Sharing effects of split conjuncts in German

Abstract

Split conjunction refers to discontinuous coordinate structures in which conjuncts are spread across the clause. In German, split conjuncts show connectivity effects such as plural agreement on the finite verb. This paper argues for an underlying biclausal structure with subsequent deletion of redundant material in the last conjunct – also known as a stripping analysis. We propose that the connectivity effects are caused by multiple dominance of shared constituents, which subsequently move out of the coordinate structure in order to be linearized. Evidence for this proposal comes from word order restrictions with plural agreement and multiply bound pronouns, an incompatibility with collective predicates, lack of sloppy identity readings, and the possibility of cumulative quantifier readings.