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Movement from the double object construction is not fully symmetrical
journal contribution
posted on 2023-08-30, 15:15 authored by Anders Holmberg, Michelle Sheehan, Jenneke van der WalA movement asymmetry arises in some languages that are otherwise symmetrical for both A- and A-bar movement in the double object construction (DOC), including Norwegian, North-West British English, and a range of Bantu languages including Zulu and Lubukusu: a Theme object can be A-bar-moved out of a Recipient (Goal) passive, but not vice versa. Our explanation of this asymmetry is based on phase theory, more specifically a stricter version of the Phase Interpretability Condition proposed by Chomsky (2001). The effect is that, in a Theme passive, a Recipient object destined for the C-domain gets trapped within the lower V-related phase by movement of the Theme. The same effect is observed in Italian, a language in which only Theme passives are possible. Moreover, a similar effect is also found in some Bantu languages in connection with object marking/agreement: object agreement with the Theme in a Recipient passive is possible, but not vice versa. We show that this, too, can be understood within the theory that we articulate.
History
Refereed
- Yes
Volume
50Issue number
4Page range
677-722Publication title
Linguistic InquiryISSN
1530-9150External DOI
Publisher
MIT PressFile version
- Accepted version
Language
- eng
Official URL
Legacy posted date
2018-04-17Legacy creation date
2018-04-17Legacy Faculty/School/Department
ARCHIVED Faculty of Arts, Law & Social Sciences (until September 2018)Note
This is the author’s final version, and this article has been accepted for publication in Linguistic Inquiry.Usage metrics
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