Fragments and structural identity on a direct interpretation approach

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between merger and sprouting fragments, which are typically taken to involve clausal ellipsis. We argue that structural identity constraints on fragments and their correlates should, where appropriate, make reference to the argument structure of lexical heads in the antecedent clauses. Our proposal is spelled out as part of a direct interpretation approach to clausal ellipsis, but, in addition, it incorporates processing-based preferences as a means to motivate the contrast between merger and sprouting fragments. We propose specifically that phrases which are available to serve as correlates for fragments are maximal categories derived from the argument structure of lexical heads in the antecedents. This proposal successfully predicts form-matching effects that surface under clausal ellipsis, as well as well-known limits on clausal ellipsis regarding the morphosyntactic form of fragments. We take advantage of the fact that fragments are not embedded in unpronounced structures, which allows us to articulate a proposal that avoids the difficulty of having to simultaneously relate a fragment to the structure of the antecedent and to its own unpronounced structure, a difficulty that current PF-deletion accounts face.