Argument Ellipsis Research Articles

L2 acquisition of Japanese null arguments

Abstract Adopting the anti-agreement hypothesis that argument ellipsis is allowed in languages lacking φ-feature agreement, the present study investigates whether second language (L2) learners of φ-feature agreement languages (L1-English L2 learners of Japanese; ELJs) and L2 learners of anti-agreement languages (L1-Mandarin Chinese L2 learners of Japanese; CLJs) can access sloppy interpretations of Japanese null arguments. The results concerning null subjects indicate that both L2 groups behaved similarly to Japanese native speakers (JNSs) by allowing the sloppy reading of null subjects. However, further analysis by L2 proficiency revealed distinct patterns. Intermediate ELJs exhibited L1-transfer of φ-feature agreement, assigning null subjects the strict reading, while the advanced ELJs were able to discard the φ-feature, allowing the sloppy reading. In contrast, CLJs accepted the sloppy reading from the intermediate level, indicating that the absence of the φ-feature functioned as positive transfer. Regarding the results with null objects, both L2 groups performed like JNSs, allowing the sloppy interpretation. Assuming that deleting a feature present in L1 is more difficult than adding a feature absent in L1 to L2, we will explain the results in terms of L1 transfer.

Agree, agreement dissociation and subject ellipsis. Towards a new characterization of the Null Subject Parameter

Abstract This paper offers a new characterization of the Null Subject Parameter (NSP). I contend that the NSP must be modeled referring to two main properties of the Agree/agreement systems: (i) presence/absence of abstract Agree, and (ii) presence/absence of agreement dissociation at PF. The first property results in the division between radical argument ellipsis languages of the Japanese type and consistent null subject languages of the Spanish type, including languages like Central Trentino, i.e., languages with some obligatory clitic subjects but with rich agreement and free inversion. The second property results in the division between consistent null subject languages and consistent non-null subject ones. The agreement dissociation hypothesis also accounts for the partial null subject type, which characterizes languages like Brazilian Portuguese that have impoverished agreement expansion at PF (perhaps, only for number features). From a theoretical point of view, this study focuses on the agreement dissociation property showing why abstract Agree cannot guarantee subject ellipsis even in those perplexing cases in which it produces enough agreement distinctions at PF. The reason is that only an expanded agreement morpheme adjoined to the T0 node can serve as a licit antecedent for ellipsis of a subject D0 head at PF. Therefore, the theory derives the bimorphemic principle in Koeneman and Zeijlstra (Koeneman, Olaf & Hedde Zeijlstra. 2021. Pro-drop and the morphological structure of inflection. Ms. Available at: https://www.heddezeijlstra.org/bio) without further ado, i.e., the observation that null subject properties correlate with a bimorphemic T0 node expressing tense and agreement separately.

Verb‐echo answers in Japanese do not call for syntactic head movement: Arguments for a pragmatic account*

AbstractThis paper tackles the issue of whether syntactic head movement exists in Japanese. Sato & Hayashi (2018) and Sato & Maeda (2021) propose that Verb‐Echo Answers (VEAs), an instance of fragment answers, in Japanese are derived via the so‐called Verb‐stranding TP‐Ellipsis (VTPE; i.e., TP‐ellipsis accompanied by verb‐raising to C), thereby claiming that head movement exists in Japanese as a syntactic operation. In response, this paper argues that pro and Argument Ellipsis (AE) in Japanese sufficiently account for the key observations presented in their works. Specifically, a careful examination of the discourse in each question‐answer pair reveals that the seemingly problematic scope patterns in VEAs do not call for the VTPE analysis. We also show that the unacceptability of voice mismatches in VEAs can be explained by a discourse‐based analysis within the Question Under Discussion framework. Further, we provide an extensive discussion on the alleged evidence against the pro/AE analysis concerning adjunct‐inclusive readings. We show that negative scope reversal effects, which Sato & Maeda (2021) argue occur in VTPE, do not occur between adjuncts and negation in the novel data. Given this, we discuss possible ways to account for the availability of adjunct‐inclusive readings in VEAs with no recourse to VTPE, and suggest avenues for future research. The proposed analyses of VEAs shed new light on intriguing aspects of ellipsis phenomena, which involve complex interactions between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.

