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Scope Reconstruction And A-Movement

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Abstract

This paper re-examines recent arguments against A-movementreconstruction in general, and the idea that there is areconstruction residue. It argues that A-moving quantifiersdo not usually exhibit reconstruction effects because argumentsare interpreted in the position where their uninterpretableCase feature is erased. It shows how the Case-checking conditionon scope taking can be obviated in the case of indefinites bymeans of covert insertion of an expletive, and goes on toprovide arguments that lowered readings of indefinites involveliteral lowering. This movement is subject to RelativizedMinimality, thereby further supporting the claim thatQuantifier Movement is a syntactic operation. The paperconsiders the possibility that such an account can bereconciled with the idea that copies left by A-movementnecessarily delete, and argues that this is possible onlyif the derivational character of syntax is strengthened

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  1. Department of Linguistics, U-1145, University of Connecticut, Storrs

    Cedric Boeckx

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Boeckx, C. Scope Reconstruction And A-Movement. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 19, 503–548 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010646425448

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