Minimalist Machine Derivations

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Examples:

  • Examples from On the computational modeling of English relative clauses (Fong & Ginsburg, 2023), inspired by (Gallego, 2010). collapse
    Example Stream of heads (click + ⇇Send) Notes
    (1a)(=17c) I don’t like the man who(m) John saw
    (17d) *the man whom that John saw
    (Gallego 2006:154)     		[man, who_rel, see, 'v*', [john, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel man to its edge.
    N man has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, as whorel values both T and Rel on Crel.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Accusative whorel spells out as whom (dialect).
    (1b)(= 7a;17e) I don’t like the man who loves Mary
    (7a;17f) *the man who that loves Mary
    (See also Figure 13.)
    (Gallego 2006:151)     		[mary, d, love, 'v*', [man, who_rel], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel man to its edge.
    N man has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, as whorel values both T and Rel on Crel.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Nominative Case whorel spells out as who.
    (8a) the boy that called Mary
    *the boy called Mary (DP)     		[mary, d, call, 'v*', [boy, d_rel], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP drel man to its edge.
    N man has an unvalued (by drel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    Rel on Crel is valued by drel, but empty drel does not value T on Crel, valued instead by T raising to edge of Crel.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. T in edge of Crel spells out as that. drel is not spelled out.
    (9a) *the car which that John sold
    the car which John sold     		[car, which_rel, sell, 'v*', [john, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whichrel car to its edge.
    N car has an unvalued (by whichrel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, as whichrel values both T and Rel on Crel.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whichrel spells out as which.
    (10a) the boy [who was] told the story
    the boy told the story (original reduced relative example fn.23)
    *the boy who that was told the story     		[story, the, 'G_2', [boy, who_rel], tell, prt, 'v~', 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Preposition G2 here is dyadic.
    Form VP {told {whorel boy, {G2, the story}}}. G2 values Oblique Case on its complement the story.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel boy to its edge.
    N boy has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, as whorel values both T and Rel on Crel.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. preposition G2 does not spell out. v~ spells out as be Nominative Case whorel spells out as who. Verb tell with affix prt spells out as the past participle told.
    (10b) the boy who told the story
    *the boy who that told the story
    (See also Figures 1-3.)     		[story, the, tell, 'v*', [boy, who_rel], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel boy to its edge.
    N boy has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, as whorel values both T and Rel on Crel.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Nominative Case whorel spells out as who.
    (11) the book on syntax that I read
    the book on syntax I read    		 [book, [syntax, d, on_1], d_rel, read, 'v*', [i, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP drel book on syntax to its edge.
    Assume book on syntax behaves as a nominal head with a pair-Merged PP adjunct on syntax that must pied-pipe.
    Preposition on here is monadic on1, cf. dyadic on2 as in put the book on the shelf.
    Rel on Crel is valued by drel, but empty drel does not value T on Crel. Economy does not apply. Two choices for valuing T on Crel: (A) T raising to edge of Crel, or (B) Nominative subject I raising to Crel.
    N book has an unvalued (by drel) D-feature. Noun with pair-Merged adjunct book on syntax counts as a head and raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. on1 is spelled out as on. if (A) above, T in edge of Crel spells out as that. If (B), no that is pronounced. drel is not spelled out.
    (fn.26) the destruction of the city that led to the collapse of the empire
    *the destruction that of the city led to the collapse of the empire.     		[empire, the, of_1, collapse, the, to_prt, lead, 'v*', [destruction, [city, the, of_1], d_rel], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Analyze lead to as verb + particle. v* values Accusative Case on the collapse of the empire. Tpast values Nominative Case on destruction of the city. Preposition of here is monadic of1.
    Assume the PP headed by of is an adjunct of head destruction (pair-Merge), but the complement of collapse (set-Merge).
    Phase head Crel attracts DP drel <destruction, of1 the city> to its edge.
