This dissertation examines the properties of parasitic gap and tough-constructions in English and Spanish, focusing on the clause-boundedness characteristic of both constructions in the latter language and the difference in finiteness in the clause where the parasitic gap can appear in both languages. Solutions within the Principles and Parameters framework are provided for these problems not dealt with until now.
Chapter I provides a brief introduction to null operators and to the contrasts to be analyzed in this dissertation; it also gives an overview of the relevant parts of the theory. Chapter II is an overview of both the syntactic characteristics of parasitic gaps and of previous analyses of the phenomenon. I conclude that none of these analyses can account for the difference in clause-boundedness between English and Spanish parasitic gap constructions. Chapter III is the core of the dissertation. I posit for both parasitic gaps and tough constructions in Spanish a base-generated operator in Spec-CP which at S-Structure is coindexed with pro in object position. I argue that this base-generated operator cannot be freely coindexed at S-Structure; rather, its coindexation with pro is subject to appropriate head-government and licensing of the null operator. By positing a base-generated null operator binding a pro I am able to account for the clause-boundedness constraint. The different nature of the null operator in English and Spanish and its interaction with a tensed operator provides a principled explanation for the finiteness constraint in Spanish parasitic gaps. Chapter IV claims that any A'-bound element can license a parasitic gap in Spanish at S-Structure, contrary to what happens in English where only variables license those constructions. Evidence for this claim comes from clitic structures and wh-in-situ with an echo reading in Spanish. I also show how language particular properties explain the absence of parasitic gaps in certain environments in Spanish and how the Anti-C-Command requirement on parasitic gaps accounts for the lack of this phenomenon in adjunct structures both in English and Spanish.
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