Deriving ATB from Box System
Nobu Goto, Toru Ishii
April 2024 

Since Ross (1967), the Across-The-Board (ATB) phenomenon has been extensively discussed in the literature. One of the interesting properties of ATB wh-questions is that there is an argument/adjunct asymmetry with respect to the availability of identity and non-identity readings (Munn 1992, 1999). The purpose of this study is to identify the factors behind the availability of identity/non-identity readings, and to explain these factors in terms of a framework recently developed by Chomsky (2023), called Box System. In Section 2, on the basis of novel data from Japanese, we propose that an identity reading is allowed only with wh-elements which are θ- and Case-marked. We point out that previous approaches to ATB wh-questions would have difficulty explaining our empirical findings. In Section 3, while the box system entails that θ-marking plays a crucial role in boxing of a wh-element, we propose that not only θ-marking but also Case marking contributes to boxing of a wh-element. We argue that the possible readings of ATB wh-questions follow as a natural consequence of the box system, along with an independently motivated ellipsis operation. We also argue that our elaborated Box System provides a new insight into improper movement with Japanese Long Distance Scrambling. In Section 4, we briefly consider some implications of our analysis and conclude the discussion.

Format:	[ pdf ]
Reference:	lingbuzz/007627 (please use that when you cite this article)
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keywords:	atb wh-question, identiy/non-identity reading, argument/adjunct asymmetry, box system, boxing, access, θ-marking, case-marking, ellipsis, cc-configuration, improper movement, syntax
previous versions:	v1 [October 2023]
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