ON THE DERIVATION OF PARASITIC GAP CONSTRUCTIONS

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of so-called parasitic gap constructions within the framework of the Minimalist Program advanced in Chomsky (1995). Basically adopting the null operator analysis of Chomsky (1986b), I will demonstrate that the Anti-C-Command Condition and the Overt Licensing Condition are reducible from the general mechanism of feature checking, coupled with the assumption that the operator involved in this construction has a defective referential feature which must be checked by an antecedent. It will be shown that no construction-specific device or S-Structure condition is necessary in accounting for the data, which suggests that the Minimalist Program is not only conceptually desirable but descriptively adequate.