Verb echo answers and ellipsis operations: A reply to Sato and Hayashi (2018)

AbstractRecent research suggests that verb echo answers (VEAs) to a polar question in Japanese are derived by sluicing: the V head moves to C, and the complement of C, TP, undergoes deletion, stranding the verbal complex in C. Two pieces of evidence are provided for the view: adjunct inclusive interpretation and voice mismatch, neither of which is conclusive, as shown here. One consequence of the sluicing analysis is that VEAs reverse scope. We show that the semantic shift has nothing to do with the scope reversal. Our conclusion is that VEAs are unambiguously derived by multiple applications of argument ellipsis. We also advance an alternative explanation of the obligatory wide scope for focus phrases.

Clitics, DOM and ellipsis

This paper discusses the correlation between clitics, DOM and ellipsis in Spanish. As observed by Cyrino & Ordóñez (2018), strict and sloppy readings can be obtained in both TP ellipsis and argument ellipsis with clitics. However, DOM animate antecedents severely limit the availability of sloppy readings in argument ellipsis with clitics. This is a new observation, and judgments about the lack of sloppy readings is often delicate. We carried out an experimental study in order to confirm the data reported in Cyrino & Ordóñez (2018). We also wanted to test whether this distinction applied to speakers of three different dialects of Spanish where distribution of clitics and doubling differs. The results show a significant statistical anti animacy effect for obtaining sloppy readings with clitics. This effect is not found with TP ellipsis. In this paper we propose a syntactic approach to account for such effect with clitics. We propose that clitics contain an empty doubled (see also Bošković 2018). We propose an analysis based on the idea that DOM objects are moved out of the vP and that the doubled DOM KP undergoes vehicle change to become a pronoun in the case of argument ellipsis.

Antecedent-contained argument ellipsis in Japanese

This article aims to provide new and solid evidence for the observation made in the previous literature that antecedent containment needs to be resolved in overt syntax in cases of antecedent contained deletion in Japanese. The evidence is new in the sense that it is based on argument ellipsis, which the recent literature has convincingly shown to be available in Japanese, rather than verb-stranding VP-ellipsis, the existence of which has been debated. It is shown how to construct relevant data using elliptic clausal arguments in the hope that similar research will be conducted with data from other languages where argument ellipsis is assumed to be available. It is argued that cases of antecedent-contained argument ellipsis in Japanese can be accounted for by the PF deletion analysis or the derivational copying analysis, but not by the LF copying analysis that posits that copying applies at the very end of the LF derivation.

Brazilian Portuguese argument ellipsis

The present study puts forward a novel analysis of argument ellipsis (AE) in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), according to which AE in BP takes place in a clitic doubling configuration, where the clitic is a phonologically null clitic and AE targets the clitic doubled DP. The clitic doubling analysis accounts for a number of the properties of AE in BP. Specifically, it accounts for the ability of AE to target object DPs; for the inability of AE to target subject DPs, including not only subjects of finite clauses but also subjects of small clauses and infinitival clauses; and for the inability of AE to target non-specific indefinite DPs and idiomatically construed DPs. The present study also reviews the influential anti-agreement theory of AE and argues that it does not offer a viable account of AE in BP, as it both undergenerates and overgenerates AE in BP.

