Eliminating the Sentential Negator not from the Set of VP-ellipsis Licensors

Abstract

Lee, Jeong-Shik. 2003. Eliminating the Sentential Negator not from the Set of VP-ellipsis Licensors. Korean Journal of Linguistics, 28-3, 487-510. It has been widely admitted that in English, VP-ellipsis gaps are licensed by a preceding auxiliary head and that the sentential negator not also belongs to the set of VP-ellipsis licensing heads, the latter view mainly drawn from subjunctive clauses. This paper, departing from this common belief, argues that the sentential negator not does not license a VP-ellipsis gap. Especially, it is suggested that the sentential negator not cliticize to a preceding null auxiliary verb in subjunctive clauses at PF to form a morphologically overt auxiliary verbal complex, thereby qualifying as a proper VP-ellipsis gap licensor. The discussion ultimately leads to a proposal that only a morphologically overt auxiliary head with Case licenses a VP-ellipsis gap, locally or nonlocally, with no head with Case intervening. Through the discussion, this paper also reveals that Case is a crucial property in regulating the distribution of VP-ellipsis gaps. (Wonkwang University)