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This Study investigates the syntax of complement and relative clauses in English which lack overt complementizers (clauses without "that). The central analytical claim is that these clauses differ in phrase structure from their synonymous counterparts with overt complementizers. In particular, novel evidence from adjunction facts is used to demonstrate that clauses without "that are more appropriately analyzed as bare sentences of the category IP rather than CP with a phonologically null head, a proposal which has since been adopted in many economy-driven approaches to phrase structure.
In addition to strong empirical support, the IP-analysis is shown to provide explanations for a variety of related syntactic phenomena, superior to those available under the previous CP-analysis. These include the restricted syntactic distribution of "that-less complements, in addition to the adjacency restrictions on "that-less relative clauses. The analytical task posed by the "that-trace effect is also very much reduced under the IP-analysis. The work also examines the syntax of 'subject contact clauses' (e.g."There's a man wants to see you.), common in many non-standard varieties, including Hiberno-English and establishes that they have all the distinctive properties of other "that-less relative clauses.
This book will be of interest to a broad variety of readers: scholars working in all areas of generative syntax, specialists in English and Germanic syntax, in addition to researchers in non-standard English and Hiberno-English.
List of contents
Preface; Acknowledgements; Chapter 1: The Category of That-less clauses; 1. Clause Structure; 2. A Question; 3. Outline of the Work; Notes; Chapter 2: Argument Clauses; 1. Introduction; 2. Arguments for the IP-Hypothesis; 3. The ECP Account of the Distribution of That-Less Clauses; 4. Explaining the Distribution of IP; 5. Chapter Summary; 6. Appendix: Lexical Restrictions; Notes; Chapter 3: Relative Clauses; 1. Introduction; 2. The Structure of Contact Clauses; 3. Subject Contact Clauses; .4. Explaining the Distribution of Subject Contact Clauses; 5. Chapter Summary; Notes; Chapter 4: Extraction Theory; 1. Introduction; 2. The That-Trace Effect; 3. Previous Accounts; 4. Implications for Head-Government; 5. Chapter Summary; Notes; Chapter 5: Concluding Remarks; 1. Introduction; 2. Distribution of Non-Root IP; 3. Extension to Bare Infinitives; Notes; Bibliography; Index
About the author
Cathal Doherty
Summary
This Study investigates the syntax of complement and relative clauses in English which lack overt complementizers (clauses without that ). The central analytical claim is that these clauses differ in phrase structure from their synonymous counterparts with overt complementizers. In particular, novel evidence from adjunction facts is used to demonstrate that clauses without that are more appropriately analyzed as bare sentences of the category IP rather than CP with a phonologically null head, a proposal which has since been adopted in many economy-driven approaches to phrase structure. In addition to strong empirical support, the IP-analysis is shown to provide explanations for a variety of related syntactic phenomena, superior to those available under the previous CP-analysis. These include the restricted syntactic distribution of that -less complements, in addition to the adjacency restrictions on that -less relative clauses. The analytical task posed by the that -trace effect is also very much reduced under the IP-analysis. The work also examines the syntax of 'subject contact clauses' (e.g. There's a man wants to see you .), common in many non-standard varieties, including Hiberno-English and establishes that they have all the distinctive properties of other that -less relative clauses. This book will be of interest to a broad variety of readers: scholars working in all areas of generative syntax, specialists in English and Germanic syntax, in addition to researchers in non-standard English and Hiberno-English.
