Speaker: Filipe Hisao Kobayashi (MIT)
Title: Interleaving A- and A’-movement: a Brazilian Portuguese Case study
Time: Tuesday, March 16th, 1pm – 2pm
Location: Zoom
Note: This week’s Syntax Square session is only open to the department and prospective students.
Abstract: In this talk, I argue against the existence of the Ban on Improper Movement, or any other similar constraints on A- and A’-movement interactions. The argument is empirical: configurations found in Brazilian Portuguese, referred to as interleaved movement, are shown to involve A-movement of an A’-moved element. An analysis of these configurations is proposed which highlights that they are exactly what one expects from a grammar without a ban on A-after-A’-chains. The proposal has important consequences for the treatment of phenomena that have been standardly subsumed within the scope of the Ban on Improper Movement. The paper this presentation is based on can be found here: https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005609