Cover not available

Article published In: Language and Linguistics
Vol. 25:1 (2024) ► pp.28–55

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

Cleaving idioms with right-node-raising

An LF copying approach

 | Korea University
 | Korea University
 | Korea University
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 2 January 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00148.kim
Abstract
This paper examines right-node-raising (RNR) with idiom chunks. RNR sentences allow idiomatic interpretation when they contain the whole idiom chunk within the pivot (i.e., the shared element) (e.g., Jessica believed, but Zac doubted, that Justin popped the question.), but those containing only a part of the idiom within the pivot do not (e.g., #John kicked, and Mary filled, the bucket.). Given this, Woo, Brent. 2015. Breaking idioms with right node raising. (Paper presented at The Eighth Brussels Conference on Generative Linguistics (BCGL 8): The Grammar of Idioms, Brussels, 4–5 June 2015.) argues for a multidominance approach (cf. Wilder, Chris. 1999. Right node raising and the LCA. In Bird, Sonya & Carnie, Andrew & Haugen, Jason D. & Norquest, Peter (eds.), WCCFL 18: Proceedings of the 18th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, 586–598. Somerville: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) to RNR in that the multiply dominated pivot must not be partially shared for idiomatic interpretation. However, we report that even if the pivot contains the whole idiom part, the issue of missing idiomatic interpretation in RNR still lingers (e.g., #We played a party game, and they used an ice hammer, to break the ice.). In order to deal with this problem, multidominance, movement, or PF deletion analyses must resort to an extra interpretive parallelism according to which a pivot cannot be used in two different senses simultaneously. From this perspective, we argue that an LF copying approach can explain the idiomaticity in RNR without extra proviso since under this analysis, it is not necessary to postulate a separate LF constraint of interpretive symmetry. We extend our analysis to Korean (and Japanese) data pertaining to RNR with idiomatic or polysemous expressions. We thus conclude that lexical mismatches and interpretive mismatches in English and Korean RNR are solid evidence of interpretive identity in RNR.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Idiomatic interpretation in RNR
  • 3.Previous analyses of RNR phenomena
    • 3.1Movement-based analyses
    • 3.2Deletion-based analyses
    • 3.3Multidominance-based analyses
  • 4.Proposal
    • 4.1LF copying analysis
    • 4.2Korean RNR with idioms
    • 4.3Exploring identity conditions in RNR
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (82)
References
Abbott, Barbara. 1976. Right node raising as a test for constituenthood. Linguistic Inquiry 7(4). 639–642.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Abe, Jun & Hornstein, Nobert. 2012. “Lasnik-effects” and string-vacuous ATB movement. In Uribe-Etxebarria, Myriam & Valmala, Vidal (eds.), Ways of structure building, 169–205. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Abe, Jun & Hoshi, Hiroto. 1997. Gapping and P-stranding. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 6(1). 101–136. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Abels, Klaus. 2004. Right node raising: Ellipsis or across the board movement? In Moulton, Keir & Wolf, Mathew (eds.), NELS 34: Proceedings of the 34th Annual Meeting of the North East Linguistic Society, 45–60. Amherst: GLSA Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ahn, Hee-Don & Cho, Yongjoon. 2006. A dual analysis of verb-less coordination in Korean. Language Research 42(1). 47–68.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bachrach, Asaf & Katzir, Roni. 2017. Linearizing structures. Syntax 20(1). 1–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barros, Matthew & Vicente, Luis. 2011. Right node raising requires both ellipsis and multidomination. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 17(1). 1–10.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bošković, Željko. 2004. Two notes on right node raising. University of Connecticut Working Papers in Linguistics 121. 13–24.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bruening, Benjamin. 2010. Ditransitive asymmetries and a theory of idiom formation. Linguistic Inquiry 41(4). 519–562. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carlson, Greg N. 1987. Same and different: Some consequences for syntax and semantics. Linguistics and Philosophy 10(4). 531–565. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chaves, Rui P. 2014. On the disunity of right-node raising phenomena: Extraposition, ellipsis, and deletion. Language 90(4). 834–886. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chomsky, Noam. 1995. The minimalist program. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. Minimalist inquiries: The framework. In Martin, Roger & Michaels, David & Uriageraka, Juan (eds.), Step by step: Essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik, 89–155. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chung, Daeho. 2004. A multiple dominance analysis of right node sharing constructions. Language Research 40(4). 791–811.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chung, Sandra & Ladusaw, William A. & McCloskey, James. 1995. Sluicing and logical form. Natural Language Semantics 3(3). 239–282. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Citko, Barbara. 2005. On the nature of merge: External merge, internal merge, and parallel merge. Linguistic Inquiry 36(4). 475–496. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. Symmetry in syntax: Merge, move, and labels. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clapp, Jessica M. 2008. Right node raising: Evidence from ‘rule interaction.’ In Chang, Charles B. & Haynie, Hannah J. (eds.), WCCFL 26: Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, 129–137. Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Vos, Mark & Vicente, Luis. 2005. Coordination under right node raising. In Alderete, John & Han, Chung-hye & Kochetov, Alexei (eds.), WCCFL 24: Proceedings of the 24th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, 97–104. Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
