A new Phase for reference in Syntax: An account of wh-extraction phenomena in Germanic within the Phase Reference Model

Abstract

Subject/object asymmetries are attested in a large number of languages across the world. One such asymmetry is the so-called that-trace effect, the effect that wh-subject extractions across a complementizer are not allowed, whereas wh-object extractions cause no such problem. However, not all languages show the that-trace effect; there is cross-linguistic variation concerning this subject/object asymmetry. This thesis focuses on the variation with respect to the that-trace effect in three Germanic languages: English, Dutch and Icelandic. Using research questionnaires, large data sets were collected. These data were statistically analyzed and used as basis for a new syntactic account for the attested variation in these languages. The syntactic account was embedded within the Phase Reference model for syntax – a model that implements meaning and reference to the real world in grammar itself.