The Fine Structure of the vP Periphery and Heavy NP Shift / Locative Inversion
Masako Maeda
Kyushu University / JSPS Research Fellow
This research attempts to pursue the parallelism between CP and vP by examining intervention
effects between a wh-phrase and a focus/topic phrase. Examples in (1) show that a topicalized
phrase blocks wh-movement. Note that wh-extraction from a topicalized phrase in (1b) is better
than wh-movement over a topic phrase in (1a). On the other hand, a wh-phrase can move over afocus phrase as in (2a) or move out of a focus phrase as in (2b).
(1) a. * [Which books]i did Lee say that, [to Robin], she will give ti?
b.??Whoi do you think [that pictures of ti], John wanted?
(2) a. [Which books]i did Lee say that [only with great difficulty] can she carry ti ?
b. [Of whom]i did Robin say [only with children ti ] can he communicate?
In contrast with (2), focalization in the vP domain exhibits intervention effects in some cases.
(3b) shows that in a Heavy NP Shift (HNPS) construction, wh-movement out of a focalized DP isimpossible. However, (3c) shows that wh-movement of another phrase in VP is allowed. In
Locative Inversion (LI) sentences as well, wh-movement of a focus DP as in (4b) and wh-movementout of a focalized DP as in (4c) is unacceptable, while wh-extraction from the remnant VP is
acceptable as in (4d).
(3) a. John sent to Horace an expensive book about horned frogs. (HNPS)
b. * [About what kind of frogs]i did John send to Horace [an expensive book ti]?
c. [For whom]i did Bill purchase ti last week [an all expense paid ticket to Europe]?
(4) a. Among the guests was sitting my friend Rose. (LI)b. * Whati does John say that near his house lies ti ?
c.*?[What kind of mushrooms]i do you think on these trails can be found [specimens ofti ]?
d. [In which park]i did John say that under the palm tree stood ti [an elegant fountain]?
Apparently, the contrast between (2) and (3)-(4) manifests the difference between CP and vP.
However, we will demonstrate that these data in fact support the parallelism between the CP/vPdomain. Let us begin with CP. Since multiple topicalization is disallowed in English, wepropose to modify the fine structure of the CP periphery (Rizzi (1997)) as in (5).
(5) CP：[ForceP Force [TopP Top [FocP Foc [FinP Fin]]]]Once we assume the fine structure (5), we must decide which head is the actual phase head. We
define phase heads based on predication, claiming ForceP and TopP are phases. Given this, thecomplement of TopP is inaccessible from Force under the Phase Impenetrability Condition (PIC)(Chomsky (2001)). This leads to the ungrammaticality of (1a). (1b) is better than (1a) because inthe former wh-extraction is from Spec, TopP and does not violate PIC. Moreover, thegrammaticality of (2) is attributable to FocP not being a phase; Force has free access to FocP and its
complement.

Pursuing the idea that properties of the CP phase hold of phases generally, we propose the finestructure of the vP periphery (6), which contains phase heads AspP and TopP.
(6) vP： [AspP Asp [TopP Top [FocP Foc [VoiceP Voice ]]]]
Further, refining the intuition by Kayne (1998), we claim that HNPS and LI involve focalization ofDP and subsequent topicalization of remnant VoiceP to the vP domain.
(7) a. HNPS: [[TP Johnk [AspP[TopP [VoiceP tk sent ti to Horace]j[FocP [an expensive book abouthorned frogs]i tj ]]]]] (=(3a))
b. LI:[[TP Among the guestsk [AspP[TopP [VoiceP was sitting ti tk]j [FocP [my friend Rose]itj ]]]]] (=(4a))
This claim successfully explains the restriction on wh-movement. In (3c) and (4d), a wh-phrase isin VoiceP, which is located in Spec, TopP in the vP domain. This position is accessible from thehigher phase head, AspP, and hence the wh-phrase can be extracted and undergo successive
movement to CP. In contrast, extraction of/from a focalized DP is ruled out in (3b) and (4b,c)
because a focalized DP is located within FocP, which is the complement of TopP: a place Asp
cannot see due to PIC.
In sum, a phase theory developed here accounts for the previously unexplained data regarding
wh-extraction in focus constructions. We will also show that this claim naturally predicts thetransitivity restriction in LI and that locative PPs are located in TP, not TopP, by examining variousAʹ-movement data like (1a) and (4d).

References
Chomsky, Noam (2001) “Derivation by Phase,” Ken Hale: A Life in Language, ed. by Michael
Kenstowicz, 1-52, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Kayne, Richard S. (1998) “Overt vs. Covert Movement,” Syntax 1, 128-191.
Rizzi, Luigi (1997) “The Fine Structure of the Left Periphery,” Elements of Grammar: Handbook ofGenerative Syntax, ed. by Liliane Haegeman, 281-337, Kluwer, Dordrecht.