THE ATB THEORY OF PARASITIC GAPS

Abstract

I would like to explore some considerations that suggest that all parasitic gaps arise as a consequence of the principle of across-the-board (ATB) rule application. This proposal was first hinted at in ROSS (1967); it was adopted for Dutch by Huybregts and van Riemsdijk (1984), but rejected by them for English, which they assume to have 'Chomsky style' parasitic gaps along the lines of Chomsky (1982, 1986). I want to show that there is an ATB theory which accounts for the basic properties of all parasitic gaps. An account similar to the present one in several respects, but independently arrived at, is that of Haik (1985). In the course of outlining my ideas I will point out comparisons with hers. The principle differences between her proposals and mine are that in her view, parasitic gaps are not traces in s-structure, whereas they are in mine, arising as any ATB gap arises; and in her view, the coordination that licences the parasitic gaps arises through a restructuring of s-structure (to derive LF) whereas in mine parasitic gaps are licenced by s-structure coordination like all ATB gaps. Consider the following typical parasitic gap (pg):