Abstract
AbstractA certain class of predicates in German optionally allows for their complement clause to appear as coordinated with the matrix clause rather than embedded into it. This construction, which I will call Implicational Complement Coordination, exhibits all the hallmark properties of Asymmetric Coordination: Despite technically being in a conjunct position, the clause in question behaves like a subordinate clause with respect to asymmetric binding, asymmetric scope of negation and adverbs as well as asymmetric extraction. Based on the detailed description of the phenomenon by Reis (1993), it can be shown that this coordinate construction mimics its infinitival counterpart with respect to these syntactic tests. In this paper, I argue that this can be accounted for by saying that the coordinate construction is derived on the basis of its subordinate counterpart by means of movement. The subordinate properties of the second conjunct then derive from its derivational history as a subordinate clause. Further, I will show that even though other cases of Asymmetric Coordination (in German) lack a minimally different infinitival counterpart, they can and should still be derived from an underlyingly subordinate syntax.
Highlights
Even though cases of asymmetric coordination are often seen as somewhat marginal constructions, they arguably concern the heart of matters of generative theorizing
Given the clear parallels between the two constructions we saw in the previous sections, it seems adequate to try and transfer the analysis proposed for Implicational Complement Coordination (ICC) to SLF-coordination
I have tried to present a coherent analysis of asymmetric coordination in German
Summary
Even though cases of asymmetric coordination are often seen as somewhat marginal constructions, they arguably concern the heart of matters of generative theorizing This is because they cast doubt on virtually all the otherwise robust diagnostics of syntactic hierarchy: Binding of anaphors and variables, semantic scope, extraction, etc. Seine Bücher verkaufte er und wandte sich der Malerei zu His books sold he and turned self the painting to ‘He sold his books and turned to the art of painting.’ (Höhle 1990: 234) In all of these examples, we find that even though the structure looks like a simple coordinate one, the underlying semantics does not. Since tests like binding, scope or extraction are usually thought of as the strongest diagnostics of syntactic hierarchy and dependency we have, asymmetric coordination constructions pose a serious problem for the whole framework as such.
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