English VP ellipsis in unusual subject configurations : Reviving the spec-head agreement approach

Griffiths, James and Dikken, Marcel den (2022) English VP ellipsis in unusual subject configurations : Reviving the spec-head agreement approach. In: The Derivational Timing of Ellipsis. Oxford University Press, pp. 97-130. ISBN 9780198849490; 9780191883613

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Abstract

This chapter presents new data in support of the proposal that, in order to formally license English VP ellipsis, a functional head T must receive a value for its inflection (INFL) specification and have a valued Tense (Tns) feature. Put in different terms, it is argued that, to license VP ellipsis, T must enter into a Spec–Head agreement relationship with the phrase in its specifier and must be in a c-command relationship with a local v head that has a [tense] value. This is therefore a revival and extension of the ‘Spec–Head agreement’ analyses first entertained by Saito and Murasugi (1990) and Lobeck (1995). Novel support for this analysis comes from the behaviour of VP ellipsis in copular clauses in which the occupant of Spec,TP is not a standard referential DP, but an expletive or predicate (proform). Concerning the timing of ellipsis, the chapter provides decisive evidence against ‘derivational-timing’ approaches to VP/ do ellipsis in English.

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