Assignment 3: Sluicing

Sluicing, as you know, is exemplified by examples such as

(1)   Somebody just left.  --   Guess who.
(2)   Ralph is going to invite somebody from Kankakee to the party, but we don't know who.
(3)   He is writing (something), but you can't imagine	{what	}
							{why 	}
							{where 	}
							{how 	}
							{how fast }
							{to whom  }
							{for whom }
							{with whom}

I.  For the first part of this problem, imagine you are contemplating
two competing hypotheses about the syntax of Sluicing:

Hypothesis A: The apparently isolated WH remnant in a sluicing construction
is in fact a CP, most of which has been deleted (or otherwise rendered
unpronounced) under some condition of identity with an antecedent clause.

Hypothesis B: The WH remnant is just a WH phrase (DP, PP, ...), appearing as
an argument to an appropriate predicate.  It is not a CP and there is no
structure in the silence.

The following sets of facts have been offered in support of arguments bearing on
the choice between these two hypotheses.  I will show you the facts; you provide
the arguments.

SET A:
(4)  *I wonder {the time | the answer | the question}.
(5)   I wonder {what time it is | what the answer is | what Ben asked | who's coming}.
(6)   Ben wanted to ask something.  I wonder what.
(7)   Abby said someone's coming to dinner.  We all wonder who.

(8)   Which problems are solvable {is / *are} not clear.
(9)   Some of these problems are solvable, but which ones {isn't / *aren't} clear.

SET B:
(10)  Er will jemandem schmeicheln, aber sie wissen nicht {wem / *wen}.
      He will someone[DAT] flatter, but they know not who [DAT / *ACC]

(11)  Er will jemanden loben, aber sie wissen nicht {*wem / wen}.
      He will someone[ACC] praise, but they know not who [*DAT / ACC]

In case you have forgotten, this is German and the verb 'schmeicheln' requires
an object in the Dative, while the verb 'loben' requires an object in the accusative.
The verb 'wissen', like 'loben', also requires the accusative:

(12)  Sie wissen {die / *der} Antwort nicht.
      They know the [ACC / *DAT] answer not.

SET C:
(13)  Somebody's car is parked on the lawn, and we don't know {whose / *who / *whom}.
(14)  Somebody parked their car on the lawn, and we don't know {*whose / who /*whom}.
(15)  A car is parked on the lawn, and we don't know {whose / *who /*whom}.

(16)  Er meinte, er haette geholfen, aber wir wissen nicht {* wen / wem}.
      He claimed he had helped, but we know not who [*ACC / DAT]
The verb 'helfen' requires a Dative object.]

SET D:
(17) *It wasn't clear his idea.
[Think about why (17) is bad.]
(18)  Somebody had called, but it wasn't clear who.

(19)  The correct approach wasn't clear.
(20) *It wasn't clear the correct approach.
(21)  One of these approaches is correct, but which is not clear.
(21)  One of these approaches is correct, but it is not clear which.

(22) *With Bob wasn't clear.
(23) *It wasn't clear with Bob.
She went swimming with someone, but ...
(24)  With whom wasn't clear.
(25)  It wasn't clear with whom.

SET E:
(26)  Wir glaubten nicht, dass Elke das Auto repariert haette.
      we believed not, that Elke the car repaired had.
(27) *Wir glaubten nicht, dass Elke repariert haette das Auto.
(28)  Wir haben nicht gewusst welches Auto Elke repariert hat.
(29) *Wir haben nicht welches Auto Elke repariert hat gewusst.
(30) *Wir haben welches Auto Elke repariert hat nicht gewusst.
(31)  Welches Auto Elke repariert hat haben wir nicht gewusst.

Dass Elke ein Auto repariert hat, haben wir gewusst, aber ...
(32)  Wir haben nicht gewusst welches.
      We have not known which.
(33) *Wir haben nicht welches gewusst.
(34) *Wir haben welches nicht gewusst.
(35)  Welches haben wir nicht gewusst.


II. The following sets of examples also bear on the nature of sluicing
constructions, but this time on their internal structure rather than on
their external distribution.  Still, they have been taken to provide
evidence concerning the choice between hypotheses A and B.  Again, what
are the arguments?

A.
(36)  I know he has a picture of somebody, but I don't know { who }
							    { of whom }
							    { *a picture of whom }


(37)  I don't know  { who he has a picture of  }
		    { of whom he has a picture }
		    { *a picture of whom he has}

B.
(38)  Who are you going to do away with?
     *With whom are you going to do away?
(39)  What will we have to make do with?
     *With what will we have to make do?
(40)  Which plot did the FBI get wind of first?
     *Of which plot did the FBI get wind first?

(41)  Bill's planning on doing away with one of his relatives, but we don't know (*with) which.
(42)  We'll have to make do with some kind of beer for our punch, but I don't know (*with) which kind.
(43)  The FBI got wind of one of the many plots to smoke draft cards, but I can't remember (*of) which.

C.
(44)  She was dancing, but I don't know with whom.
(45)  She was dancing, but I don't know who with.

(46)  A: blah blah blah.  B: What for?

(47)  He would report me under some circumstances, but I can only guess under which.
(48) *He would report me under some circumstances, but I can only guess which under.

(49)  Under what circumstances will the moon implode?
(50) *What circumstances will the moon implode under?


III.  What is the identity condition for Sluicing?