A Note on VP-ellipsis Regarding Get-passives in English

This paper is an attempt to explain a particular data point of VP-ellipsis with respect to get-passives in English. The concern of the paper is why it is that after the passive auxiliary be, VP-ellipsis is usually allowed while it is not after the passive get. Furthermore, this paper is also concerned with the previous finding that when get is replaced with the auxiliary do, an ungrammatical string becomes grammatical. To explain the paradigm, this paper entertains the highest-phrase-as-a-phase proposal of Bošković (2008, 2010, 2012) along with his idea that ellipsis is done by the phase or by its complement. Additionally, this paper deals with the much disputed syntax of British do in VP-ellipsis. Baltin’s (2012:387) “mystery” regarding British do is nicely explained under the present analysis in that the string turns out illegitimate when the elided part does not form a phase or the complement of the phase head.