There are a number of well-known asymmetries between syntactic elements, for example, between subjects and objects with regard to that-trace effects (Perlmutter 1971), sub-extraction (Huang 1982), resumption (McCloskey 1990), the distribution of bare nouns (Contreras 1986), anti-agreement (Ouhalla 1993), noun incorporation (Baker 1988), adjunct control (Rosenbaum 1970) and reflexivization (Safir 1997). Other asymmetries exist between arguments and adjuncts, e.g. with regard to island sensitivity and weak islands (Huang 1982, Engdahl 1986) and reconstruction (Freidin 1986, Lebeaux 1988), as well as between indirect and direct objects with respect to scope/binding (Barss & Lasnik 1986, Larson 1990), resumption (Stewart 2001) and extraction (Bresnan & Moshi 1990, Holmberg, Sheehan & van der Wal 2016). Since the loss of the ECP, however, there is arguably no longer a unified account of subject/object or argument/adjunct asymmetries in current minimalist theory. This workshop aims to bridge this gap by exploring new approaches to both old and new asymmetries in syntax.
There are essentially two types of constraints on syntactic operations: Those that pertain to the inherent properties of the affected element (referential) and those that are sensitive to the structural configuration in which it occurs (relational). This workshop aims to explore to what extent each kind of explanation for syntactic asymmetries is possible. For example, the ECP account of classic asymmetries such as the that-trace effect is referential in nature. The same is true of constraints that refer to inherent properties of moved items such as argument vs. adjunct, D-linking (Pesetsky 1987), referentiality (Cinque 1990). In other theories, this asymmetry is also captured by referential restrictions, e.g. SUBJ- vs. COMP-lists in HPSG (Ginzburg & Sag 2000) or pivothood in LFG (Falk 2006). However, many approaches to extraction asymmetries do not rely on inherent properties of the moved item itself, but instead exploit its relation to a competing argument such as the direct object. This can be seen in recent approaches to restrictions on movement of ergative or dative-marked DPs (e.g. Aldridge 2004, Coon, Mateo Pedro & Preminger 2014, Assmann et al. 2015, Heck & Müller 2016). Furthermore, there is a growing tendency towards relational explanation in theories of Case, i.e. Dependent Case Theory (Marantz 1991, Bobaljik 2008, Baker 2015) or Lexical Decomposition Grammar (Wunderlich 1997, Kiparsky 1997, 2001, Stiebels 2000), where the case properties of a given noun are dependent on the presence of some other argument.
The goal of this workshop is to expand the theoretical and empirical base of syntactic asymmetries and revive the pursuit of a unified approach to this phenomenon in contemporary theories. On the empirical side, this workshop aims to bring together research on asymmetries from a wide range of languages to gain a better understanding of the status of asymmetries cross-linguistically. On the theoretical side, we are particularly interested in whether the analyses of such asymmetries are referential or relational in nature, i.e. whether it is necessary to refer to inherent properties of a designated item (e.g. subject or adjunct) or its relational properties. We therefore welcome submissions on any theoretical approach to new or established asymmetries, as well new empirical contributions to this domain.
Wednesday 7th March 2018
13.45-14.15 Introduction: Referential and relational asymmetries Doreen Georgi, Fabian Heck, Johannes Hein, Andrew Murphy & Gereon Müller14.15-15.15 Questions regarding a minimalist theory of islands Norbert Hornstein (U. Maryland) (invited speaker)15.15-15.45 Extraction asymmetries: Why the DP and vP domains are different Carlo Cecchetto (CNRS/Paris 8) & Caterina Donati (CNRS/Paris 7)16.30-17.00 Generalized Complementizer-trace Effects in Gradient Harmonic Grammar Hyunjung Lee (U. Leipzig)17.00-17.30 Subjects vs. everything else in Dagbani Sam Issah (U. Frankfurt) & Peter Smith (U. Frankfurt) Extraction asymmetries in and between OV and VO languages Andreas Schmidt (U. Potsdam)17.30-18.00 Complements to ber-verbs are pseudo-incorporated Mike Berger (U. Leipzig)Thursday 8th March 2018
09.00-10.00 How A-movement can lead to extraction restrictions (joint work with Jamie Douglas and Rodrigo Ranero) Michelle Sheehan (Anglia Ruskin) (invited speaker)10.00-10.30 Asymmetries in long distance dependencies in French Guido Mensching (U. Göttingen), Stefan Müller (HU Berlin), Franziska Werner (U. Göttingen) & Elodie Winckel (HU Berlin)11.15-11.45 A phase-based approach to subject/object asymmetries Andrew Murphy (U. Leipzig) Subject extraction asymmetries in Maori: An intervention account Jamie Douglas (U. Cambridge)11.45-12.15 Experimental evidence on positional and relational explanations of scrambling Volker Struckmeier (U. Köln) The object position in Tagbana: An SOVX language Gisbert Fanselow (U. Potsdam) & Yranahan Traore (U. Frankfurt)12.15-12.45 Relational subject / non-subject extraction asymmetries in Igbo Mary Amaechi (U. Potsdam) & Doreen Georgi (U. Potsdam)13.45-14.15 Universals of argument marking scenario splits and universals of reflexive marking in a functional-adaptive theory of syntax Martin Haspelmath (MPI Jena/U. Leipzig)14.15-14.45 Subject vs. non-subject asymmetries of case drop as domain effects of context sensitive Spell-Out Philipp Weisser (U. Leipzig)Friday 9th March 2018
11.45-12.15 The role of nominal licensing in Austronesian voice systems Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine (U. Singapore), Theodore Levin (U. Maryland) & Coppe van Urk (QMUL)12.15-12.45 That-trace effects without traces: In favor of a phonological EPP Josef Bayer (U. Konstanz), Jana Häussler (U. Leipzig) & Martin Salzmann (U. Leipzig)12.45-13.15 Quirky subjects in German: A relational analysis Andreas Pankau (FU Berlin)13.15-13.45 Argument-adjunct asymmetries Joachim Sabel (UC Louvain)13.45-14.15 On the long-distance scrambling/phonological suppression of adjuncts in Korean Myungkwan Park (Dongguk University) & Yongsuk Yoo (UConn)We invite submissions on any theoretical approach to (old and new) asymmetries between syntactic objects. Some possible topics for presentation include, but are by no means limited to, the following:
Submissions should conform to the following :
Abstracts should be submitted anonymously to EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rrasa2018
Deadline for submission: 15th August 2017 EXTENDED DEADLINE: 25th August 2017
Notification of acceptance: 1st September 2017
Workshop dates: 7th-9th March 2018