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Against LF Pied-Piping

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Abstract

The arguments for LF Pied-Piping given by Nishigauchi and others are represented. It is shown that Nishigauchi's semantics for pied-piped phrases gives the wrong meaning for interrogatives. We argue that none of the arguments for LF Pied-Piping is tenable and most of the arguments against the traditional approach (unbounded wh-movement at LF) do not stand up to scrutiny. However, some data turn out to be problematic for the traditional account. The alternative considered here involves pied-piping at an intermediate level between S-structure and LF. It is called WH-structure and is followed by reconstruction at LF. This proposal will combine the essential insights of Nishigauchi's idea and have all its advantages over the traditional view, without running into the problems of his approach.

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  1. Seminar für Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Tübingen, Wilhelmstr. 113, D-72074, Tübingen, Germany

    Arnim von Stechow

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  1. Arnim von Stechow
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von Stechow, A. Against LF Pied-Piping. Nat Lang Seman 4, 57–110 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00263537

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