    N destruction has an unvalued (by drel) D-feature. Noun with pair-Merged adjunct <destruction, of1 the city> counts as a head and raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    Rel on Crel is valued by drel, but empty drel with Nominative Case does not value T on Crel, valued instead by T raising to edge of Crel.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. T in edge of Crel spells out as that. drel is not spelled out.
    (13) the book that I read
    the book I read
    (See also Figures 4-5.)    		 [book, d_rel, read, 'v*', [i, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP drel book to its edge.
    Rel on Crel is valued by drel, but empty drel does not value T on Crel. Economy does not apply. Two choices for valuing T on Crel: (A) T raising to edge of Crel, or (B) Nominative subject I raising to Crel.
    N book has an unvalued (by drel) D-feature. book raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. If (A) above, T in edge of Crel spells out as that. If (B), no that is pronounced. drel is not spelled out.
    (14) The man that I talked to
    The man I talked to
    *The man to that I talked
    *The man to I talked
    (See also Figures 6-7.)     		[man, d_rel, to_prt, talk, 'v*', [i, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Analyze talk to as verb + particle. v* values Accusative Case on drel man. Tpast values Nominative Case on I.
    No pied-piping of verb particle to with drel-man as drel is not pronounced. [An] EC [Empty Category] disallows pied-piping (Chomsky, 2001:28).
    Phase head Crel attracts DP drel man to its edge.
    Rel on Crel is valued by drel, but empty drel does not value T on Crel. Economy does not apply. Two choices for valuing T on Crel: (A) T raising to edge of Crel, or (B) Nominative subject I raising to Crel.
    N man has an unvalued (by drel) D-feature. man raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. If (A) above, T in edge of Crel spells out as that. If (B), no that is pronounced. drel is not spelled out.
    Verb particle toprt spells out as to.
    (15) The boy *(that/who) called Mary
    *the boy who that called Mary
    (See (8a) above for the boy *(that) called Mary.)
    (See also Figure 8.)     		[mary, d, call, 'v*', [boy, who_rel], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation, the one with whorel described here, see (8a) for the one with drel.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel man to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, as whorel values both T and Rel on Crel.
    N man has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Nominative Case whorel spells out as who.
    (16) the boy (that) John thinks that called Mary
    (See also Figure 9.)     		[mary, d, call, 'v*', [boy, d_rel], 'Tpast', c_e, think, v_unerg, [john, d], 'T', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    (See paper for discussion concerning the status of the lower that.)
    Relativization from an embedded subject position.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP drel boy to its edge.
    Rel on Crel is valued by drel, but empty drel does not value T on Crel. Economy does not apply. Two choices for valuing T on Crel: (A) T raising to edge of Crel, or (B) Nominative subject John raising to Crel.
    As drel cannot value T on C generally, assuming intermediate Ce (for embedded C) has an unvalued T feature, T to C movement is obligatory in the case of the lower clause, and pronounced as that.
    N boy has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. If (A) above, T in edge of Crel spells out as that. If (B), no that is pronounced. drel is not spelled out.
    (17a) the book which I read
    *the book which that I read
    (See also Figure 11.)     		[book, which_rel, read, 'v*', [i, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Single derivation.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whichrel book to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, as whichrel values both T and Rel on Crel.
    N book has an unvalued (by whichrel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whichrel spells out as which.
    (18a) the man whom I talked to (Gallego 2006:152)
    (18b) the man to whom I talked
    (18c) *the man whom that I talked to
    (18d) *the man to whom that I talked
    (See also Figures 14-15.)     		[man, who_rel, to_prt, talk, 'v*', [i, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Analyze talk to as verb + particle. v* values Accusative Case on drel man. Tpast values Nominative Case on I.
    Optional pied-piping of verb particle toprt with DP whorel man.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel man to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, as whorel values both T and Rel on Crel.
    N man has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Accusative Case whorel spells out as whom (dialect).
    Implementation detail: verb particle toprt also spells out as to but differs from preposition to in that the former does not assign Case (the latter assigns inherent Case).
