O.N.C.J. Koeneman

Syntactic doubling and the structure of wh-chains

This paper discusses cases of syntactic doubling in wh-dependencies attested in dialects of Dutch, where more than one member of the same chain is spelled out. We focus on cases of non-identical doubling, in which the chain links spelled out have different forms. We demonstrate that the order of elements in a chain is fixed: the first (or syntactically higher) one is less specific that the second one. We argue that this generalization follows from partial copying, a process that copies a proper subconstituent and remerges it higher in the structure. This naturally excludes the ungrammatical orders, as these would involve full copying plus the addition of features, in violation of the inclusiveness condition. The proposal requires pronouns to be spell-outs of phrases, and it is in combination with this hypothesis that the full set of data is accounted for in a uniform way. Advantages over alternative accounts of syntactic doubling are discussed.

Predication, verb movement and the distribution of expletives

This paper argues that predication theory is instrumental in capturing the distribution of expletives. (i) In interaction with well-known verb movement parameters, predication theory explains why not all languages have transitive expletive constructions. Conditions on the assignment of external thematic roles have the effect that the functional domain of a clause is only large enough to host both an expletive and a subject if the verb undergoes verb second as well as V to I. (ii) On the assumption that sufficiently rich inflection is argumental, predication theory also provides a trigger for V to I. It is argued that, after verb movement, I can be interpreted as VPs subject. This explains why rich inflection blocks expletive insertion within the verbs predicational domain. (iii) Finally, predication theory forces an analysis of NP raising as predicate formation. As a result, NP raising is optional in many languages, even if no expletive is inserted.

Vragen aan de linkerperiferie

In this paper we look at how, in different dialects of Dutch, questions are formed in which a question word crosses a clause boundary. Many dialects allow doubling constructions in which two question words appear, rather than one. Some dialects have identical doubling (with two identical question words) whereas other dialects have non-identical doubling (with two distinct-looking question words). We argue that the variation basically follows from the copy theory of movement, in which both full and partial copying are allowed. If correct, the proposal has consequences for the nature and structure of pronouns. Question pronouns, we argue, spell out different phrasal projections that can be independently motivated. The advantages of our approach to alternative proposals are made explicit.