A prosodic theory of possible ellipsis remnants
Itai Bassi, Justin Colley
January 2022 

[Appeared in GLOSSA: https://www.glossa-journal.org/article/id/5747/ ] We formulate a new generalization of the distribution of ellipsis remnants: Ellipsis cannot strand functional material to the exclusion of a potential prosodic host (the Stranding Generalization). Explaining the Stranding Generalization requires a theory of ellipsis in which the prosodic needs of ellipsis remnants can be taken into account. Drawing on Match Theory (Selkirk 2009;2011), we develop an account which locates the computation of ellipsis in the syntax-prosody mapping. The broader implications of our analysis, if successful, is that it motivates a view of ellipsis whereby any constraints on ellipsis beyond semantic recoverability are the result of competition between candidates for the possible phonological output of the syntactic input.

Format:	[ pdf ]
Reference:	lingbuzz/005647 (please use that when you cite this article)
Published in:	Published in GLOSSA: https://www.glossa-journal.org/article/id/5747/
keywords:	syntax; prosody; ellipsis; stranding generalization; match theory, syntax, phonology
previous versions:	v2 [July 2021] v1 [December 2020]
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