The Identity of a Null Determiner in So-Called Determiner-Less Languages: Evidence from Null Arguments in Korean

There is no shortage of analyses for null arguments in Korean/Japanese: pro, V-stranding VP ellipsis, null bare noun, and argument ellipsis. This paper modifies the third null bare noun analysis to reinforce a null determiner-stranding NP ellipsis analysis for null arguments in Korean/Japanese, which Tomioka (2003) initially proposes (see also Hoji (1998) for the seminal proposal). This paper argues that the null determiner licensing an elision of its preceding complement NP is identified with a non-overt determiner that productively occurs with an overt bare (i.e., modifier-less) noun in Korean/Japanese, but comes with ellipsis-licensing E-features (Merchant 2001). When it is an indefinite one (like the English overt counterpart ‘a/an’), the null article cannot be compatible with the following null NP composed of such an element as a universal quantifier, a numeral, and an indeterminate, accounting for Landau’s (2022) recent generalization on the restricted construal of a null argument (i.e. null NP plus null determiner). When it is a definite one, the null article that comes with a null bare noun projection cannot be, either, giving rise to a non-quantificational/referential E-type reading of the null argument that excludes such an element. Overall, the null determiner and its nature and distribution are shown to resolve ever-puzzling aspects of null arguments in Korean.

Force mismatch in clausal ellipsis

Abstract Recent studies reveal that the values of finiteness, tense, modality and polarity in a clause elided under sluicing may be distinct from their correlates in the antecedent clause. Focusing on CP ellipsis in Hebrew (an instance of Argument Ellipsis), we first demonstrate that it is distinct from both Null Complement Anaphora and (null) pronominalization, and then show that the values of force (declarative, imperative, interrogative) can be distinct between the antecedent and the missing clause as well. Possible mismatches are bidirectional, ruling out “subset” theories of identity in ellipsis and challenging certain accounts of the semantics of polar questions. Implications for the general theory of ellipsis are discussed and evaluated.

A discourse-based approach to concessive <em>although</em>-stripping in English

This study investigates concessive stripping in English, a phenomenon where the so-called Stripping or Bare Argument Ellipsis (BAE) occurs in although-clauses. This elliptical construction has at least two sub-patterns: although-stripping and negative although-stripping. Merchant (2003) and Wurmbrand (2017) argue that although-stripping undergoes clausal ellipsis to contribute to the propositional meaning of a remnant, supported by syntactic connectivity effects. However, the corpus data we have identified indicate that connectivity effects can often be overridden. Based on this observation, we suggest a discourse-based approach in which the ellipsis construction is directly generated with no derivational processes and interpreted with reference to the contextual information in question

Type-Restricted Argument Ellipsis and Generalized Quantifiers

Theories of argument ellipsis based on PF deletion or LF copying do not generate predictions regarding possible constraints on the semantic type of the elided argument. Yet such constraints obtain, as documented in Landau 2022: only type-e arguments can be targeted by argument ellipsis. Focusing on quantificational arguments here, I show that when they yield readings expressible by type-e denotations, they may elide, but when they denote genuine generalized quantifiers, they may not. Utilizing the restricted range of interpretations made available by choice function binding and E-type pronouns, the analysis derives a number of peculiar scopal properties of indefinite NPs, quantifiers, and exceptive phrases under argument ellipsis.

Against verb-stranding VP-ellipsis in Japanese: reply to Funakoshi (2016)

Japanese has a deletion operation, called argument ellipsis, that targets arguments (Oku in A theory of selection and reconstruction in the minimalist program, 1998). The operation does not apply to adjuncts, and thus, adjuncts are unelidable. Funakoshi (J East Asian Linguist 25(2):113–42, 2016), following in the footsteps of Otani and Whitman (Linguist Inquiry 22:345–58, 1991), argues that adjuncts can be elided when V-stranding VP-deletion applies. This article refutes Funakoshi’s proposal. Under rigorous control, adjuncts are generally unelidable even when the context strongly favors the adjunct inclusive interpretation, showing that the language lacks VP-deletion. It is also shown that, for a small number of speakers who permit the adjunct inclusive interpretation, the interpretation is sensitive to island constraints. The observation is attributed to covert right dislocation (Tanaka in J Linguist 37:551–79, 2001), marginally available for such speakers.

Do typological differences in the expression of causality influence preschool children’s causal event construal?

