Weak versus strong resumption

This article focuses on the distribution and interpretation of resumption in Jordanian Arabic with respect to a well-known distinction: weak (clitics and doubled pronouns) versus strong (strong pronouns and epithets) resumption. We propose an analysis of resumption and reconstruction that relates two major asymmetries with respect to that distinction, (i) strong resumption banning QP antecedents in non-island contexts, contrary to weak resumption, and (ii) strong resumption banning reconstruction in strong island contexts, contrary to weak resumption. Our main conclusion is that weak (functional) resumptives support two distributive readings, either bound variable or e- type, whereas strong (lexical) resumptives can only get an e-type interpretation. The asymmetries stated above then just follow from further constraints on the two distributive readings.