Resumptive Chains : Relativization vs. Left-Dislocation
Victor Junnan Pan
University Paris Diderot-Paris 7 & LLF UMR 7110
Two types of resumptive pronouns (henceforth RPs) are differentiated (Sells 1984):
the ‘true’ resumptive ones and the intrusive ones that are used as the last resort to save thepotential violation of the locality constraints. However, the debate is still focus on thefollowing questions: First, typologically, is there a macrovariation (i.e. the same language
uses only a specific type of RP (cf. Koopman 1983 for Vata, Engdahl 1985 for Swedish)) or amicrovariation (i.e. the same language can use different types of RP (cf. McClosky 1990 for
Irish, Rouveret 1994, 2011 for Welsh et al.))? Second, is a resumptive chain derived bymovement (Sells 1984, Tellier 1991, Demirdache 1991) or by a special kind of movement(Rouveret 1994) or by Agree in the Minimalist Program (Rouveret 2011)?
Based on Mandarin data, this paper argues for the microvariation point of view. Fourdifferent cases are observed in Mandarin: 1) The gap is obligatory and the RP is forbidden; 2)
the gap and the RP are in free alternation; 3) the RP is obligatory; 4) The intrusive pronoun isobligatory. Importantly, based on this distribution, we observe many distinct properties
between a relative chain and a left dislocation chain.
The main claims that I make in this paper are the following ones:
1. A relativized chain is always established by the operation Agree in the MP framework,
which stays independently from the fact that the relevant A’-dependency involves a gap ora RP. A left dislocation chain is established either by Agree if the gap strategy is used orby base-generation if the RP is used. In other words, Agree is always involved when thegap strategy is adopted.
2. Based on the proposal of Rouveret (1994, 2011), I propose that gap, RP and intrusive
pronoun differ in their internal structures. A gap is inherently NP; an intrusive pronoun has[D-ϕ] as its internal structure; a RP in a relative chain has an extended form [[D-ϕ] NP]
and it has a reduced form [D-ϕ] in a dislocation chain. These two claims can account for
the following facts observed in Mandarin:
In Relatives: Island effects (cf. 1), crossover effects (cf. 3) and are observed both for RP andfor gap because the chain is always established by Agree that works phase by phase. Thus
Agree is sensitive to the island boundaries. Since the internal structure of the RP in a relative
clause is [[D-ϕ] NP], the Condition C effects (cf. 5) can be observed due to the presence ofthe NP part. Gap can but RP cannot take a quantificational antecedent because being a NP, thegap can work as a bound variable; however, since the internal structure of the RP in a relative
clause is [[D-ϕ] NP], which is similar to the structure of a definite expression, so it cannot
function as a bound variable.
In Dislocation: when the Gap strategy is adopted, Agree is involved, which gives rise to theisland effects (cf. 2) and crossover effects (cf. 4a). A gap can take a quantificational
antecedent because it is a NP. However, when the Resumptive strategy is adopted, neither
island effects (cf. 2) nor crossover effects (cf. 4b) is observed because the left-dislocatedelement is always base-generated and Agree is not involved. The internal structure of the RPor that of the intrusive pronoun is the reduced form [D-ϕ] that does not contain the NP partand therefore, no Condition C effects (cf. 6) is observed. RP can take a quantificational
antecedent since its internal structure is [D-ϕ] that can function as a bound pronoun.
(1) * Wo pengdao-le [Lisi renshi [yongbao-guo (ta1)] de na-wei nütongxue de] mingxing.
1S meet-Perf Lisi know embrace-Exp 3MS C that-Cl student
C star(‘I met the star that Lisi knew the girl who embraced.’)(2)Na-wei Faguo mingxing, wo pengdao-le [Lisi renshi [yongbao-guo
that-Cl French star
1S meet-Perf
Lisi know embrace-Exp*(ta1)] ] de na-wei nütongxue.
3MS C that-Cl female.student‘As for that French star, I met the girl that Lisi knew who embraced (him).’(3) * [Na-ge hundani-ziji de laopo ba ta1j gei sha-si-le ]de na-ge renj
that-Cl bastard-self DE wife BA 3MS GEI kill-dead-Perf C that-Cl personne(Lit.) ‘The guyi that the bastardi’s own wife killed (himi)’(4) a. * Zhangsanj a,neihundanj -ziji de laopo sha-si-le____ .
Zhangsan Top that-Cl bastard-self DE wife kill-dead-Perf(Lit.) ‘As for Zhangsani, the bastardi’s own wife killed himi.’b. Zhangsanj a,neihundanj -ziji de laopo ba ta1j gei sha-si-le.
Zhangsan Top that-Cl bastard-self DE wife BA 3MS GEI kill-dead-Perf(Lit.) ‘As for Zhangsani, the bastardi’s own wife killed himi.’(5) ＊[Wo juede [ta1j keyi ba ta3j fabiao zai guojia yi-ji
1S think 3SM can BA 3OS publish at national first-rate
kanwu-shang]] de Zhangsanj de lunwen
journal-on
C Zhangsan ofpaper‘Zhangsanj’s paper that [I think that [hej can publish (itj) in the first-rate nationaljournals]]’(6)

Zhangsanj de lunwen, wo juede [ta1jkeyi (ba ta3j) fabiao
Zhangsan ofpaper
1S think 3SM can BA 3OS publish
zai guojia yi-ji
kanwu-shang]].
at national first-rate journal-on‘As for Zhangsanj’s paper, I think that [hej can publish (itj) in the first-rate nationaljournals]].’References:
Demirdache, H. 1991. Resumptive Chains in Restrictive Relatives, Appositives, andDislocation Structures. Ph.D. dissertation. MIT, Cambridge, Mass.
Engdahl, E. 1985. "Parasitic Gaps, Resumptive Pronouns, and Subject Extractions."
Linguistics 23. 3-44.
Koopman, H. 1983 "Control from COMP and comparative syntax", The Linguistic Review 2 :365-391
McCloskey, J. 1990. "Resumptive Pronouns, A’-binding and Levels of Representation inIrish." The Syntax of the Modern Celtic Languages ed. by Randall Hendrick, 199-248.
Rouveret, A. 1994. Syntaxe du gallois. Principes généraux et typologie. Paris: CNRS
Editions.
Rouveret, A. 2011 "Some issues in the theory of resumption : A perspective on early andrecent research", in Resumptive Pronouns at the Interfaces (ed. A. Rouveret), John
Benjamins Publishing Company
Sells, P. 1984. Syntax and Semantics of Resumptive Pronouns. Ph.D. dissertation, Universityof Massachusetts at Amherst.
Tellier, C. 1991. Licensing Theory and French Parasitic Gaps. Dordrecht: Kluwer
Academic Publishers.