ON THE IN-SITU THEORY OF SLUICING IN ENGLISH: A NEW PERSPECTIVE FROM “IMMOBILE” ELEMENTS

Abstract

Recent works such as Kimura (2010), Abe (2015) and Abe and Hornstein (2012) have proposed an in-situ theory of sluicing in English as an alternative to the conventional movement theory advocated by Merchant (2001). We approach this recent debate concerning the internal syntax of sluicing from the previously unexplored perspective of “immobile” elements, which resist wh-movement under a full-fledged question, but somehow can make grammatical wh-remnants under sluicing. We show that this patterning supports the in-situ theory of sluicing over Merchant’s movement alternative. The paper presents the prohibition against movement of the goal DP in the ditransitive construction and the impossibility of P-stranding with certain P+DP combinations as two case studies of “immobile” elements in the area of English syntax.