Assignment 7: Gapping

You all know what Gapping is:

(1)  I wrote a novel, and Louise __ a play.

Remind yourselves what its properties are: boundedness, backwardness,
island sensitivity ...

Is there any sign of a licensing head?

Under what circumstances, in general, does Gapping occur?

By the way, if you have not read Ross (1970) "Gapping and the Order of
Constituents", do it now.  It's posted on the course web site.

I.  Here are some more particular problems:

(2)  I wanted to try to begin to write a novel, and Bill __ a play.

(3)  We persuaded Louise to kiss a toad, and Mary to swallow a goldfish.

(4)  Today I'll wash the car and tomorrow __ the tractor.

(5)  Bill thinks Barry should be fired and Tom __ Martha __.

(6)  I'll send my nephew to Greece right now and __ my niece __ next year.

(7) *Harvey knows a man who likes peaches and Bill __ beans.

(8) *That Harvey is an idiot is expected and Bill __ surprising.

[* with Bill corresponding to Harvey.]

You can make up more.  Try to figure out what can get omitted, and
(if you think it's deletion) what the conditions are (in particular,
what the identity condition is and what other conditions must be met).
Don't base your conclusions on just these examples, they are only pointers.

II.  As a result of your work on (I), you will have a theory of Gapping.
Now consider the following:

(9)   Few dogs eat Whiskas or cats Alpo.
(10)  Harvey can't live in New York and his wife in Chicago.
(11)  One person can't get all the money and everybody else nothing.

Examples like these have been put forth as problematic for a deletion account
of Gapping.  Are they a problem for the analysis you developed in part I?
If so, how would you revise your analysis to account for them?

Are these facts related to the following?

(12)  I can't seem to get this sock off.

III. It has been suggested that Gapping is not ellipsis at all, but rather
across-the board movement of some kind of constituent.  Can you work out
an analysis along those lines?

You don't have to like it.