Elucidation of the internal structures and derivations of the rightward movement constructions with a cluster of auxiliary verbs

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02802
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: English linguistics
• Research Institution: Hirosaki University
• Principal Investigator: KIMURA NORIMI 弘前大学, 人文社会科学部, 教授 (90195371)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 右方移動構文 / 右方転移 / 動詞句削除 / 倒置文 / Beの語彙的特性 / 複数の助動詞 / 内部構造 / 派生

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We can overcome the problem of the analysis based on the movement and deletion of right-dislocated (RD) sentences, that is, a genitive phrase cannot move by Left Branch Condition, assuming the hypothesis where the whole NP with a genitive phrase moves in the sentence with a genitive phrase right-dislocated. We must distinguish the gapped RD sentences analyzed by movement and deletion from the gapless RD sentences analysed by deletion operations. We can explain a descriptive generalization of VP deletion, that is, being must be elided, as a consequence of the lexical properties of be, and we can propose the Predicate Phrase analysis, where predicates are headed in the small clause structures for the internal structures and derivations of the rightward movement constructions with a cluster of auxiliary verbs, assuming the different lexical properties of be, where being is a lexical verb, been is an auxiliary verb, and be is a lexical verb or an auxiliary verb.

Free Research Field

英語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

Chomsky (2013, 2015) が提案するミニマリスト・プログラム（MP）の枠組みにおいて、言語学的に例外的あるいは周辺的と分析されることが多い右方移動構文に焦点をあて、仮説「連結詞beは助動詞beと動詞beに語彙的に区別される。」を仮定するフェイズ理論に基づく分析を提案し、その妥当性を検証した。本研究により、未解決な問題が多いと分析されることのある右方移動現象のなかで、特に、経済性原理及びbeの語彙的特性の観点から、複数の助動詞が生じる右方移動構文の内部構造と派生メカニズムを明らかにするとともに、フェイズをvPとCPとするフェイズ理論の構築に寄与することができる。