Preverbal subject DPs in English seem to allow for the extraction of a PP complement, but not of a DP complement stranding the preposition of. Assuming a top-down computation, we argue that an extracted PP cannot be re-merged within a criterial preverbal subject (in the sense of Rizzi 2006), but it can be re-merged within a non-criterial subject that has undergone full reconstruction. This ‘delayed remerge’ implies that in the preverbal position, the selectional requirement of the N head for a PP complement is not computed yet. This immediately accounts for the impossibility of P-stranding within a preverbal subject: the presence of the preposition implies that the computation of the N’s selectional requirement has not been delayed.
On a PP/DP asymmetry in extraction
Cristiano Chesi
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2015-01-01
Abstract
Preverbal subject DPs in English seem to allow for the extraction of a PP complement, but not of a DP complement stranding the preposition of. Assuming a top-down computation, we argue that an extracted PP cannot be re-merged within a criterial preverbal subject (in the sense of Rizzi 2006), but it can be re-merged within a non-criterial subject that has undergone full reconstruction. This ‘delayed remerge’ implies that in the preverbal position, the selectional requirement of the N head for a PP complement is not computed yet. This immediately accounts for the impossibility of P-stranding within a preverbal subject: the presence of the preposition implies that the computation of the N’s selectional requirement has not been delayed.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
