Prolepsis

Abstract

The linguistic term prolepsis refers to a construction where a structural complement of the matrix verb is semantically related to the predicate of an embedded clause. In an example like I believe of John that he likes Mary , the proleptic constituent John is related to the position occupied by the coreferential pronoun he .. At first sight one may take the proleptic constituent to be an argument of the matrix verb with the pronoun establishing an anaphoric dependency, but things are more complex. First, the construction is possible with a very wide range of matrix verbs, casting doubt on the argumenthood of the object. Second, a coreferential element is obligatory, which argues against a mere aboutness relationship. There is conflicting evidence concerning the base position of the proleptic object. On the one hand, there is solid evidence from anaphor binding and superiority that the proleptic object occupies an A‐position in the matrix clause. On the other hand, the proleptic object reconstructs into the complement clause. This suggests that the proleptic object originates in the embedded clause, but an analysis involving movement from the complement clause fails for conceptual (Improper Movement, Freezing) and empirical (selective reconstruction effects) reasons. It is proposed that these paradoxical properties follow if the proleptic object is licensed by predication. The complement clause involves a base‐generated operator which turns it into an open sentence. The coreferential pronoun is the variable bound by the operator. The proleptic object, then, is the subject of the predication. The relationship between the proleptic object and the silent operator involves ellipsis, as does the relationship between the operator and the coreferential pronoun. Ellipsis derives the (selective) reconstruction effects, and predication explains the necessity of a coreferential element.

Subject and non-subject <i>ex-situ</i> focus in Dagbani

“…In Dagbani, the use of the resumptive pronoun correlates with an ability to escape islands, but this is not the case in Swedish (Engdahl 1985). We do not see an easy way to handle this fact on the account where the resumptive is the spell-out of a trace, which is a notable drawback of movement-based theories of resumption (Salzmann 2017;.…”

The Absence of Islands in Akan: The Role of Resumption

“…Since both of tonal overwriting and anti-agreement can be taken to be diagnostics of movement, Korsah and Murphy (2020) propose that this construction involves a kind of prolepsis, i.e., base generation and binding (Salzmann 2017a), rather than movement. This is further supported by the fact that this construction shows idiosyncratic predicate restrictions, and while it is possible with 'know', it does not work with 'think' and 'say' (65b).…”

Compositional paths to de re

“…At this point I will introduce some terminology that looks ahead to the structural analysis I will defend. I will argue that sentences like (13) and (14) represent prolepsis (Takano 2003;Davies 2005;Salzmann 2006Salzmann , 2017a: the object of 'think' is base-generated in the matrix clause and connected indirectly to the embedded clause, in a way to be made precise. Accordingly, I will refer to the matrix accusative DP as the proleptic object.…”