and (46) move, leaving John in the command domain of he in violation of
Condition C.
Successful though the approach has been, it cannot be maintained in its present
form. Contrary to Chomsky's claim, there is strong evidence that LF
feature movement does not affect binding possibilities. Lasnik and Saito (1991)
and den Dikken (1995) show that 'expletive replacement' does not in general
create new binding configurations. For example, as mentioned above, it is well
known that a raised subject can antecede an anaphor in the higher clause (the
classic argument that D-structure need not obey Condition A). But the associate
of a raised expletive cannot:
(48) Some linguists seem to each other [t to have been given
(49) *There seem to each other [t to have been some linguists
This is entirely unexpected under the binding by features analysis. That
analysis predicts an asymmetry between binding and scope, but we find no such
asymmetry this time. Binding from the high position of there (or from the
associated AgrS) is no more possible than high scope, as in (50),
even though the agreement form of the higher verb shows that the features of
the associate have raised.
(50) There seem to have been some linguists given good job offers
Other phenomena known to involve A-binding pattern similarly. (51) illustrates
this for weak crossover.
(51)a. Some defendanti seems to hisi lawyer to have been at the scene
Overtly raised some defendant can bind his, obviating the potential weak
crossover (WCO) effect in (51)a. But there is no such amelioration in (51)b.
Once again, if raised features could act as binders, (51)a and (51)b would have
the same status.
At this point, we have one strong generalization alongside an apparent paradox.
The generalization, valid for all the data considered so far, is that the scope
of the associate of there is always 'low': feature movement does not create new
scope possibilities. The paradox is that feature movement both does and does not
create new binding possibilities. Uriagereka's existential example seems to
indicate the binding potential of raised features, as does the Lasnik and Saito
transitive example. These two examples are repeated as (52) and (53).
(52) There arrived two knights on each other's horses
(53) I saw two men on each other's birthdays
By hypothesis, in (53) the features of two men raise to AgrO and in
that position bind each other. Likewise, in (52) the features of two knights
raise to AgrS, and in that position bind each other. But seemingly
identical movement does not suffice in the ungrammatical (49) and (51)b.
Suppose, then, that feature movement to a high position never suffices for
binding. (49) and (51)b are then immediately explained, but the well-formed
(52) and (53) now demand a new explanation. I turn to the task of finding one.
Larson (1988) provides one possibility. In his footnote 49, Larson suggests
that, contrary to usual assumptions, adverbials are projected in
innermost complement position, thus are, in D-structure, lower than direct
objects. Feature raising would then be irrelevant for the anaphor binding in
(52) and (53); the NP complement would itself be in position to bind the
reciprocal. (49) and (51)b would be correctly excluded since the to phrase,
being an argument of the higher predicate seem could not originate lower than
an underlying argument of the lower predicate, some linguists or some
defendants. However, several of the paradigms examined by Lasnik and Saito (1991)
cast doubt on this Larsonian approach as a general solution. Consider first (54),
where the associate of there in an ECM clause fails to bind a reciprocal in the
higher clause.
(54) *The DA proved [there to have been two men at the scene]
So far, this is just as predicted, since there is no way that the adverbial
modifying the higher predicate could have started lower than the complement of
the embedded clause. But (55) is not as predicted.
(55) The DA proved [two men to have been at the scene]
As discussed by Lasnik and Saito (and much earlier by Postal (1974)), the
downstairs ECM subject behaves like an upstairs direct object in its ability to
bind an anaphor in the higher clause. This, in fact, was one of the two
principal arguments in Chomsky (1995) that raised features can serve as binders,
a possibility we have been forced to reject. But the Larsonian alternative now
under consideration seems to exclude (55) as much as (54). Once again, there is
no obvious way that the upstairs adjunct can originate lower than the downstairs
argument.
The asymmetry seen in (54)-(55) is not limited to reciprocal licensing. All
standard c-command phenomena display the same pattern. (56)-(57) illustrate
the corresponding weak crossover asymmetry:
(56) The DA proved [no suspecti to be at the scene of the crime]
(57) *The DA proved [there to be no suspecti at the scene
And negative polarity item licensing is shown in (58)-(59).
(58) The DA proved [no one to be at the scene] during
(59) *The DA proved [there to be no one at the scene] during
The state of affairs thus far can be summarized as follows: In situations of
unquestionable overt raising (e.g., subject raising to subject position), we
get high binding behavior. In situations of unquestionable non-overt raising
(e.g., there constructions), that is, situations where there is covert raising
(features only, by hypothesis) if there is raising at all, we get no high binding
behavior. Finally, and problematically, with direct objects and ECM subjects,
which are generally assumed not to undergo overt raising, we do get high binding
behavior. Of course ECM subjects have not always been thought to remain in the
lower clause in overt syntax. Postal (1974) presented 434 pages of arguments
that such subjects do raise into the higher clause. A number of these arguments
were already addressed by Chomsky (1973). But a substantial percentage were
not, including in particular, ones based on the high behavior of ECM subjects
with respect to anaphor binding. Lasnik and Saito (1991) summarize several of
these 'height' arguments, add a few variants on them, and conclude that Postal
was basically right, but that his specific analysis was wrong. Postal argued
that the lower subject raises to the higher direct object position. However, as
hinted above, direct object position is itself not high enough.[5] Lasnik and Saito observe that Spec of AgrO, the
position associated with accusative Case, is plausibly high enough, under the
reasonable (though not obviously necessary) assumption that the adjuncts
containing the anaphor to be bound are adjoined to VP. An ECM subject, like a
higher direct object, would move to that position. Interestingly, though, the
Lasnik and Saito paper ended with a paradox of its own: while they assumed that
LF raising was of the entire NP and not just its formal features, they presented
substantial evidence, some of it mentioned at the beginning of the present paper,
that it is S-structure configuration, and not LF, that determines binding
potential. And yet that the relevant raising was an LF phenomenon was virtually
unquestioned at the time. However, the empirical arguments against this view
still seem sound. And added to them, we now have the conceptual economy-based
argument that LF movement is just of features.
There is, I believe, a natural way to resolve the evident contradiction.
Koizumi (1993, 1995), revising and extending ideas of Johnson (1991), argues
that accusative Case is checked overtly in English, just like nominative Case.[6] The accusative NP overtly raises to Spec of
AgrO (with V raising to a still higher head position, the V head of a
'shell' VP). If this is correct, the seemingly paradoxical asymmetry is
immediately reduced to the independent pied-piping asymmetry in Chomsky's theory
of movement. In the there construction, the only movement is the covert
movement of the formal features of the associate to the Agr head. For an ECM
subject or the object of a transitive or unaccusative, the movement is overt,
hence, of the entire NP. Under this circumstance, all of the
semantic/referential properties necessary for licensing anaphors, NPIs, and
bound pronouns are raised. Plausibly, when only features move, these properties
are left behind, along with the quantificational/scope properties that Chomsky
already argued are left behind.
Earlier, I mentioned that Chomsky (1995), contrary to what is argued here,
claims that raised formal features do license anaphors. His claim is based
on two phenomena. The first is the Lasnik and Saito paradigms that I have
discussed in some detail. Those paradigms provide strong evidence that there is
relevant raising. But to resolve the apparent contradiction with the inability
of the associate of there in existential constructions to display high behavior,
I have suggested, following Koizumi, that raising to accusative Case position is
actually overt.[7] Since overt raising is of the
entire constituent, these facts (and the corresponding facts with simple
transitives) provide no evidence for binding potential of mere features.
Chomsky's second argument involves control. He presents an example suggesting
that the associate of there behaves as if it is high in its ability to control
PRO in an adjunct:
(60) There arrived three men (last night) without [PRO identifying
As (61) shows, a typical object cannot control PRO in this construction:
(61) *I met three men (last night) without identifying themselves
Thus, Chomsky reasons that feature raising, in this instance to AgrS,
does create new control configurations, and, a fortiori, new binding
configurations. Momentarily, I will question the generality of the control
phenomenon, but even if Chomsky turns out to be correct about control, it might
not be necessary to draw a broader conclusion about binding. There
are significant semantic and syntactic differences between binding and control.
This issue would take us too far afield here, but see Lasnik (1992a) for some
discussion.
At this point, I would like to examine a bit further the interesting control
phenomenon brought up by Chomsky. Chomsky implies that the associate of there in
(60) is behaving just as an overtly raised subject, as in (62), would.
(62) Three men arrived (last night) without PRO identifying themselves
But already there is some difference. While (62) is perfect, (60) is somewhat
degraded for many speakers. This contrast is heightened if the adverbial is
fronted:
(63) Without PRO identifying themselves, three men arrived
(64) ?*Without identifying themselves, there arrived three men
Further, under raising, the contrast between structures like (60) and (62)
greatly intensifies. In the following examples, the adverbial is intended as
being in the higher clause, along with the raised subject or there:
(65)  Someone seems to be available without PRO seeming to be eager
(66) *There seems to be someone available without PRO seeming
It is not obvious why this should be so if raised features of the associate of
there can control. Finally, other examples structurally identical to
the original (60) are considerably less acceptable, as seen in (67).
(67) ?*There arrived three men (last night) without PRO saying hello
Given all of these facts, though I agree with Chomsky that (60) is reasonably
good, I suggest that we should at least consider the possibility that that
example is not representative, and that even for purposes of control, feature
raising doesn't suffice.
One problem would still remain with respect to the control constructions
though. Consider once again Uriagereka's example, repeated here:
(68) There arrived two knights on each other's horses
I have rejected expletive replacement as the explanation for the binding here.
Further, I have rejected feature raising as the correct account, for
reasons discussed at length above. That seems to leave no account at all. But
recall now Lasnik and Saito's observation that even objects of standard
transitives have similar binding potential:
(69) I saw two men on each other's birthdays
The account I have presented for the latter fact involves overt raising of the
complement of the verb to Spec of AgrO. Elsewhere (Lasnik 1992b,
1995c) I have argued, following Belletti (1988), that unaccusative verbs do
license a Case on their complements (though not accusative Case). Belletti gave
a strong argument that the Case in question is inherent rather than structural.
Now it is generally assumed that inherent Case is licensed in the head
complement configuration, hence does not involve any raising. However,
Lasnik(1995c) questions that assumption, arguing that all Case, whether
structural or inherent, is licensed in the same Spec configuration. There, I
assumed that the movement to that position is covert, but given the perspective
of the present paper, it might well be overt. Below, I will have more to say
about the claim that inherent Case is structurally parallel to structural Case,
but for the moment, note that if it is correct, (68) can potentially receive
exactly the same treatment as (69), with two knights raising overtly to Spec of
AgrO, where it can bind the anaphor, and arrive raising still higher.
Chomsky's example (62) could be nicely accomodated in just this way. Further,
the ungrammaticality of (66) is still predicted: the associate of there remains
in the lower clause. But (61) is mysterious, as is (67). The first of these
two examples plausibly receives a non-structural account, as control is known to
involve (in addition to structure) thematic properties.The second, though, I
will have to leave for future research.
Evidence that inherent Case is 'structural' is presented by Stjepanovi (1996).
Following Lasnik(1995c), Stjepanovic pursues 'symmetry' in the Case system, the
idea that all Case is licensed in the same structural configuration. Recall
that early minimalist arguments against 'government' had the same
basic motivation.[8] Stjepanovi explores
inherent Case in Serbo-Croatian (SC) in detail, and presents compelling evidence
that inherently Case marked NPs are just as high as structurally Case marked
NPs. Stjepanovi first observes that SC has many verbs with the lexical property
of licensing Case other than accusative (hence presumably inherent) on their
complements. For example, 'vladati' (rule) and 'ovladati' (master)
license instrumental, 'pomo i' (help) licenses dative, and 'sjetiti' (remember)
licenses genitive. With this much as background, consider first the binding
behavior of accusative object:
(70) Slikao je Samprasa i Ivanisevic a za vrijeme me
       'He photographed Sampras and Ivanisevic (Acc.) during
As in English, the accusative object can bind into the adverbial. Now observe
that a dative object has the same binding potential:[9]
(71) Pomogao je Samprasu i Ivanisevicu u za vrijeme
      'He helped Sampras and Ivanisevic (Dat.) during
Similarly, Stjepanovic shows that a dative quantifier, just like an accusative
quantifier, can successfully bind a pronoun within an adverbial, thus obviating
WCO:
(72) Ona kritikuje svakogi bez njegovogi znanja
(73) Ona pomogne svakomi bez njegovogi znanja
Stjepanovic concludes from a range of facts like these that both structurally
and inherently Case marked NPs raise to Spec of AgrO.[10] She does not commit herself on whether
the movement is overt or covert, but given the discussion above, I conclude that
it is overt.