    (19a) the time when I got drunk
    (19b) *the time when that I got drunk
    (See also Figure 16.)     		[drunk, get, v_unerg, [i, d], 'Tpast', [time, when_rel], c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Assume whenrel time is merged at TP level for semantic reasons. Both pair merge and set merge options are tested. Because extraction must take place for relativization, only the set merge option can succeed. (Pair merged adjuncts are inaccessible to probing.)
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whenrel time to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whenrel.
    Implementation detail: unused. that correlates with finite T. Even if Tinf raised to edge of Crel, it shouldn't spell out as that.
    Implementation detail: how does non-argument whenrel time get Case? We could assume inherent Case. We permit Crel to assign it Oblique Case. (Could change this.)
    N time has an unvalued (by whenrel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature. EXT: Crel does not spell out.
    (20a) the baker in whom to place your trust (Example (63a); Sag 1997:461)
    (20b) *the baker whom to place your trust in (Example (63d); Sag 1997:461)
    *the baker in whom that to place your trust
    *the baker whom that to place your trust in
    (See also Figure 17.)     		[baker, who_rel, in_2, [trust, '\'s', [you, d]], place, 'v*' ,['PRO', d0], 'Tinf', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Both (20a-b) are predicted to be grammatical here, i.e.assuming pied-piping of preposition in is permitted. (Judgements shown are from Sag.)
    Assume in is dyadic, i.e. VP structure is {place, {your trust, {in2, whorel baker}}}, cf. monadic in1 as in there is a man in the room. Preposition in values Oblique Case on its complement whorel baker.
    Implementation detail: Tinf values nullCase on PRO. PRO values ɸ on Tinf.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel baker to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whorel.
    N baker has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Oblique Case whorel spells out as whom (dialect). PRO does not spell out. in2 spells out as in.
    (21a) the person to visit (Example (75c); Sag 1997: 464)
    (See also Figure 18.)     		[person, d_rel, visit, 'v*', ['PRO', d0], 'Tinf', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Implementation detail: Tinf values nullCase on PRO. PRO values ɸ on Tinf.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP drel person to its edge.
    Rel on Crel is valued by drel, but empty drel does not value T on Crel. Economy does not apply. Only one choice for valuing T on Crel: Tinf raising to edge of Crel. PRO has nullCase, not Nominative Case.
    N person has an unvalued (by drel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel, drel and PRO do not spell out. Tinf in Crel does not spell out.
    (21b) the person for us to visit (Example (75b); Sag 1997: 464)
    (See also Figure 19.)     		[person, d_rel, visit, 'v*', [we, d], 'Tinf', for, c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Assume complementizer for licenses the overt subject, we, in a untensed clause by assigning Oblique Case, and it can value T on crel. Assume further that Crel piggy-backs on top of for.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP drel person to its edge.
    Rel on Crel is valued by drel, but empty drel does not value T on Crel. Economy does not apply. Only one choice for valuing T on Crel: closest head is for, raising to edge of Crel. We has Oblique, not Nominative Case.
    N person has an unvalued (by drel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature. EXT: Crel does not spell out. Non-nominative we spells out as us. drel does not spell out. Tinf in Crel does not spell out.
    (22a) What I read
    (22b) *What that I read
    (See also Figure 20.)     		[pro_n, what_rel, read, 'v*', [i, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, d] One derivation.
    Headless relative clause.
    Implementation detail: assume what is whatrel + pron (covert nominal).
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whatrelpron to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whorel.
    Assume N pron has an unvalued (by whatrel) D-feature (just like lexical nouns). It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with covert D, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel, overt D and pron do not spell out.
    (23a) What annoys John
    (23b) *What that annoys John
    (See also Figure 21.)     		[john, d, annoy, 'v*', [pro_n, what_rel], 'T', c_rel, d] One derivation.
    Headless relative clause.
    Implementation detail: assume what is whatrel + pron (covert nominal).
