Intervention Effects in Covert Movement Constructions

Abstract

Intervention effects induced by sentence negation can be found in many languages. In this paper, we discuss the scope interpretation of quantifiers in English, and in-situ wh-phrases in French single questions, as well as those in German scope-marking constructions. Our claim is that intervention effects should be explained syntactically. In order to capture the relevant phenomena, the framework of Chomsky (2000) and subsequent work is adopted. This paper proposes that NegP, headed by sentence negation, should be identified as a phase. It is further assumed that quantifier raising (QR) and quantifier lowering (QL), whether applied covertly or overtly, are subject to the Phase Impenetrability Condition just like other operations. Under these assumptions, intervention effects in quantifier scope phenomena can be obtained. We also argue that local agreement must hold between a wh-phrase and a scope marker in C in French single in-situ questions, as well as German scope-marking constructions. The locally limited scope of wh-phrases in these constructions follows from phase theory.