Parallel Merge and the syntax of free relatives.

摘要

This dissertation is a study of the structure and interpretation of free relatives. Free relatives have been given two conflicting accounts in the generative literature; the Comp Account, on which the wh-pronoun occupies the [Spec,CP] position and the free relative is headed by an empty pronominal element, and the Head Account, on which the free relative is headed by the wh-phrase and the [Spec,CP] position is either non-projected or empty. Both accounts have important insights to offer. The Head Account provides a clear account of the matching effects and the distribution of free relatives, whereas the Comp Account provides a clear account of the parallels between free relatives and wh-questions. This suggests a need for an analysis combining the insights of both accounts. Developing such an analysis and examining its empirical and theoretical consequences is the main goal of this dissertation.; Chapter 2 focuses on case and category matching effects. Interestingly, the same matching effects are found in an apparently unrelated construction: Across-the-Board wh-questions. I argue that the parallelism between ATB wh-questions and free relatives with respect to matching is a reflex of a much deeper parallelism in structure and derivation, and that both ATB questions and free relatives involve a multi-dominance structure in which a single wh-pronoun combines simultaneously with two lexical items. The crucial technical innovation is a Parallel Merge mechanism, a non-binary variant of Merge of Chomsky 1995.; Chapter 3 examines the consequences of the Parallel Merge account for the analysis of reconstruction effects in free relatives. The Parallel Merge account, in addition to providing a clear account of matching, accounts for the lack of Principle C effects in free relatives. Furthermore, it explains why free relatives pattern with headed relatives rather than wh-questions with respect to reconstruction phenomena.; Chapter 4 examines two relatives of free relatives: whatever adjunct clauses and relatives headed by pronominal elements. Both have been treated as free relatives in the literature. This chapter shows that this direction of assimilation is on the wrong track, and that both whatever adjuncts and light-headed relatives are structurally distinct from free relatives.