Title: LF Movement of Anaphors and the Acquisition of Embedded Clauses in Russian
Abstract: This article deals with the theoretical problem of Long-Distance (L-D) reflexivization that has led to much discussion recently in linguistic theory. A head-movement account for L-D effects in adult Russian is presented, crucially implicating the X-degree nodes through which movement must take place and claiming that this extends to the content of C-degree in addition to the content of I-degree. Acquisition data from two experiments are presented that show that Russian children accept L-D readings out of subjunctive clauses introduced by the complementizer ctoby where such readings are out for adults, whereas they properly do not accept L-D readings out of indicative cot clauses. It is shown that the nonverbal nature of the embedded subjunctive clauses under ctoby and the multiple subcategorization frames for this complementizer conspire to determine a stage during which head movement, as given by Universal C Grammar, may freely proceed through both I-degree and C-degree incorrectly allow the L-D readings.
Publication Year: 1992
Publication Date: 1992-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 14
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