Chapter 4 Toward a PF-deletion Approach
4.1 Against other approaches
4.1.3 Against the MD approach
In Cheng (2012), the licensing of reciprocals (e.g., bici ‗each other) and the plural marker –men favors an MD approach. Also recall that the MD approach generally handles well the symmetric properties of RNR since each conjunct is assumed to have the same structural relation with the target. On the other hand, the asymmetric properties of RNR pose questions for this approach. With these general claims of the MD approach in mind, now we illustrate why this approach is not workable in Chinese RNR. Specifically, we focus on the three asymmetric properties of Chinese RNR respectively, namely island effects, P-stranding, and NPI licensing.
In terms of the RNR violation on syntactic movement, the MD approach importantly captures the lack of island effects in English RNR. The RNR target is simultaneously dominated by multiple mother nodes, and no movement (of the RNR target) takes place.
Therefore, the RNR target and its mother node in each conjunct are adjacent to each other, rather than distant from each other. Nevertheless, Larson (2011b) points out the problem of
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multidominance: failure to capture many island effects. And this problem is observable in Chinese RNR. If the MD approach to Chinese RNR is assumed, then we cannot capture the island effects as in (8).
(8)
*[wo bu hui jia gei Zhangsan yinwei wo taoyan ____], [dan Mali I not will marry to Zhangsan because I hate but Mary hui jia gei Zhangsan yinwei ta xihuan____], you qianren
will marry to Zhangsan because she like have money people‗I will not marry Zhangsan because I hate, but Mary will marry Zhangsan because she likes, rich people.‘
As shown in (8), the MD approach would predict the sentence to be well-formed since you
qian ren ‗rich people‘ is simultaneously dominated by taoyan ‗hate‘ in the first conjunct and xihuan ‗like‘ in the second conjunct. In other words, whether the RNR target you qian ren
‗rich people‘ is part of the adjunct island would not induce the unacceptability. Apparently, this prediction is contrary to fact. Regarding Chinese RNR, the MD theory fails to capture island effects, let alone asymmetric island effects as in (9).
(9)
a. Zhangsan haizai kaolu yao-bu-yao jiaru dan Lisi mashang jujue-le Zhangsan still consider yes-not-yes join but Lisi right.away reject-Asp Wangwu de tiyi yinwei ta taoyan de Mali ye jiaru-le Wangwu DE suggestion because he hate DE Mary also join-Aspbianlun she
debate club
‗Zhangsan still considers whether to join or not, but Lisi rejected Wangwu‘s suggestion right away because Mary who he hates also joined the debate club.‘
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b.* Lisi mashang jujue-le Wangwu de tiyi yinwei ta taoyan Lisi right.away reject-Asp Wangwu DE suggestion because he hate de Mali ye jiaru-le dan Zhangsan haizai kaolu yao-bu-yao jiaru DE Mary also join-Asp but Zhangsan still consider yes-not-yes join
bianlun she
debate club
‗Lisi rejected Wangwu‘s suggestion right away because Mary who he hates also joined, but Zhangsan still considers whether to join the debate club or not.‘
If we follow the logic of the MD approach, both (9a) and (9b) would be well-formed, contra fact. That is, the MD approach would overgenerate the RNR containing only one island in the first conjunct. The wrong prediction of Chinese RNR involving asymmetric island effects points to the same conclusion. The MD approach is not applicable.
The second problem of this approach to Chinese RNR lies in asymmetric P-stranding.
McCloskey‘s (1986) generalization that many languages disallow P-stranding but accept it in RNR favors the MD approach. Under the MD approach, the prediction of ill-formed (10a) is not borne out.
(10)
a. *Zhangsan tanlunguanyu er Lisi
hulueni zai bali yujian
Zhangsan talk about and Lisi ignore you in Paris meetde nansheng
DE man
‗Zhangsan talked about and Lisi ignored the man you met in Paris.‘
b. Lisi hulue er Zhangsan tanlun
guanyu ni zai bali yujian de
Lisi ignore and Zhangsan talk about you in Paris meet DEnansheng
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man
‗Lisi ignored and Zhangsan talked about the man you met in Paris.‘
As can be seen in (10a), the MD approach does not assume guanyu ‗about‘ in the first
conjunct as stranded since the complement ni zai bali yujian de nanasheng ‗the man you met in Paris‘ can be dominated by the preposition as if there is no distance between them. Again, the MD approach overgenerates the RNR involving just one stranded preposition in the first conjunct, indicating that this approach is not workable.
Thirdly, the MD approach predicts asymmetric licensing of NPI to be ill-formed. Recall that the MD approach specifically accounts for the symmetric properties of the RNR because the RNR target has multiple mother nodes simultaneously. That is, the analysis assumes that the RNR target exhibits the same syntactic structure with each conjunct. If one of the
conjunct does not license the RNR target, the sentence should be ruled out. Yet, the fact that the RNRed NPI can only be licensed in the second conjunct is a counterexample to the prediction, as shown by the well-formed (11a).
(11)
a. Zhangsan mai-le dan Lisi mei mai renheshu
Zhangsan buy-Asp but Lisi not buy any book‗Zhangsan bought, but Lisi didn‘t buy, any books.‘
b. *Lisi mei mai dan Zhangsan mai-le
renhe shu
Lisi not buy but Zhangsan buy-Asp any book ‗Lisi didn‘t, but Zhangsan bought, any books.‘If there is only one licensor either in the second conjunct as in (11a) or in the first conjunct as in (11b), the MD approach fails to account for why only the former is grammatical. To put it differently, the MD approach undergenerates RNR sentences containing just one NPI licenser
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in the second cnojunct.
Given the three asymmetric prosperities involving the issue of distance, the MD approach to Chinese RNR should be abandoned (cf. Larson 2011b).