Beyond Coherence

The syntax of opacity in German

Vera Lee-Schoenfeld | Swarthmore College

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027233783 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027291974 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

The overarching theme of this volume is one of the central concerns of syntactic theory: How local is syntax, and what are the measures of syntactic locality? It is argued here that movement and anaphoric relations are governed by a unified concept of locality: the phase. On an empirical level, Beyond Coherence brings together three strands of research on German syntax: ‘coherence’, the study of (reduced) infinitive constructions; the possessor dative construction, with a dative nominal playing the dual role of possessor and affectee; and binding, the distribution of anaphors and pronominals. These apparently disparate areas of research intersect in that the locality constraints on the possessor dative construction and binding allow the two phenomena to serve as probes for infinitival clause size. Offering a Minimalist ‘possessor raising’ and phase-based binding account, this work culminates in a discussion of the phase as the key to the various opacity effects observed in the book.

[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 114] 2007. viii, 206 pp.

Publishing status:

https://doi.org/10.1075/la.114

Table of Contents

Preface | p. viii

Introduction | pp. 1–3

Part I. Reduced infinitive constructions

Chapter 1: Coherence and restructuring | pp. 6–30

1.1 (Non)finite complementation and transparency
1.2 Coherence, non-coherence, and a "third" construction
1.3 A typology of (non-)restructuring
Part II. The possessor dative construction

Chapter 2: German possessor datives: Raised and affected | pp. 33–86

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Scope of the chapter
2.3 Possessor raising
2.4 Possessor datives in a framework of dynamic structure-building
2.5 Residual issues

Chapter 3: Possessor raising as coherence diagnostic | pp. 87–112

3.1 Scrambling and long passive as diagnostics for infinitival clause size
3.2 Possessor datives: A more reliable probe
3.3 Possessor datives in the context of AcIs
Part III. Coherence by phase

Chapter 4: A phase-based binding account of (non-)complementarity in German | pp. 115–159

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Previous accounts
4.3 Binding domains and agentivity
4.4 Taking the analysis to the next phase

Chapter 5: Binding, possessor datives, and phasehood | pp. 160–178

5.1 Parallels between binding and possessor datives as probes for transparency
5.2 The phase as the key to opacity effects

Appendix A | pp. 179–180

Appendix B | pp. 181–191

Name index | pp. 201–202

Subject index | pp. 203–206

“In probing the 'Satzwertigkeit' of infinitives, Vera Lee-Schoenfeld shows great sensitivity to key questions of both traditional philology and modern syntactic theory. Her insightful analysis of the surprising Possessor Dative Construction facts makes an essential contribution to the lively debate on locality in syntax, yielding an empirical argument that is sure to be influential.”

C. Jan-Wouter Zwart, University of Groningen

“Lee-Schoenfeld provides a masterful guide through the intricate data on a fundamental syntactic question: what makes a phrase into a boundary for syntactic processes? Drawing on extensive data from German, she shows that disparate empirical domainspossessor datives and binding factsconverge on a new understanding of ‘clausal’ locality effects emerging from the phase. This landmark study is a significant contribution to our understanding of German syntax.”

Jason Merchant, University of Chicago

Cited by (9)

Cited by nine other publications

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Sperlich, Darcy

2020. A Theoretical Synthesis. In Reflexive Pronouns: A Theoretical and Experimental Synthesis [Language, Cognition, and Mind, 8], ► pp. 21 ff.

Grano, Thomas & Howard Lasnik

2018. How to Neutralize a Finite Clause Boundary: Phase Theory and the Grammar of Bound Pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry 49:3 ► pp. 465 ff.

Oya, Toshiaki

2017. Let middles in Dutch and German: False friends?. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 20:3 ► pp. 229 ff.

Lee-Schoenfeld, Vera

2016. The syntax of external and internal possessor variation in German inalienable possession. STUF - Language Typology and Universals 69:1 ► pp. 113 ff.

Lee-Schoenfeld, Vera

2020. Binding. In The Cambridge Handbook of Germanic Linguistics, ► pp. 493 ff.

Lee‐Schoenfeld, Vera

2008. Binding, Phases, and Locality. Syntax 11:3 ► pp. 281 ff.

Pitteroff, Marcel

2015. Non-canonical middles: a study of personal let-middles in German. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 18:1 ► pp. 1 ff.

Pitteroff, Marcel & Cinzia Campanini

2013. Variation in analytic causative constructions: a view on German and Romance. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 16:2-3 ► pp. 209 ff.

Aldridge, Edith

2008. Phase-based account of extraction in Indonesian. Lingua 118:10 ► pp. 1440 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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