Superiority, Reconstruction, and Islands
Superiority, Reconstruction, and Islands
This chapter examines how the analysis of resumptive pronouns affects syntactic theory, with an emphasis on superiority, reconstruction, and islands in Lebanese Arabic multiple-wh constructions in relation to the minimalist program. It argues that the quantified noun phrase subject of the complement clause can bind the pronoun contained in the fronted wh-phrase in cases where the resumptive pronoun occurs in a non-island context. It also considers the absence of reconstruction effects for resumptive pronouns inside islands and suggests that the copy theory of movement, which follows from the Inclusiveness Condition, is not compatible with the minimal link analysis of superiority (via either shortest move or attract).
Keywords: resumptive pronouns, syntactic theory, superiority, reconstruction, islands, Lebanese Arabic, multiple-wh constructions, minimalist program, copy theory of movement
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