TITEL$0733 25-06-04 10:21:40 Titelei: SGG 72, Lechner META-Systems Ellipsis in Comparatives ≥ Studies in Generative Grammar 72 Editors Henk van Riemsdijk Harry van der Hulst Jan Koster Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York Ellipsis in Comparatives by Winfried Lechner Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin. The series Studies in Generative Grammar was formerly published by Foris Publications Holland. Țȍ Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability. ISBN 3-11-018118-5 Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at Ͻhttp://dnb.ddb.deϾ. Ą Copyright 2004 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin. All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in Germany. Acknowledgments This book profited greatly from many stimulating discussions with and con- structive comments by numerous linguists. I would like to express my grati- tude for their invaluable contributions at various stages of this project to: Artemis Alexiadou, Elena Anagnostopoulou, Rajesh Bhatt, Jonathan Bobaljik, Hagit Borer, Mishi Brody, Luigi Burzio, Norbert Corver, Diana Cresti, David Embick, Gisbert Fanselow, Robert Frank, Danny Fox, Anastasia Giannakidou, Kleanthes Grohmann, Hubert Haider, Katharina Hartmann, Martin Hackl, Martin Haiden, Jorge Hankamer, Irene Heim, Roger Higgins, Helen de Hoop, Angeliek van Hout, Bart Hollebrandse, Kyle Johnson, Chris Kennedy, Robert Kühnel, Idan Landau, Jason Merchant, Gereon Müller, Alan Munn, Friedrich Neubarth, Jon Nissenbaum, Roumyana Pancheva, Barbara Partee, Martin Prinzhorn, Orin Percus, Chris Potts, Norvin Richards, Henk van Riemsdijk, Tom Roeper, Maribel Romero, Hotze Rullmann, Uli Sauerland, Ken Safir, Roger Schwarzschild, Melita Stavrou, Wolfgang Sternefeld, Satoshi Tomioka, Hubert Truckenbrodt, Arnim von Stechow, Arthur Stepanov, Ralf Vogel, Chris Wilder, Colin Wilson and Susi Wurmbrand. I am very grateful to Henk van Riemsdijk for having invited me to publish this study, to Katharina Hartmann for an encouraging review of an early version and to an anonymous reviewer, whose detailed critique proved extremely helpful. This book grew out of my 1999 UMass, Amherst, dissertation, but differs substantially from the source text both in from and content. Most prominently, the treatment of comparative ellipsis in chapter 3 and 4 also incorporates the results of Lechner 2001 and related work. I would in particular like to thank Kyle Johnson for his steady intellectual influence, his exceptional guidance as a dissertation supervisor and his support during my stay at UMass. More- over, I am greatly indebted to Roger Higgins, who served as a committee member, and to Barbara Partee. I would also like to express my gratitude to the linguistic community at Umass, which at the time included Kathy Adamczik, John Alderete, Ana Arregui, Emmon Bach, Lynne Ballard, Sigrid Beck, Jill Beckman, Elena Benedicto, Jose Benki, Laura Benua, Hagit Borer, John Boyd, Eugenia Casielles, Isadora Cohen, Mike and Laura Dickey-Walsh, Lyn Frazier, Diamandis Gafos, Irene Heim, Bart Hollebrandse, Angeliek van Hout, Andre Isaak, Junko Itô, John Kingston, Angelika Kratzer, Kiyomi Kusumoto, John McCarthy, Rick McKinnon, Deanna Moore, Alan Munn, Marc van Oostendorp, Orin Percus, Janina Rado, Norvin Richards, Tom Roeper, Bernhard Rohbacher, Maribel Romero, Ed Rubin, Hotze Rullmann, Jeff Runner, Bernhard Schwarz, Lisa Selkirk, Yael Sharvit, Junko vi Acknowledgments Shimoyama, Peggy Speas, Pius Tamanji, Satoshi Tomiyoka, Sue Urbanczyk, Elisabeth Villalta, Ellen Woolford and Jochen Zeller. The study benifited greatly from the time I was allowed to spend at the Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft, Tübingen. In particular, I am grateful for detailed and constructive comments by Uli Sauerland and Satoshi Tomioka, for numerous inspiring discussions with Wolfgang Sternefeld and many stimulating conversations with Fritz Hamm, Orin Percus and Arnim von Stechow. Furthermore, I am deeply indebted to Fabrizio Arioso, Sigrid Beck, Michela Ippolito, Uli Lutz, Pawel Karnowski, Denisa Lenertová, Roland Meyer, Monika Rathert, Ingo Reich, Frank Richter, Manfred Sailer, Yiannis Thomadakis, Craig Thiersch, Hubert Truckenbrodt, Heike Winhart and Kazuko Yatsushiro for their intellectual and personal generosity. The Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT kindly gave me the opportunity to spend Fall 2002 in Boston. I would in particular like to thank Danny Fox, Daniel Harbour, Sabine Iatridou, Chris Kennedy, Andrew Nevins, Jon Nissenbaum, David Pesetsky, Joey Sabbagh, Vina