An argument for VP coordination: scene-setting coordination and weak islands

Abstract

This article provides a minimalist analysis of a novel type of weak island that has not been discussed in the literature until now. The island is a  subtype of extraction from asymmetric coordination islands in violation of the across-the-board constraint. The islands in question are characterised by being weak islands for certain  types of adjunct extraction, and by being discontinuous – XP coordination. This article demonstrates the properties of this curious construction type and proposes the first analysis to  date. It is argued that this is an instance of VP  coordination and that this configuration allows the  possibility of high merger of direct objects in a constrained fashion.

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2009, 27(1): 1–23