Given the conceptual argument for symmetry in the Case licensing system, and
the facts from SC in support of it, there is reason to doubt a conjecture of
mine in Lasnik (1993). There, I suggested that reflexives are licensed via
movement to Agr, to be in a Spec-Head relation with their antecedents in Spec of
Agr. I further conjectured that in languages where reflexives are strictly
subject oriented, non-nominative Cases are all inherent, and therefore licensed
in situ. S.-W.Kim (1994) has a somewhat similar proposal. Kim shows that the
height effects seen in English ECM constructions do not arise with Korean ECM
and concludes that the ECM subject does not raise to Spec of AgrO
(in fact, that there is no AgrO in Korean). He gives several
paradigms, one of them centering on caki, one of the Korean reflexives. The
crucial ECM example is reproduced in (74).
(74) *Ku kemsa-nun [Chelswui-lul ywucoy-lako]
cakii-uycaypan-eyse
However, J.-S. Kim (1996) offers another interpretation of the facts. J.-S. Kim
suggests that Korean differs from English not in how Case is licensed, but
rather in when it is. In English, raising to the Case position is overt (driven
by a strong feature). If the relevant feature is weak in Korean, then the
movement will be covert, and hence just of formal features. As seen above, new
binding configurations would then not be created.
This would be a good place to end this discussion, except that conscience
forces me to acknowledge a puzzling array of facts in Japanese, presented
by Yatsushiro (1996). So far, with the possible exception of one rather unclear
control example, (67), an overwhelmingly consistent pattern has emerged: scope
and binding go together, and both are 'low' except when there is overt raising.
The analysis, slightly modifying Chomsky (1995), is that covert raising affects
only formal features, but that scope (Chomsky's proposal) and binding (my
extension) involve more than formal features. The mysterious fact about
Japanese is that scope and binding apparently diverge, and in just the way that
Chomsky claims (evidently incorrectly) that they do in English. Yatsushiro
provides strong arguments that in Japanese unaccusative constructions,
the complement of the unaccusative verb invariably remains in its underlying
position at S-structure. It is then not surprising that the complement has
'low' scope (even if it raises in LF, since that raising would be just of formal
features). According to Yatsushiro, in (75) daremo-ga ('everyone') necessarily
takes narrow scope with respect to dokoka-ni ('somewhere').
(75) Dokoka-ni daremo-ga ita
       somewhere>everyone
What is not at all expected is that the complement can bind into the locative,
but that is just what happens:
(76) [Otagai-no heya|-ni [Uli to Susi]-ga ita
Yatsushiro concludes, plausibly enough, that the features of the NP complement
covertly raise, and they license the anaphor from that raised position, but
do not create high scope. To distinguish Japanese from English, she observes
that in the relevant English constructions, the 'Extended Projection
Principle', which demands that a clause have a subject, has been satisfied in
overt syntax (by there). She further suggests that subject position is
completely unfilled overtly in the corresponding Japanese constructions, the 'EPP
feature' being weak. The covert raising in English would then be just of
agreement features, while in Japanese it would be of these plus the EPP
feature. Either the combination, or the EPP feature alone, would then provide the
crucial ability to license the anaphor. This is a potentially promising
compromise between Chomsky's account and the one advocated above. The question of
whether it can handle the full range of phenomena awaits further research.
