Category-Sensitive Escape from Islands in Limbum and Asante Twi

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5900972
AutoresJohannes Hein (0000-0002-3445-8197)
Año2024
Volumen9
Número10
Páginas317
Fecha de publicación2024-09-30
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLanguages (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/languages9100317
OpenAlexW4402990433
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas84

While strong islands generally constitute domains from which extraction is not possible, it has been observed that under certain conditions, they may allow DP but not PP gaps. Based on the recent literature on Asante Twi (Kwa, Ghana) and on novel data from Limbum (Grassfields Bantu, Cameroon), this paper shows that strong island configurations in these two African languages are permeable to nominal extractees without restrictions, but the otherwise admissible movement of VPs and PPs is blocked. As DP-displacement from islands shows properties of A ̄-movement; an explanation in terms of base-generation and binding of a covert resumptive pronoun, which is only available for nominal elements, is not feasible. Taking into account the overall distribution of overt and covert resumptive pronouns, for Asante Twi, an account of the selective island permeability in terms of repair by resumption, as suggested in previous literature, might be possible. For the Limbum pattern, however, this paper argues that such an approach seems implausible. It then goes on to develop an analysis of selective island permeability based on the distribution of φ-features and their interaction with complementizer agreement

Geography · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Multilingual Education and Policy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · History