Right Node Raising

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines a construction known as Right Node Raising (RNR). There are many questions that RNR raises, and perhaps the most widely debated ones concern the position of the ‘right node raised’ element: is it located outside both conjuncts, inside only one of them, or perhaps inside both conjuncts simultaneously? All three possibilities have been explored in the literature. On some accounts, RNR initially involves two copies of the shared element, one in each conjunct, which undergo rightward across‐the‐board movement to a position above the coordination level. On other accounts, one of the copies undergoes deletion; and yet, on others, a single copy is literally shared between the two conjuncts, resulting in a multidominant structure. After introducing the existing accounts of RNR, this chapter turns to the diagnostics that have been used to weigh in on the choice between them. These include constituency, case, agreement, reconstruction effects, binding, islandhood, scope, compatibility with relational modifiers, vehicle change effects, and the availability of strict versus sloppy identity readings. Interestingly, with respect to some of these diagnostics, the shared element behaves as if it were inside both conjuncts; with respect to others, it behaves as if it were outside both of them; and with respect to still others, it behaves as if it were only in one.