AbstractThis study investigated whether cross-linguistic differences in causal expressions influence the mapping of causal language on causal events in three- to four-year-old Swiss-German learners and Turkish learners. In Swiss-German, causality is mainly expressed syntactically with lexical causatives (e.g.,ässe‘to eat’ vs.füettere‘to feed’). In Turkish, causality is expressed both syntactically and morphologically – with a verbal suffix (e.g.,yemek‘to eat’ vs.yeDIRmek‘to feed’). Moreover, unlike Swiss-German, Turkish allows argument ellipsis (e.g., ‘The mother feeds [∅]’). Here, we used pseudo-verbs to test whether and how well Swiss-German-learning children inferred a causal meaning from lexical causatives compared to Turkish-learning children tested in three conditions: lexical causatives, morphological causatives, and morphological causatives with object ellipsis. Swiss-German-learning children and Turkish-learning children in all three conditions reliably inferred causal meanings, and did so to a similar extent. The findings suggest that, as young as age 3, children learning two different languages similarly make use of language-specific causality cues (syntactic and morphological alike) to infer causal meanings.

Adverbial particle modification and argument ellipsis in Japanese

Adverbial particle modification and argument ellipsis in Japanese

Verb-second and the verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis debate

Verb-stranding ellipsis, when a verb is stranded outside of the ellipsis site in which it originated, has been identified in a number of languages (Irish, McCloskey 1991; Hebrew, Doron 1999, Goldberg 2005; Greek, Merchant 2018; Uzbek, Gribanova, 2020; i.a.), and has been invoked productively in analyses investigating the position to which verbs move and the timing of verb movement in the grammar. Recently, Landau (2018; 2020a;b) has proposed a phase-based negative licensing condition which restricts head-stranding ellipsis and precludes verb-stranding verb phrase ellipsis (VPE) altogether. He claims that apparent verb-stranding VPE must be reanalyzed either as argument ellipsis (Oku 1998; Kim 1999; Takahashi 2008), or a clause-sized ellipsis that strands main verbs (Gribanova 2018). This article approaches this debate through an analysis of head movement and head-stranding ellipsis in the Indic verb-second (V2) language Kashmiri. We show that Landau’s phase-based approach encounters empirical challenges in accounting for ellipsis in V2 languages and requires an unworkable approach to V2 itself, at odds with accounts of V2 in Kashmiri and crosslinguistically (Holmberg 1986; Travis 1991; Vikner 1995; Zwart 1997; Bhatt 1999; Munshi and Bhatt 2009; Manetta 2011). While the present article argues in favor of the standard account of ellipsis (Merchant 2001; 2008), we affirm the important contribution of Landau’s work in identifying challenges that remain for any complete account of head-stranding ellipsis licensing.

Negative Stripping in English: A Corpus-based Approach

Stripping, also called bare argument ellipsis, is taken to be an elliptical construction that unexpresses everything from a clause except one constituent (e.g., Susan works at night, and Bill too.). It can also accompany the negator not, which we call Not-Stripping (e.g., Alan likes to play volleyball, but not Sandy.). This paper reviews key grammatical properties of Not-Stripping in English and investigates its authentic uses with the online corpus COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English). The paper then performs some quantitative and qualitative research of the extracted data and discusses theoretical implications. The result from corpus investigation shows that Not-Stripping preferably used as PP remnant. Its register distribution also shows that Not-Stripping is most frequently used in fiction register followed by spoken, and magazine registers which may indicate that Not-Stripping is mainly used in colloquial context. In terms of category match/mismatch types, the construction is overtly used as mismatching relation between the remnant and the correlate. In addition, in case of merger/sprouting types, Not-Stripping seems to favor merger type, but sprouting type can be regarded as frequently used type. The grammatical function of both remnant and correlate are preferably used as modifier. The data for Not-Stripping are dealt with move-and-delete operations to postulate putative clausal source. Observing such attested data challenging the derivation of negative stripping from syntactic movement operations, the paper challenges a direct licensing construction-based analysis of the construction.

