Deleting and Clipping of A'-Chains :Sluicing and VP-ellipsis

Abstract

VP-ellipsis is not allowed in many environments where Sluicing is. For this contrast, I suggest a condition that applies at the PF interface: an A'-chain cannot be clipped at PF if not entirely deleted. By decomposing who, for example, as WH (wh-operator) and SOMEONE (INDEFINITE variable), I suggest that WH is overtly merged directly in Spec CP and that FF (all the features) of SOMEONE in the base position A'-moves to C. A repair strategy then puts the two parts to form who, thereby establishing a proper operator-variable relation. The resultant A'-chain, CH (FF, t), is then entirely deleted by C'-Sluicing but it is only partly clipped by VP-ellipsis, yielding the contrast at issue. Some exceptional cases on A'-chain clipping are accommodated by integrating Tamara's (2001) notion “contrastiveness” on VPE extractions.