An Asymmetry with Respect to Wh-Islands

It has been argued that the bounding argument known as the Subjacency Condition should not be required because its use causes loss of otherwise valid generalizations. N. Chomsky & H. Lasnik (see LLBA 12/1, 7800782) have argued that subjacency provides an explanation for otherwise ad hoc rule constraints. Evidence from modern Scandinavian languages is presented to refute their claims. Data seem to support a distinction between movement & unbounded deletion rules, & to prove that subjacency is not the explanation for island constraints on rules. An asymmetry between relatives & wh-questions regarding wh-islands is described, & it is argued that this asymmetry supports a theory which allows unbounded deletion rules. The wh-island constraint is shown to be rule-specific within a given lang, & this fact is taken to support the claim that "conditions on rules are descriptively more revealing than surface structure filters." B. Annesser