Minimal Restrictions on Basque Movements

Abstract

This article discusses a long-known restriction on Wh-movement in Basque, describing it in terms of barriers. In essence, Wh-movement is impossible across a morphologically-expressed specifier, while it is possible across a corresponding null pronominal. It is argued that this restriction holds more generally for any category that licenses null arguments in pro-drop languages. The paper then accounts for the descriptive restriction in Minimalist terms, deriving barrier requirements from independently required derivational dynamics. In particular, an attracted feature F, related to a functional projection K containing ‘heavy’ agreement, forces an ancillary morphological repair to apply to the category α which F comes from. This morphological repair results in K being spelled-out and consequently frozen (as a sort of compound) for further syntactic computation; islands (or barriers) emerge as a consequence of the Spell-out of K. An account is also provided for why A-movement is possible across a morphologically-expressed specifier (in contrast to A'-movement). Apart from having consequences for the proper statement of various mechanisms assumed within the Minimalist Program, the analysis constitutes strong evidence for this system in its radically derivational variant (with Spell-out applying repeatedly when convergence demands it), inasmuch as it provides a natural way to understand barriers as a dynamic property of derivational syntax.