AbstractWe propose to extend the feature movement theory (Chomsky 1995; Ochi 1999; Lasnik 1999, 2001; Agbayani 1998, 2000, 2006; Agbayani & Ochi 2006) by claiming that the separation of formal features (FF) from the rest of a lexical item occurs not only in syntactic movement but also in the course of lexical insertion. Applying this hypothesis to Parasitic Gap constructions, we argue that the FF and the rest of the lexical item are merged into the Parasitic Gap site and the real gap site, respectively. The split lexical insertion model straightforwardly accounts for the major properties of these constructions without appealing to sideward movement (Nunes 2001, 2004) or to additional assumptions about the featural content of the split portions of the lexical item under fission (Assmann 2012/Himmelreich 2017). An interesting result of this proposal is that it places parasitic gap constructions under a general theory of movement and lexical insertion.