      which book that Johni likes
       b. There are/*is men here
Based on the acceptability of (15), Uriagereka proposes that anaphors need not
be licensed at S-structure, reasoning that the required c-command relation
between two knights and each other holds at LF (16) but not at S-structure (15).[2]
        [which book that
Johni likes]
       good job offers]
       given good job
offers]
      b. *There seems to hisi lawyer to have been some
defendanti
           at the scene
         during each
other's trials
       during each other's
trials
      during hisi trial
       of the
crime] during hisi trial
      any of the trials
       any of the trials
       themselves
       to get the
job
        to be eager to get
the job
       meca jednog
protiv drugog
       each other's matches'
       meca jednog
protiv drugog
       each other's matches'
       'She criticizes everyone (Acc.) without his knowing'
       'She helps everyone (Dat.) without his knowing'
       cungmyengha-ass-ta
       'The prosecutor demonstrated [Chelswu (Acc.) to be guilty]
       in his (reflexive)
trial'
       somewhere-Loc everyone-Nom be-past
       'Everyone was somewhere'
       *everyone>somewhere
       each other-gen rooms-Loc Uli and Susi-Nom be-past
       'Uli and Susi were in each other's rooms'
*This research was supported in part by NSF Grant SBR-951088. I would like to acknowledge the helpful suggestions of Zeljko Boskovi and the invaluable editorial assistance of Arthur Stepanov.
[1]. The Belletti and Rizzi approach, where Condition A can be satisfied anywhere in the course of the derivation, was motivated by an interesting class of putative 'reconstruction' effects, as in (i), alongside the standard examples as in (ii).
(i) Pictures of himself please John
(ii) Pictures of himself seem to John to be ugly
Belletti and Rizzi argue that at an early point in the derivation of (i), parallel to (ii), John bears the appropriate c-command relation to himself. Larson(1988) adopts the Belletti and Rizzi theory, but somewhat paradoxically, it would appear. Larson's major goal is to account for a class of binding asymmetries seen in English double object constructions discussed by Barss and Lasnik (1986). (iii) and (iv) are representative instances.
(iii) I showed the professors each other's students
(iv) *I showed each other's students the professors
Larson argues at great length for an analysis of double object constructions in which the first object begins lower than the second but raises to a position that is higher. The grammaticalitity of (iii) is thus straightforwardly explained on Larson's assumptions. However, as noted by Hoekstra (1991), the account falsely predicts symmetrical, rather than asymmetrical, binding, since licensing of the higher surface reciprocal in (iv) could have obtained in the earlier structure where it was actually lower than its antecedent the professors.
[2]. Actually, according to the specific analysis of expletive-argument pairs in Chomsky (1986), (15) would straight-forwardly satisfy the binding requirement of the anaphor at S-structure, since Chomsky claimed that throughout the derivation expletives are coindexed with their associated arguments. But see Lasnik (1992) for arguments against this position.
[3]. I don't give a minimal pair here, such as "I saw two knights on each other's horses" because of the possibility of taking the material after the verb as an NP, "two knights on each other's horses". No such possibility exists for the example in the text.
[4]. I will return to an alternative structural possibility presented by Larson (1988).
[5]. See Chomsky (1986) for arguments against raising to object position and Lasnik and Saito (1991) for discussion of those arguments.
[6]. See Lasnik (1995a,b) for further arguments.
[7]. See Lasnik (1995b) for further arguments based on an ellipsis process.
[8]. See Lasnik (1993) for discussion.
[9]. The particular reciprocal construction in theseexamples is apparently disappearing from the language,so informants report that it has a somewhat archaicflavor. The crucial point for present purposes is thatthe status is the same whether the antecedent is accusative or dative.
[10]. Stjepanovi acknowledges the possibility of aLarsonian alternative, but presents an argument againstit. See Branigan (1992) and Bo[sinvcircumflex]kovi (in press) foradditional arguments.
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Howard Lasnik
University of Connecticut
lasnik@uconnvm.uconn.edu