Ling L: Weird Types of Movement (advanced)

Phrasal movement has traditionally been divided into two kinds: A-movement such as subject raising and passivisation vs. Ā-movement such as wh-movement, topicalization, focalization and relazivization.  This A/Ā distinction is based on a cluster of empirically opposed properties (e.g. binding properties, parasitic gap licensing or locality restrictions). In this course we will start by reviewing classic evidence for this distinction, before presenting various "weird" movement types from a variety of unrelated languages. These kinds of movement cannot be straightforwardly classified as either A- or Ā. We will review the analyses such movements have received, and consider what kind of approach to the A/Ā-distinction could handle them. 1.        Tough movement relates a gap inside infinitival complements to certain adjectives to an external subject (1). Such movement shows Ā-properties such as the ability to license parasitic gaps, and yet it is degraded over finite clause boundaries.  1)        John is tough [ to please t ]  2.        Hyperraising involves instances of subject raising out of fully finite, CP-sized clause, as in (2). A-movement operations like subject raising are typically restricted by CP boundaries; yet hyperraising is found in a variety of unrelated languages.  2)        Os meninos parecem [ que t fizeram a tarefa ] The boys seem.3.PL    [ C t did.3.PL the homework ] `The boys seem to have done their homework.'  Brazilian Portuguese (Nunes 2009: 5)  3.        Locative Inversion involves a (locative) prepositional phrase is A-moved to subject position: a spot that is usually restricted to φ-goals like DPs (or whole complement clauses). Under the assumption that subject A-movement is correlated with case assignment and \textphi-agreement, it is unclear how a PP can be attracted to an A-position.   3)        Under the bed rolled the tiny screw t.  4.        Scrambling is a process of reordering, sometimes with information-structural effects. Whether it has A or Ā, partly depends on whether it crosses a finite clause boundary. In many languages, scrambling that exhibits A-movement properties does so with impact on case or agreement (usually taken to be the forces driving A-movement).  4)        Ich hab gehört, [ dass der Maria der Lehrer t das Buch gegeben hat ] I have heard       [ C the Mary.DAT the teacher.NOM  t the book.ACC given has ] 'I heard that the teacher gave the book TO MARY.'  German  5.        Non-finite relative clauses come in two major classes, both with movement straddling the Ā /A-distinction. Infinitival relatives (5a) involve movement of internal arguments (Ā), yet it is degraded over finite clause boundaries (A). Reduced relatives (5b) display clause-bound subject movement (A), without an obvious case or agreement trigger.   5)        a. [ The book to read t ] is this one. b. [ The book being t read by Lena] is this one.