Quantification and derivation in relative clauses Javier Gutiérrez

Quantification and derivation in relative clauses
Javier Gutiérrez-Rexach
The Ohio State University
It is a well-known fact that in Spanish ‘Determiner + Complementizer’ relative clauses only definite
determiners are admitted (in the pre-Comp position), independently of the definite/indefinite nature of
the "antecedent" DP, as shown in the following contrast:
(1) Buscaba a la/una mujer [con (la) que me pudiera casar]
(2) Buscaba a la/una mujer [con (*una) que me pudiera casar]
Determiner choice is not affected by the specific/non-specific interpretation of the DP either, which is
governed by mood choice (Rivero 1977; Quer 1998). It is not governed by the quantificational force of
the antecedent either (existential, cardinal, approximative, etc.)
(3) Encontró colegas con los que emborracharse.
(4) Me gustan varias playas en las que la arena es fina.
Nevertheless, this generalization on the blocking of definite determiners in relative clauses is not
completely true if "antecedentless"/"headless" free and amount relatives are considered. These clauses
do not seem to exhibit the above restriction: la/una may precede the complementizer in (5).
(5) Me casé con la/una [que me puede tolerar]
Furthermore, Spanish free relatives are built with the wh element quien, which is claimed to have an
indefinite/variable reading (Berman 1991; Gutiérrez-Rexach 2000), which gives raise to quasiuniversal and generic readings..
(6) No tengo [quien me haga caso]
(7) [Quien llega tarde] ni oye misa ni come carne
Similar restrictions can be observed in a variety of languages, such as German, Hungarian, Gothic and
Ancient Egiptian (Basilico 1996; Hoeing 2001). In this paper it is argued that these properties follow
from a general theory of the derivation of DPs and relative clauses at the LF interface. Following the
theory of derivation by phase proposed by Chomsky (1999), Gutiérrez & Mallen (2001, 2002) posit a
derivation of DPs based on two phases: a predicational phase and a propositional phase. In this paper, it
is argued that the definiteness restriction observed in (1-2) involves a matching requirement in the
propositional DP-phase, which is related to relative clause formation (cf. Brucart 1992, 1994, 1999).
Following Kayne's (1994) raising analysis of relative clauses, the head NP is claimed to raise from
inside the relative clause. This NP has a null type operator in its specifier (Bianchi 2000) which is
matched against the [spec,CP] position. Given that this position has been claimed to be definite in
nature (Gutiérrez-Rexach 1999, Bhatt 2002), the restriction follows.
This analysis can be extended to account for contrasts related to plurality, indefiniteness and
modality, along the lines proposed by Suñer (2000):
(6) a. ??Me gusta la clase de la que el alumno emprendedor se acuerda
b. ?Me gustan las clases de las que el alumno emprendedor puede acordarse
c. ?Me gusta la clase de la que un/cualquier alumno emprendedor puede acordarse
d. Me gustan las clases de las que un/cualquier alumno emprendedor puede acordarse
Following Tellier (2001), it is also argued that extraction from relative clauses (Cinque 1980, Díaz
Insené 1993, Mallen 1989, 1991, Giorgi and Longobardi 1991) is not simply a function of definiteness
or specificity as has been claimed before. Rather it is due to the interplay of expletive and. lexical
definite determiners, and raising of the expletive from AgrD (Mallen 2001) to D. Only definite
determiners that are expletive in nature may alternate with null variants in relative clauses. Extending
suggestions by Longobardi (1994) and Vergnaud & Zubizarreta (1992), the distinction between
generic and referential DPs with relative clauses is clarified, as well as the role of functional categories
with DP, the morpho-syntactic features related to quantification, and the parametric differences
between Romance and Germanic
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