UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 10 (1998)
Syntax-LF mapping and the internal structure of comparatives
JONATHAN R. WHITE
The change to a minimalist approach to syntax makes us consider whether previously assumed processes are necessary, including May's Quantifier Raising rule. Following Fox (1995), I argue from the domain of English comparatives, whose degree heads are assumed to be quantifiers, that QR only takes place when base-generated scope relations are changed. Comparatives are analysed as discontinuous heads, whose outer head position encodes the base-generated scopal order. After presenting some arguments about the complement of the second head, I present evidence that further raising of the degree head is needed.
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