Reconstruction Asymmetry in A-Movement

Abstract

This paper intends to show that A-movement manifests reconstruction asymmetry with respect to Condition C of binding theory: reconstruction and antireconstruction effects. It is first argued that reconstruction effects are reduced to complement/adjunct asymmetry: complement phrases necessarily undergo total reconstruction to the base positions due to their theta-theoretical properties, and adjunct phrases undergo partial reconstruction at one of any copy positions. Moreover, it is argued here that the available reconstruction site for an adjunct is determined by Condition C. On the other hand, antireconstruction effects are assumed to be under the influence of a context factor, referentiality: that is, referential reading of a noun phrase disallows the noun phrase pied-piping a lexical restriction to reconstruct.