de Vries, Mark. 2009. On multidominance and linearization. Biolinguistics 3(4). 344–403. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fiengo, Robert & May, Robert. 1994. Indices and identity. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fraser, Bruce. 1970. Idioms within a transformational grammar. Foundations of Language 6(1). 22–42.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gibbs, Raymond W. Jr. & Nayak, Nandini P. 1989. Psycholinguistic studies on the syntactic behavior of idioms. Cognitive Psychology 21(1). 100–138. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldberg, Lotus Madelyn. 2005. Verb-stranding VP ellipsis: A cross-linguistic study. Montreal: McGill University. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Goodall, Grant. 1987. Parallel structures in syntax: Coordination, causatives and restructuring. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grosz, Patrick George. 2015. Movement and agreement in right-node raising constructions. Syntax 18(1). 1–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ha, Seungwan. 2008. Ellipsis, right node raising, and across-the-board constructions. Boston: Boston University. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Hamblin, Jennifer L. & Gibbs, Raymond W. Jr. 1999. Why you can’t kick the bucket as you slowly die: Verbs in idiom comprehension. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 28(1). 25–39. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hartman, Jeremy. 2009. When e-GIVENness over-predicts identity. (Paper presented at the Fourth Brussels Conference on Generative Linguistics (BCGL 4) Ellipsis Workshop, Brussel, 9–10 November 2009.)
Hornstein, Norbert & Nunes, Jairo & Grohmann, Kleanthes K. 2005. Understanding minimalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ingria, Robert J. P. 1990. The limits of unification. In Berwick, Robert C. (ed.), ACL '90: Proceedings of the 28th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, 194–204. Stroudsburg: Association for Computational Linguistics. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jackendoff, Ray. 1977. X’ syntax: A study of phrase structure. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jayaseelan, Karattuparambil A. 1990. Incomplete VP deletion and gapping. Linguistic Analysis 20(1–2). 64–81.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, Kyle. 2007. LCA+alignment=RNR. (Paper presented at Workshop on Coordination, Subordination and Ellipsis, Tübingen, 6–7 June 2007.)
Kayne, Richard S. 1994. The antisymmetry of syntax. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Jeong-Seok. 1997. Syntactic focus movement and ellipsis: A minimalist approach. Storrs: University of Connecticut. (Doctoral dissertation.)
. 2019. Saynglyakkwa chocem: Swuyongseng phantanul cwungsimulo 생략과 초점: 수용성 판단을 중심으로. Seoul: Hankuk Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Soowon. 1999. Sloppy/strict identity, empty objects, and NP ellipsis. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 8(4). 255–284. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Yong-Ha. 2007. Hankwukeuy mwutongsa cepsokmwun 한국어의 무동사 접속문. In Yim, Changguk (ed.), Saynglyakhyensangyenkwu: Pemenecek kwanchal 생략현상연구: 범언어적고찰, 84–122. Seoul: Hankuk Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Yong-Ha & Lee, Chung-Hoon. 2014. Some semantic mismatches in Korean verb-less coordination. Studies in Modern Grammar 791. 37–50. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koizumi, Masatoshi. 1995. Phrase structure in minimalist syntax. Cambridge: MIT. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Kubota, Yusuke. 2015. Nonconstituent coordination in Japanese as constituent coordination: An analysis in hybrid type-logical categorial grammar. Linguistic Inquiry 46(1). 1–42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Larson, Bradley. 2011. Problems with a movement analysis of right node raising in Tagalog. Linguistic Inquiry 42(1). 163–171. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lasnik, Howard. 1999. Chains of arguments. In Epstein, Samuel David & Hornstein, Norbert (eds.), Working minimalism, 189–215. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, Hyeran. 2005. VP coordination analysis of gapping constructions in Korean. Studies in Generative Grammar 15(4). 533–562.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, Juwon. 2020. Semantic taxonomy and NP-coordination in Korean. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal 28(4). 147–174.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levine, Robert D. & Hukari, Thomas E. 2006. The unity of unbounded dependency constructions. Stanford: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Machonis, Peter A. 1985. Transformations of verb phrase idioms: Passivization, particle movement, dative shift. American Speech 60(4). 291–308. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCawley, James D. 1982. Parentheticals and discontinuous constituent structure. Linguistic Inquiry 13(1). 91–106.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Merchant, Jason. 