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whatrelpron to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whorel.
    Assume N pron has an unvalued (by whatrel) D-feature (just like lexical nouns). It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with covert D, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel, overt D and pron do not spell out.
    (24a) the boy who told the story (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    *the boy who that told the story     		[story, the, tell, 'v*', [boy, who_rel], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Basic subject relative clause.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel boy to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whorel.
    N boy has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Nominative Case whorel spells out as who.
    (24b) the letter which Dick wrote yesterday (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    *the letter which that Dick wrote yesterday     		[letter, which_rel, write, 'v*', [dick, d], 'Tpast', [yesterday, d], c_rel, the] An object relative clause.
    Implementation detail: assume, substantially following (Haumann, 2007) and (Larson, 1985), that yesterday is a TP-level bare NP adverb. It has both inherent Case and an intrinsic theta role. NP yesterday may be freely set or pair Merged at TP. If it doesn't move, it's pair Merged. If it's set Merged, it violates {XP, YP} Labeling unless it moves.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whichrel letter to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whichrel.
    N letter has an unvalued (by whichrel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whichrel spells out as which.
    (24c) the man who Ann gave the present to (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    the man to who(m) Ann gave the present (pied-piping)
    *the man who(m) that Ann gave the present to
    *the man to who(m) that Ann gave the present     		[man, who_rel, to_2, [present, the], give, 'v*', [ann, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Relativization of the indirect object of a double object verb.
    Assume to is dyadic, i.e. VP structure is {give, {the present, {to2, whorel man}}}. Preposition to2 values Oblique Case on its complementwhorel man. Assume further that pied-piping of to2 is possible.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel man to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whorel.
    N man has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Oblique Case whorel spells out as whom (dialect).
    (24d) the box which Pat brought the apples in (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    the box in which Pat brought the apples (pied-piping)
    *the box which that Pat brought the apples in
    *the box in which that Pat brought the apples in     		[box, which_rel, in_2, [apples, the], bring, 'v*', [pat, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Assume bring...in involves a dyadic preposition in, i.e. VP structure is {bring, {the apples, {in2, whichrel box}}}. Preposition in2 values Oblique Case on its complement whichrel box. Assume further that pied-piping of in2 is possible.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whichrel box to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whichrel.
    N box has an unvalued (by whichrel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whichrel spells out as which. in2 spells out as in.
    (24e) the dog which was taught by John (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    *the dog which that was taught by John     		[dog, which_rel, teach, [[john, d], by], prt, 'v~', 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Relativization of passivized object.
    Implementation detail: we adapt Sobin's (2014) account of passivization. Unvalued Case shared between prt and whichrel dog. Whichrel dog values ɸ for prt. Tpast values Nominative Case on whichrel dog. Dog values ɸ on Tpast. Whichrel dog raises to the edge of Tpast.
    Assume also that the agentive by-phrase is pair-merged to teach (lowest available point on the VP, not prt or v~).
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whichrel dog to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whichrel.
    N dog has an unvalued (by whichrel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whichrel spells out as which. v~ spells out as be. Tpast[ɸ :SG] + be = was. Verb teach with affix prt spells out as past participle taught.
    (25) the boy who Mike writes better than (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    ?*the boy than who Mike writes better
    *the boy who that Mike writes better than
    (See also Figure 22.)     		[boy, who_rel, than, better, write, 'v_unerg', [mike, d], 'T', c_rel, the] Two derivations, one blocked at Spellout.
    Relativization of the object of a comparative.
    Implementation detail: assume for the purpose of this example that than is a preposition taking a DP object, not a C as needed in the case of Comparative Deletion (not implemented here), e.g. as in Mike writes better than I do/write.
    (See also detail below on blocking pied-piping of than.)
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel boy to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whorel.
    N boy has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature. EXT: Crel does not spell out. Oblique Case whorel spells out as whom (dialect).
