Phase, Cyclicity and Extraction out of Ellipsis in English

Phase, Cyclicity and Extraction out of Ellipsis in English

This paper explores both Wh- and A-movement out of ellipsis in English. In particular, we place argument Wh-, adjunct Wh- and A-moved elements in the ellipsis clause, and overt indefinite expressions, phonetically null arguments and adjuncts, focused expressions and universally quantified expressions in the corresponding antecedent clause, and investigate into their syntactic behaviors. This paper argues for the phasehood of vP, showing that it plays a crucial role in accounting for derivational steps of both movement and ellipsis. Furthermore, by showing that intermediate traces come into play for the identity condition on ellipsis, we argue for a cyclic process of movement through either vP or CP.