Tsakali and Michael Wagner for their clarifying comments, many interesting conversations and their company. Special thanks to Martin Prinzhorn for his constant, ubiquitous support, and to the Department of Linguistics in Vienna and Prof. Wolfgang Dressler for providing such an extraordinarily stimulating environment. I am also very grateful for having been given the chance to teach parts of this study in Vienna in front of an exceptional audience. Presenting sections of this book at various occasions helped me to consid- erably improve numerous aspects of the content. I would in particular like to thank the audiences at the following institutions for their contributions and patience: GLOW 23 at the University of Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz; GLOW 24 at the University of Porto, Braga; International Syntax Roundtable, Ypps/Danuebe; NELS 29 at the University of Delaware; University of Utrecht; University of Pennsylvania; Egg Summer School 2000 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria; Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Berlin. The work on this book was made possible by an APART (‘Austrian Pro- gram for Advanced Research and Technology’) grant by the Austrian Acad- emy of Sciences, which generously supported my research from July 2001 until June 2004 both at the Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft in Tübingen, and at the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy, MIT. I would like to acknowl- edge this essential assistance, as well as the kind and highly effective care by the APART team (in particular Lottelis Moser and Birgit Distler). Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and to my friends for their steady support, and to Elena for her unparalleled emotional capacities and verve. Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................... 1 1. Synopsis of chapter 2: Comparative Deletion .................. 2 2. Synopsis of chapters 3 and 4: Comparative Ellipsis ............. 5 Chapter 2 Comparative Deletion ....................................... 9 1. Introduction ............................................ 9 1.1. Locality and the identification of ellipsis ............... 10 1.2. Semantic approaches towards CD-resolution ........... 11 2. Identification of CD in syntax............................. 14 2.1. Disjoint reference effects........................... 14 2.2. Reflexives and reciprocals.......................... 17 2.3. Coordinate Structure Constraint...................... 18 3. The syntax of NP-comparatives ........................... 22 3.1. The Degree Phrase................................ 22 3.2. Against extraposition of the than-XP.................. 25 3.3. A new structure for prenominal AP’s ................. 29 3.3.1. Low attachment of the than-XP................. 30 3.3.2. Low attachment of the degree variable ........... 37 3.4. A new analysis of Comparative Deletion............... 38 3.4.1. Head Raising ............................... 38 3.4.2. Head raising and comparatives.................. 40 3.4.3. Four direct consequences of AP-Raising .......... 46 4. The semantics of NP-comparatives......................... 51 4.1. The representation of gradable adjectives .............. 52 4.2. Interpreting the comparative complement.............. 53 4.3. Interpreting the matrix clause ....................... 56 5. Prenominal vs. postnominal comparatives................... 57 5.1. Variable size of the CD-site......................... 57 5.2. Upper bound on the size of the CD-site ................ 61 5.3. Intersective and subsective readings .................. 62 5.4. Reconstruction and Principle C...................... 65 viii Contents 6. Semantic properties of the CD-site......................... 67 6.1. Weak and Strong Crossover ......................... 67 6.2. De dicto readings................................. 73 6.2.1. The operator binds an e-type trace............... 74 6.2.2. The operator binds an <e,t>-type trace............ 75 6.2.3. Against existential closure in semantics........... 77 6.2.4. The operator binds an <<e,t>,t>-type trace ........ 81 7. Move Alpha without Form Chain .......................... 86 Chapter 3 Comparative Ellipsis ....................................... 89 1. Introduction ........................................... 89 1.1. Comparative Ellipsis: the CR-Hypothesis .............. 91 1.2. Phrasal comparatives: the PC-Hypothesis .............. 92 1.3. Outline ......................................... 94 2. The Weak CR-Hypothesis ............................... 94 2.1.