Submove: Towards a Unified Account of Scrambling and D-Linking

Conclusion

In sum, we have started by cataloging some properties that are common to both scrambled elements and D-linked Wh-Phrases. We briefly considered each in turn: Superiority violations, discourse effects, semantic vacuity, island insensitivity, and clitic doubling. Such properties are not predicted to cluster as they do under current approaches to scrambling and D-linking. In contrast, they follow at once if resumption is taken to underlie both phenomena, and furthermore, if we are willing to take resumption to be the result of stranding under A-bar movement. Our proposal does so by employing an application of SubMove, i.e. extracting material out of a higher (functional) shell for non-agreement-related purposes, stranding the D-head (which may be overtly realized as the resumptive). This extraction targets a position in the left periphery of the clause, the traditional realm for expressing discourse properties relevant here (such as topicality or presuppositionality).