Syntax of either in either… or… sentences

I propose an analysis of either in either… or … sentences that relates to a broader generalization about the syntax of all focus-sensitive operators. I argue that either originates inside the disjunction phrase, c-commanding the leftmost contrastive focus. Then it is internally merged as the sister of the disjunction phrase. Either copy of either may be pronounced. When either appears higher than the sister of the disjunction phrase, bare argument ellipsis has occurred in the second disjunct. This analysis of either is consonant with the generalization that all focus-sensitive operators occupy two positions in a sentence (e.g. Cable 2007; Hirsch 2017; and Quek and Hirsch 2017). If this analysis of either is correct, then it not only indicates that either is a focus-sensitive operator, but also adds another data point to this universal generalization.

On the Distribution of Missing Arguments and Adjuncts under the Pro Approach

This paper focuses on different behaviors of missing arguments and adjuncts. More specifically, this paper shows that interpretations of missing arguments can be freely recovered regardless of their environments while those of missing adjuncts can be recovered in very restricted environments. With respect to this difference, we suggest that missing arguments are syntactically present as silent forms. Hence, their interpretations are relatively less influenced by pragmatic processes. We also suggest that missing adjuncts can be classified into two types. Adjunct reading of one type is obtained through mandatory pragmatic enrichment processes like saturation, and that of the other type is obtained through optional free pragmatic enrichment. Hence, interpretations of missing adjuncts are more influenced by context. We further show that the analysis advanced here can provide a solid explanation for the data pointed out by Yim (2020). We also discuss some advantages of pronoun analysis in comparison to argument ellipsis analyses and Verb-Stranding VP ellipsis analyses.

Verb Acquisition in English and Other Languages

Massive researches and experiments are attempting to explore the exact process of verb acquisition of child learners at an early age (1 to 3 years old). Therefore, the “syntactic bootstrapping method” is introduced and explicated in this paper, trying to illuminate whether children used syntax to learn verbs in English. Apart from English, other languages with totally different grammatical structures are also being discussed as well: regarding massive ellipsis of noun arguments (NPs) in Mandarin, researches and experiments on the acquisition of verbs in Mandarin ought to be carried out more in the near future. The purpose of this article is to give a brief introduction of word acquisition, especially verb acquisition with linguistic syntactic information; moreover, some practical hints of verb acquisition are also presented within the paper.

Predicate formation and verb-stranding ellipsis in Uzbek

This paper investigates the interaction between head movement of the verb and ellipsis of vP (verb-stranding ellipsis, VSE) in Uzbek — an understudied Turkic language of Central Asia. I argue that Uzbek verbal predicates are formed by head movement, while non-verbal predicates are formed by a species of Local Dislocation (Embick & Noyer 2001; Embick 2003). Uzbek has two distinct ellipsis strategies that yield similar strings: argument ellipsis (AE) and VSE. VSE occurs only with (head-moved) verbs, and can elide non-verbal predicates, while AE cannot. Uzbek VSE imposes a strict identity requirement on the heads extracted from the ellipsis site (the Verbal Identity Condition (Goldberg 2005b)). Both the genuine existence of this condition, and its source, have recently come under scrutiny; this paper presents Uzbek evidence in support of the claim that the Verbal Identity Condition is genuinely present in a subset of typologically diverse languages with VSE (see Gribanova 2018b). Variable crosslinguistic behavior with respect to the Verbal Identity Condition is predicted by an independently supported view of head movement (Harizanov & Gribanova 2019) in which certain types of head movement are syntactic — yielding the potential for mismatches of extracted material, by analogy with phrasal movement (Merchant 2001) — while others are postsyntactic (yielding the Uzbek-type VSE pattern). The Uzbek investigation therefore provides crucial evidence in favor of a particular view of the crosslinguistic landscape of VSE, and moves us a step closer to explaining why head movement out of ellipsis domains varies systematically in its behavior across languages.