| dc.description.abstract | The thesis argues for a remnant movement analysis of constructions referred to
in the literature as Left Branch Extractions (LBE). The best known cases of LBE,
or what I term split-XPs, are found in Slavic languages, which allow all prenominal
constituents to be separated from the noun they modify. I argue that the derivation
of these constructions proceeds in two steps. First, the non-focused material
is vacated out of the DP/PP in order to restrict the focus domain to the prenominal
modifier. Subsequently, the remnant XP is fronted to the specifier of focus
phrase. The remnant movement analysis easily tackles the problem of apparent
non-constituent movement in split PPs, as well as accounts for the preservation of
ordering restrictions within the DP and the observation that both parts of the split
must occupy derived positions. On the theoretical side, I argue that not all movement
operations can be characterized in terms of Attract feature, as standardly
assumed within the Minimalist framework. In particular, I assume that the first
movement step is brought about by the properties of the source position, rather
than by any formal requirement of the target, and correlate this with the ability
of the first movement operation to circumvent islands. Finally, I show that crosslinguistic
variation regarding the possibility of extracting left branch constituents
cannot be reduced to the presence vs absence of a determiner phrase, as suggested
in previous analyses.Interestingly, Bulgarian which differs from other Slavic languages
in having overt articles, seems to allow the constructions in question, thus
suggesting that the locus of parametric variation must be sought in properties other
than the categorial status of noun phrases. | en |
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