Subject Positions and Derivational Scope Calculation in Minimalist Syntax : A Phase-Based Approach
Yukiko Ueda · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · 2003
This paper proposes a new scope calculation system named a phase-based approach. The new system treats scope calculation as a feature-matching operation between more than one interpretable feature related to quantification (henceforth Fqunt1 ). We call this matching operation Fq.nrmatching. It is shown that the working space of Fquanrmatching is restricted by a syntactic unit phases. Given the matching operation for scope calculation in CHL, scope interpretation can be derivationally determined in narrow syntax as far as it is permitted by the Phase Impenetrability Condition (PIC) proposed in Chomsky (2001). It is demonstrated that various mysterious scope facts in both English and Japanese are reducible to our phase-based scope system without any other special implement.