Open AccessLong-distance extraction attraction: A production-based account of an unexpected cross-linguistic structure
Author(s) -
Dana McDaniel
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
glossa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2397-1835
DOI - 10.5334/gjgl.712
Subject(s) - linguistics , non finite clause , verb , rule based machine translation , element (criminal law) , production (economics) , sentence , relative clause , dependent clause , computer science , focus (optics) , syntactic structure , natural language processing , artificial intelligence , philosophy , physics , political science , optics , economics , macroeconomics , law
The focus of this paper is a grammatically unexpected long-distance (LD) extraction structure in which the extracted element morphologically articulates with the verb of the clause where it is pronounced rather than with the verb of the extraction clause. The structure manifests itself differently cross-linguistically, depending on the language’s morphosyntax. I suggest that this grammatical possibility evolved in response to the sentence planning challenge posed by LD wh-movement. Specifically, LD movement structures conflict with the incremental clause-by-clause planning production process; the fronted element relates to a clause whose internal structure isn’t planned at the outset. The unexpected structure is seen as a consequence of production pressures playing a role in shaping grammars.