A'-dependencies in Greek : a movement approach to resumption

• Κύριος συγγραφέας: Γεωργίου, Ρένος
• Άλλοι συγγραφείς: Georgiou, Renos
• Γλώσσα: English
• Έκδοση: 2022
• Θέματα: Movement; Syntax-semantics interface; Topicalization; Wh-questions; Resumption; Clitic; Μετακίνηση; Διεπαφή σύνταξης - σημασιολογίας; Θεματοποίηση; Ερωτήσεις μερικής άγνοιας; Ανάκληση; Κλιτικό

The present thesis focuses on gap and resumptive A’-dependencies in Greek and its main goal is to investigate the syntactic representation and the syntax-semantics mapping that gives rise to clitic-resumption in A’-dependencies. The main claim of the present thesis is that resumptive dependencies are derived by movement and that resumptive clitics mark copies (‘traces’) that are interpreted as variables of type e (ReMIV – Resumption Marks Individual Variables). This proposal captures both the distribution of resumptive clitics in A’-dependencies and the syntactic/semantic behavior of resumptive and non-resumptive dependencies. Regarding the distribution of resumption in Greek A’-dependencies, it is shown that resumptive clitics are obligatory in some contexts (e.g., CLLD), excluded in others (e.g., Topicalization), while in some contexts they are optional (e.g., which-questions). In line with ReMIV, it is proposed that obligatory clitic-resumption indicates that movement chains that are headed by individual-denoting phrases (e.g., CLLD) always leave behind a copy/variable of type e, which triggers clitic-resumption. On the other hand, movement chains that are headed by property-denoting phrases (e.g., Topicalization) cannot map onto individual traces, thus clitics are excluded. Last, clitic-resumption in wh-questions is optional, because wh-questions can be either interpreted through λ-abstraction over individual variables (resumptive wh-questions) or through some other semantic strategy (abstraction over choice functions, total reconstruction) which gives rise to gap wh-questions. Moreover, resumptive dependencies (e.g., CLLD, resumptive wh-questions) do not show all the standard properties of A’-movement chains. For example, they are restricted to wide- scope readings and they are insensitive to WCO-effects. According to the movement analysis of resumptive dependencies proposed here, these properties stem from the individual-type of copies/traces in resumptive dependencies. Finally, the thesis proposes that resumptive clitics enter the derivation as definite determiners. Building on the assumption that copies turn into individual variables through a trace conversion rule, (Fox 2002), it is proposed that resumptive clitics realize the indexed determiner introduced by this rule. This line of analysis captures both the correlation between resumptive clitics and individual variables in the trace position (as predicted by ReMIV) and the morphological resemblance between clitics and definite articles in Greek.