Edges and linearization

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with how grammar determines the phonological consequence of syntactic dislocation. It centers on a hypothesis regarding the linearization of movement chains - the Edge Condition on Copy Deletion, eventually named the Edge Condition in the last chapter, when it receives its final formulation. The empirical phenomena under investigation include (i) predicate cleft constructions in German, Dutch, Hebrew, Vietnamese, Swedish and Norwegian, (ii) NP-split constructions in Vietnamese and (iii) cross-linguistic variation in head ordering patterns.