1Episode 13a.Phases, relative clauses, and LF(ch. 10)CAS LX 522Syntax IReminder: wh-questions In wh-questions such as What did they bake? Questions are differentiated from declaratives in having a “questioncomplementizer”: C [uwh*, clause-type:Q] What is like a pronoun, standing in for the theme. Wh-words are differentiated by having a [wh] feature. The structure of a wh-question is like a V2 clause: T moves to C—except in subject wh-questions: The [uclause-type:] feature of T is strong when valued as Q. The [uclause-type:] feature of T can be valued by [wh] from above. The closest (to C; topmost) wh-word moves to SpecCP: The interrogative C has a strong uninterpretable [uwh*] feature. “Superiority”: Shorter moves are better, take the closest wh-word.What will they bake? What moves to SpecCPand checks the [uwh*]feature of C. T moves to check the(now strong) [uclause-type:Q*] feature. (Not pictured here)C′C[Q, uwh*]CPDPwhat[wh]VPv′T′vvVbakeTPDPtheyT[uclause-type:]<V> <DP><DP>vPMP<M>TMwillWho signed the press release? In subject wh-questions, T doesnot move to C. Now the head ofT’s sister is v, sotense ispronounced onthe verb.VPv′T′TPC′<DP>C[Q,uwh*]<V>DPthe pressrelease<DP>vPCPDPwho[wh]T[past,[uclause-ty pe:wh]vv[uInfl:past]VsignWill they bake pie? Op appears inyes-noquestions inthe sameplace thatwh-words doin wh-questions(and weassume it hasa [wh] featureas well). Op isprobably likea “silent”whether(wh+either).VPv′T′vvVbakeTPC′DPtheyC[Q,uwh*]Twill[uclause-type:]<V>DPpie<DP>vPCPDPOp[wh]Scottish Gaelic tells us wh-words stopin intermediate SpecCPs Bha mi ag ràdh gun do bhuail i e.was I ASP saying that PRT struck she him‘I was saying that she hit him.’ Tha mi a’ smaoineachadh gu bheil Iain air a mhisg.am I ASP thinking that is Iain on his drink‘I think that Iain is drunk.’ Cò bha thu ag ràdh a bhuail i?who were you ASP saying that struck she‘Who were you saying that she hit?’ Cò tha thu a’ smaoineachadh a tha air a mhisg?who are you ASP thinking that is on his drink‘Who do you think is drunk?’2“Unbounded” movement is really a bunchof relatively short movements. Where it looked like wh-words were moving overgreat distances, those distances were traversed insmall steps. What did Kate think [CP <what> Claire said[CP <what> Charlie heard[CP <what> Jack brought <what> ]]]? If wh-movement is in fact constrained not to move“too far”, this explains how it can look like wh-movement is unbounded.What it means to “move too far” Two questions: Why can a wh-word stop in an intermediateSpecCP? [CP What did Abe say [CP <what> that Bart stole<what>]]? Why must a wh-word stop in anintermediate SpecCP? *[CP What did Abe say [CP that Bart stole <what>]]?Phases Sentences are built up in “chunks”, called phases. A CP constitutes a phase. You build (collecting items from the workbench,Merging, Moving) until you’ve built a phase. Then,you “commit” it—after which, you can’t “see intoit” further than the specifier. [CP C[uwh*] [TP Abe T say [CP that [TP Bart stole what… [CP C[uwh*] [TP Abe T say [CP what that [TP Bart stole <what>… If [uwh*] is ever going to be checked, what mustbe visible to it. It must get to SpecCP before it’stoo late (before the CP is finished and“committed”).Optional [u wh*] To allow what to move to an embedded SpecCP, weneed to be able to add (optionally) a [uwh*] featureeven to a C that is not itself [clause-type:Q]. [CP C[uwh*] [TP Abe T say [CP what that [TP Bart stole <what>… If you don’t, the topmost [uwh*] can never be checked. Embedded C may optionally bear [uwh*].Phases explain islands: Wh-islands It’s not possible to turn the following sentence into aquestion asking about the kidnappee—Pat asked [CP who kidnapped the Lindbergh baby].*Who did Pat ask [CP who kidnapped <who>]? Because the lower who can’t move up to theintermediate SpecCP—It gets frozen inside the phase. But—what’s wrong with this?*Who did Pat ask [CP <who> kidnapped who ]?CNP islands—DP is a phase We can use the same kind of explanation forthe Complex Noun Phrase islands: *Who does Jack believe[DP the claim [CP that the list does not include _ ]]? If we suppose that DP, like CP, is a phase. *Who does Jack believe[DP the claim [CP that the list does not include _ ]]?3Adjunct islands One last type of island we’ll consider is theadjunct island. Generally: A wh-wordcannot escape an adjoined modifier. Dr. Hibbert laughed [CP when Homer lost a finger]. *What did Dr. Hibbert laugh [CP when Homer lost]? We don’t yet have a good explanation forthis. So far, we predict these should bepossible.Adjunct islands To account for the islandhood of adjuncts in oursystem, we will add one further condition: The specifier of a phase is only visible to featurematching if the phase gets a θ-role. Note: Adger makes this one step more complicated, toaccount for “subject islands” but we won’t do that here. Adjuncts differ from arguments in precisely thisproperty.Islands and phases, summary… Sentences are “chunked” into phases as theyare built up. Phases are CP and DP. A feature outside of a phase cannot match afeature further inside the phase than its specifier. This leads to island phenomena, configurations inwhich a wh-word would be “trapped”: CNP islands: A wh-word cannot get to the specifier of DPand so is not visible from outside. Wh-islands: A wh-word cannot get to the specifier of anembedded question (that already has a wh-word, or Op, inits specifier). Adjunct islands: Even the specifier is not visible if thephase did not get a θ-role.“Island effects” are a property ofmovem ent. Consider the following: Jack believes [DP the claim [CP that the list does not include Ethan ]]? *Who does Jack believe [DP the claim [CP that the list does not include _ ]]? Who believes [DP the claim [CP that the list does not include who ]]? Dr. Hibbert laughed [CP when Homer lost a finger ]. *What did Dr. Hibbert laugh [CP when Homer lost _ ]? Who laughed [CP when Homer lost what ]? So long as the wh-phrase doesn’t move, itseems that there’s no problem with simplyhaving a wh-phrase inside an island.“Island effects” are a property ofmovem ent