2001. The syntax of silence: Sluicing, islands, and the theory of ellipsis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. Fragments and ellipsis. Linguistics and Philosophy 27(6). 661–738. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. Variable island repair under ellipsis. In Johnson, Kyle (ed.), Topics in ellipsis, 132–153. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. Voice and ellipsis. Linguistic Inquiry 44(1). 77–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Milward, David. 1994. Non-constituent coordination: Theory and practice. In Association for Computational Linguistics (ed.), COLING 94: The 15th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, 935–941. Stroudsburg: Association for Computational Linguistics. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mukai, Emi. 2003. On verbless conjunction in Japanese. In Kadowaki, Makoto & Kawahara, Shigeto (eds.), NELS 33: Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Meeting of the North East Linguistic Society, 205–224. Amherst: GLSA Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Grady, William. 1998. The syntax of idioms. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 16(2). 279–312. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oku, Satoshi. 1998. A theory of selection and reconstruction in the minimalist perspective. Storrs: University of Connecticut. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Otani, Kazuyo & Whitman, John. 1991. V-raising and VP-ellipsis. Linguistic Inquiry 22(2). 345–358.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Park, Myung-Kwan. 2009. Right node raising as conjunction reduction fed by linearization. Language Research 45(2). 179–202.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Postal, Paul M. 1974. On raising: One rule of English grammar and its theoretical implications. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
1998. Three investigations of extraction. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pullum, Geoffrey K. & Zwicky, Arnold M. 1986. Phonological resolution of syntactic feature conflict. Language 62(4). 751–773. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ross, John R. 1967. Constraints on variables in syntax. Cambridge: MIT. (Doctoral dissertation.)
Sabbagh, Joseph A. 2007. Ordering and linearizing rightward movement. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 25(2). 349–401. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saito, Mamoru. 1987. Three notes on syntactic movement in Japanese. In Imai, Takashi & Saito, Mamoru (eds.), Issues in Japanese linguistics, 301–350. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. Notes on East Asian argument ellipsis. Language Research 43(2). 203–227.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2017. Ellipsis. In Shibatani, Masayoshi & Miyagawa, Shigeru & Noda, Hisashi (eds.), Handbook of Japanese syntax, 701–750. Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sakamoto, Yuta. 2016. Phases and argument ellipsis in Japanese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 25(3). 243–274. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2017. Escape from silent syntax. Storrs: University of Connecticut. (Doctoral dissertation.)
. 2019. Overtly empty but covertly complex. Linguistic Inquiry 50(1). 105–136. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sato, Yosuke. 2020. Idioms, argument ellipsis and LF-copy. Journal of East Asian Linguistics 29(3). 259–278. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sohn, Keun-Won. 1999. Deletion or copying? Right node raising in Korean and Japanese. In Editorial Committee of Nanzan GLOW (ed.), Proceedings of the Nanzan GLOW: The Second Glow Meeting in Asia September 19–22, 1999, 367–384. Nagoya: Nanzan University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stone, Megan Schildmier. 2013. Can idioms be passivized? Evidence from online processing. Coyote Papers 211. ([URL]) (Accessed 2021-05-05).
Stowell, Tim. 1991. The alignment of arguments in adjective phrases. In Rothstein, Susan D. (ed.), Perspectives on phrase structure: Heads and licensing (Syntax and Semantics 25), 105–135. San Diego: Academic Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Svenonius, Peter. 2005. Extending the extension condition to discontinuous idioms. In Pica, Pierre & Rooryck, Johan & van Craenenbroeck, Jeroen (eds.), Linguistic variation yearbook, vol. 51, 227–263. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wexler, Kenneth & Culicover, Peter W. 1980. Formal principles of language acquisition. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Whitman, Philip Neal. 2005. Category neutrality: A type-logical investigation. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilder, Chris. 1999. Right node raising and the LCA. In Bird, Sonya & Carnie, Andrew & Haugen, Jason D. & Norquest, Peter (eds.), WCCFL 18: Proceedings of the 18th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, 586–598. Somerville: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Woo, Brent. 2015. Breaking idioms with right node raising. (Paper presented at The Eighth Brussels Conference on Generative Linguistics (BCGL 8): The Grammar of Idioms, Brussels, 4–5 June 2015.)
Zaenen, Annie & Karttunen, Lauri. 1984. Morphological non-distinctiveness and coordination. In Alvarez, Gloria & Brodie, Belinda & McCoy, Terry (eds.), Proceedings of the First Eastern States Conference on Linguistics (ESCOL ’84): The Ohio State University, 309–320. Columbus: ESCOL 84.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zwicky, Arnold & Sadock, Jerrold M. 1975. Ambiguity tests and how to fail them. In Kimball, John F. (ed.), Syntax and Semantics 41, 1–36. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue