Asymmetries in (c)overt extraction from relative clauses and a linearization-based account

Quantifiers usually give rise to scope ambiguity when two or more occur in the same clause: the surface scope is determined by the surface c-commanding relation between two quantificational phrases, while the inverse scope arises from some scope-shifting mechanism which does not bring phonological effects. One of the widely assumed scope-shifting mechanisms is Quantifier Raising (May 1977), an optional application of a movement rule which reverses the surface c-commanding relation at LF but has no effect at PF (i.e. covert movement), but it also faces a challenge posed by the lack of a perfect parallelism between scope and overt extraction. In this talk, I contribute to a better understanding of covert movement via investigating apparent asymmetries between (i) scope ambiguity and (ii) overt extraction across Mandarin RCs. I argue that QR from some Mandarin RCs to the edge of the containing DPs is possible, while overt movement from Mandarin RCs into the matrix clause is not, and develop an account for this claim, based on a linearization principle from Fox and Pesetsky 2009 and insights from Sichel 2018 on exceptional extraction out of RCs cross-linguistically. I will also discuss the consequences of the adopted linearization principle on the nature of covert movement like QR and its distinction from overt ones.

Location: Royce Hall 362