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dc.contributor.advisorRosen, Sara
dc.contributor.authorSchirer, Kasper
dc.date.accessioned2008-09-29T04:18:16Z
dc.date.available2008-09-29T04:18:16Z
dc.date.issued2008-08-04
dc.date.submitted2008
dc.identifier.otherhttp://dissertations2.umi.com/ku:2632
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1808/4221
dc.description.abstractThe following investigation of null subjects and null auxiliaries in English has two principle goals. First, it seeks to describe the occurrence of null subjects and null auxiliaries in English sentences. Second, it proposes a set of rules which attempt to account for the appearance of sentences which lack overt subjects or auxiliary verbs in English. This analysis focuses on the syntactic conditions which license these deletion processes, noting that these elements can only under go deletion only if they have also undergone movement to the left periphery. However, syntactic considerations alone cannot fully account for the distribution of null subjects and null auxiliaries. Semantic considerations (including information structure) and phonological considerations frequently play significant roles as well. This account of syntactically driven deletion via movement to the left periphery is, in many ways, similar to the account of VP ellipsis put forth by Johnson (2001). The analysis developed here accounts for the vast majority of the English data. Furthermore, it lays down clear predictions for the availability of null subjects and null auxiliaries outside of English, both in languages which are typologically similar and in those which are quite different.
dc.format.extent113 pages
dc.language.isoEN
dc.publisherUniversity of Kansas
dc.rightsThis item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
dc.subjectLanguage, linguistics
dc.subjectAux drop
dc.subjectSubject drop
dc.subjectNull subject
dc.subjectTopic drop
dc.subjectAux
dc.subjectSubject
dc.subjectEnglish language-- syntax
dc.titleYou Heard the New Theory?: A Syntactic Analysis of Null Subjects and Null Auxiliaries in English
dc.typeThesis
dc.contributor.cmtememberTorrence, Harold
dc.contributor.cmtememberGabriele, Alison
dc.thesis.degreeDisciplineLinguistics
dc.thesis.degreeLevelM.A.
kusw.oastatusna
kusw.oapolicyThis item does not meet KU Open Access policy criteria.
kusw.bibid6857362
dc.rights.accessrightsopenAccess


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