Effects of uniqueness on extraction from definite NP objects
Date
2025-01-22
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Natural Language and Linguistic Theory
Abstract
Going back to Ross (1967) and Chomsky (1973), it is recognized that acceptability of wh extraction out of syntactic “island” configurations is ill-formed. One kind of configuration that has received a lot of attention is NP objects. Here, extraction is sensitive to definiteness: Whereas extraction from an indefinite NP is judged as grammatical, extraction from a definite NP is reported to be ungrammatical (e.g., Which book did Sharon read a/*the chapter of?; Fiengo and Higginbotham 1981). However, NPs are not homogeneous (Grimshaw 1990), but minimally comprise (i) concrete (ii) result, and (iii) process nouns. It has been claimed that these three nominal subclasses respond differently to the definiteness asymmetry in NP subextraction (Davies and Dubinsky 2003). We reexamine Davies & Dubinsky’s generalizations using three acceptability judgement experiments, coupled with novel corpus data. We demonstrate the relevance of the distinction between relational nouns (e.g., chapter) and functional nouns (e.g., title). We propose a novel analysis whereby questions with extraction out of a definite object are degraded if uniqueness presupposition of definite the is not satisfied. This extends a growing body of literature arguing that most “island” effects are not rooted in syntax but arise from semantic-pragmatic inconsistencies (Erteschik-Shir 1973; Szabolcsi and Zwarts 1993; Abrusán 2011; Abeillé et al. 2020, a.o.).
Description
This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-024-09643-3.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2025.
This article will be embargoed until 01/22/2026.
Keywords
Wh dependencies, NP objects, island effects, definiteness, uniqueness, A-bar movement
Citation
Tollan, R., Doroudiani, B. & Heller, D. Effects of uniqueness on extraction from definite NP objects. Nat Lang Linguist Theory (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-024-09643-3