tefan Oltean, Course notes (Generative grammar)
Movement
Movement leaves a trace, it may leave intermediate traces, it is generally towards the left
and upward, rather than downward. Between the trace and the moved constituent there is
a C-commanding relation, in that the moved constituent moves to a c-commanding
position, from where it binds its trace (lowering seems not to obey the c-commanding
relation between the moved element and the trace, cf. lowering of verbal tense).
Movement is not an essentially free process, but one subject to several constraints.
Local movement constraint: in English it is the clause or the phrase
dominated by the CP
Head movement is clause-bound.
Maximal projections can be moved out of the clause in which they acquire
their thematic roles. Long extraction to the Spec of the higher CP proceeds through
the specifier of the lower CP, which is an escape hatch:
1. [CP Who do [IP you believe [CP who that [IP John saw who]]]]?
Movement to A (argument) positions A movement, i.e., movement to a position
which ca assign canonical grammatical function, e.g., the specifier of IP (hosts the
subject of the clause) or the complement of V (in passives), which are associated with
grammatical functions (subject, object).
Unergative and transitive verbs (with external arguments)
2. Sheila likes Martini. [Spec, IPSheilai [VP ti [V likes] [NP Martini]]]
Unaccusative verbs (with intenal argumets): break, freeze, accumulate.
3. Junk accumulates. [Spec, IP Junk [VP [V accumulates] [NP ti]]]
Movement to A (non-argument) positions A movement, i.e., movement to a
position that can be occupied by constituents with diverse functions, e.g., the specifier of
CP it hosts constituents with different grammatical functions (wh-movement)
4. Whom will Sheila entertain? [Spec, CP whomj [CPwill [Spec, IP Sheilai [VP ti [V
entertain] [NP whomj]]]]
Head-movement, movement to a head position, e.g., subject-auxiliary inversion (e.g.,
movement of will head-to-head movement); the head moves to a head position that is
not an A position (cf. 3 will)
Phrasal movement (XP movement) a complete constituent is moved; a phrase moves
to a phrase position.
tefan Oltean, Course notes (Generative grammar)
5. What party did Sheila go to? [Spec, CP what partyj [CPdid [Spec, IP Sheilai [VP ti
[V go] [PP to [NP what partyj]]]]]
Parasitic gap the gap in the position after to (the trace tj) depends on the
phrase with the interrogative pronoun in the higher clause; one of the elements
is moved to the front to form a question. The preposition to needs to be
followed by an object NP; and the question phrase what party has to be
understood as being the object of to. The question is analyzed as leaving
behind a trace at the original position, not pronounced but still grammatically
active, co-indexed with the question-word.
Wh-movement
- Whoi do you believe that John saw ti?
-*Whoi do you believe the [claim [that Bill saw ti]] (Cf. Do you believe the claim
that Bill saw x?)
- Whose book did you read? (pied-piping: the moved constituent is larger than the
wh-constituent)
- *Whose did you read book? (In the starred examples, a wh-word has been moved
out of a position within an NP, to a position outside the NP.
Tough movement
Called this way because examples of it often contain the word tough:
John is tough to please. John is logically the object of please. Cf. It is tough to please
John.
IP
I
NP
Johni
I
AP
is
A
A
IP
tough
I
I
to
VP
V
NP
V
please
Johni
tefan Oltean, Course notes (Generative grammar)
Another example, slightly different:
John seems to have lost.
IP
I
NP
Johni
I
VP
-s
V
V
seem
IP
NP
ti I
to
VP
have lost
