Research Paper
Local licensers and recovering in VP ellipsis
Authors:
Sonia Cyrino ,
Dept. de Lingüística, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem, Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, 13084-100 Campinas, SP, Brasil, BR
Gabriela Matos
Dept. de Linguística Geral e Românica & Onset-CEL,
Faculdade de Letras da, Universidade de Lisboa
Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal, PT
Abstract
The core properties of VP ellipsis in English and Portuguese may be captured assuming that the elliptical constituent is licensed under local c-command by a verbal element in a sentence functional head. However, the lack of VP ellipsis in most Romance languages and in German, despite the existence of verb movement to sentence functional projections in these languages, suggests that a parameter is involved. Empirical evidence indicates that this parametric variation should not be attributed to a specific functional head because the functional head occupied by the verbal licenser may vary across languages and language varieties. So we will claim that the existence vs. absence of VP ellipsis in the languages considered in this study is due to the features of the functional head that intervenes between the verbal licenser and the elliptical vP phase.
How to Cite:
Cyrino, S., & Matos, G. (2005). Local licensers and recovering in VP ellipsis. Journal of Portuguese Linguistics, 4(2), 79–112. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/jpl.160
Published on 31 Dec 2005.
Peer Reviewed
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