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Anti-ECP Effects in the Rejang Language of Sumatra

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Richard McGinn
Richard McGinn*
Affiliation:
Ohio University
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Abstract

This article explores some evidence against the ECP that appears at first to be fairly overwhelming. Upon deeper inspection, however, the evidence supports the ECP and a special universal computation involving the complementizer system, the Complementizer Contraction rule (Pesetsky 1982). Complementizer Contraction is parameterized; some languages have an overt reflex (French, Norwegian); other languages do not (English, Tagalog). To make the argument, many intricate details are described about the structure of relative clauses, comparative clauses, embedded complement clauses, and wh-questions in Rejang, a Western Austronesian language of Sumatra.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article examine des faits qui paraissent remettre en cause le Principe des catégories vides. Un examen plus attentif de ces faits montre qu’en définitive ceux-ci sont conformes au Principe des catégories vides en autant que ce principe soit assorti d’une computation spéciale universelle ayant trait au système du complémenteur, la règle de la Contraction du complémenteur (Pesetsky 1982). La Contraction du complémenteur fait l’objet d’une paramétrisation: certaines langues appliquent cette règle de façon visible (français, norvégien) alors que dans d’autres langues elle s’applique de façon non visible (anglais, tagalog). Afin de présenter cette argumentation, des aspects détaillés de la structure des phrases relatives, des comparatives, des subordonnées et des questions-wh de la langue rejang, une langue austronésienne de l’ouest parlée à Sumatra, sont examinés.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 43 , Special Issue 3-4: Arguments and Structure in Austronesian Languages , December 1998 , pp. 359 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1998

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