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Object movement symmetries in British English dialects: Experimental evidence for a mixed case/locality approach

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Abstract

This article reports on a judgment experiment intended to test a prediction of Anagnostopoulou’s (2003) seminal proposal concerning locality of A-movement in languages with Theme-Goal orders in active and passive contexts. Results from an experiment with native speakers of British English show a significant cross-speaker correlation between scores for Theme-Goal orders in active contexts and Theme passives. The results nevertheless indicate a richer inventory of grammars than the two-dialect distribution entailed by a single parametric difference assumed in locality approaches. We propose that these data are best expressed via a hybrid case/locality approach to passive symmetry that models the availability of Theme-Goal orders in both passive and active contexts in terms of the merged position of the probes responsible for agreement on the internal arguments.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Linguistics and Communications Disorders, Queens College-CUNY, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing, NY, 11367, USA

    William Haddican

  2. University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Anders Holmberg

Authors
  1. William Haddican
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  2. Anders Holmberg
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to William Haddican.

Appendix: Experimental sentences

Appendix: Experimental sentences

1. Passives subdesign

Lexicalization 1

Condition

Sentence

Theme pass.

It was given him.

Goal pass.

He was given it.

Lexicalization 2

Condition

Sentence

Theme pass.

They were shown her.

Goal pass.

She was shown them.

Lexicalization 3

Condition

Sentence

Theme pass.

It was sent them.

Goal pass.

They were sent it.

Lexicalization 4

Condition

Sentence

Theme pass.

It was sold him.

Goal pass.

He was sold it.

Lexicalization 5

Condition

Sentence

Theme pass.

It was posted him.

Goal pass.

He was posted it.

Lexicalization 6

Condition

Sentence

Theme pass.

They were lent her.

Goal pass.

She was lent them.

Lexicalization 7

Condition

Sentence

Theme pass.

It was brought them.

Goal pass.

They were brought it.

Lexicalization 8

Condition

Sentence

Theme pass.

It was handed him.

Goal pass.

He was handed it.

2. Actives subdesign

Lexicalization 1

Condition

Sentence

Theme-Goal, give class

Tim lent it her.

Theme-Goal, donate class

Tim lifted it her.

DOC, give class

Tim lent her it.

DOC, donate class

Tim lifted her it.

Lexicalization 2

Condition

Sentence

Theme-Goal, give class

John showed it him.

Theme-Goal, donate class

John lowered it him.

DOC, give class

John showed him it.

DOC, donate class

John lowered him it.

Lexicalization 3

Condition

Sentence

Theme-Goal, give class

Mike sold it her.

Theme-Goal, donate class

Mike whispered it her.

DOC, give class

Mike sold her it.

DOC, donate class

Mike whispered her it.

Lexicalization 4

Condition

Sentence

Theme-Goal, give class

Sam pass it them.

Theme-Goal, donate class

Sam pulled it them.

DOC, give class

Sam passed them it.

DOC, donate class

Sam pulled them it.

Lexicalization 5

Condition

Sentence

Theme-Goal, give class

Paul handed it him.

Theme-Goal, donate class

Paul screamed it him.

DOC, give class

Paul handed him it.

DOC, donate class

Paul screamed him it.

Lexicalization 6

Condition

Sentence

Theme-Goal, give class

Ann sent it him.

Theme-Goal, donate class

Ann repeated it him.

DOC, give class

Ann sent him it.

DOC, donate class

Ann repeated him it.

Lexicalization 7

Condition

Sentence

Theme-Goal, give class

Susan gave it them.

Theme-Goal, donate class

Susan donated it them.

DOC, give class

Susan gave them it.

DOC, donate class

Susan donated them it.

Lexicalization 8

Condition

Sentence

Theme-Goal, give class

Charlotte brought it him.

Theme-Goal, donate class

Charlotte dragged it him.

DOC, give class

Charlotte brought him it.

DOC, donate class

Charlotte dragged him it.

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Haddican, W., Holmberg, A. Object movement symmetries in British English dialects: Experimental evidence for a mixed case/locality approach. J Comp German Linguistics 15, 189–212 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10828-012-9051-x

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