    Implementation detail: a parse is obtained at step 17. A second parse, one involving pied-piping, is obtained later at step 32. However, we assume it's blocked by a spellout rule:
    Crash: sequence 'than whom ' cannot be spelled out
    (26) the girl whose friends bought the cake (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    (See also Figure 23.)     		[cake, the, buy, 'v*', [friends,'\'s',[girl, who_rel]],'Tpast',c_rel,the] One derivation.
    Relativization of a genitive from a subject.
    Assume the possessive 's DP:
    ['s [who whorel girl]['s 's friends]].
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel girl's friends to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whorel.
    N girl has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whorel + 's spells out as whose.
    (27) the man whose house Patrick bought (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    (fn.55) the man whose house that Patrick bought (T-to-C variant)
    (See also Figure 24.)     		[house, '\'s', [man, who_rel], buy, 'v*', [patrick, d],'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Relativization of a genitive from the object.
    Assume the possessive DP structure {{whorel man}, {'s, house}}. Note that whorel is not the head of the DP. We must allow Crel to find it. However, can it value T on Crel? If so, economy obtains. If not, T-to-C movement is permissible and the variant shown above with that is available. (See also brief discussion in fn. 55.)
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel man's house to its edge.
    Rel on Crel valued by whorel. If embedded whorel does not value T, economy does not apply. Two alternate choices for valuing T on Crel: (A) T raising to edge of Crel, or (B) Nominative subject Patrick raising to Crel. We produce both examples listed as grammatical.
    N man has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whorel + 's spells out as whose. If (A) above, T in edge of Crel spells out as that. If (B), no that is pronounced.
    (28) the boy whose brother was taught by Sandra (Keenan and Hawkins, 1987: 63)
    *the boy whose brother that was taught by Sandra     		[brother, '\'s', [boy, who_rel], teach, [[sandra, d], by], prt, 'v~', 'Tpast', c_rel, the] One derivation.
    Relativization of a genitive from the passivized object.
    Assume the possessive DP {whorel boy, {'s brother}}.
    Implementation detail: we adapt Sobin's (2014) account of passivization. Unvalued Case shared between prt and whorel boy's brother. Brother values ɸ for prt. Tpast values Nominative Case on whorel boy's brother. Brother values ɸ on Tpast. Whorel boy's brother. raises to the edge of Tpast.
    Assume also that the agentive by-phrase is pair-merged to teach (lowest available point on the VP, not prt or v~).
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel boy's brother to its edge.
    Rel on Crel valued by whorel. Suppose embedded whorel cannot value T. This predicts a (perhaps subtle) subject/object asymmetry. Nominative Case-marked subject whorel boy's brother can valued T on Crel. Then economy still holds.
    N boy has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whorel + 's spells out as whose. v~ spells out as be. Tpast[ɸ :SG] + be = was. Verb teach with affix prt spells out as taught.
    Implementation detail: the agentive by-phrase is tested for both pair and set Merge. The illicit set Merge case starts at step 29 and crashes (with no possible action).
    (29) the girl who(m) friends of bought the cake (cf. (26))
    *the girl who(m) that friends of bought the cake
    *the girl of who(m) friends bought the cake
    *the girl of who(m) that friends bought the cake
    (See also Figure 25.)     		[cake, the, buy, 'v*', [girl, who_rel, of_1, friends, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations, one blocked at Spellout.
    Relativization of a genitive from a subject.
    Preposition of here is monadic of1, i.e. it takes a single argument. and assigns both a theta role and Oblique Case to it.
    Assume the DP {friends, {of1, {whorel girl}}}.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP friends of whorel girl to its edge.
    Rel on Crel valued by whorel. Nominative Case-marked subject friends of whorel girl can valued T on Crel. Then economy still holds.
    N girl has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Oblique Case whorel spells out as whom (dialect).
    Implementation detail: the parse is obtained at step 18. A second parse with of pied-piping is obtained later at step 29. However, we assume it's blocked by a spellout rule:
    Crash: sequence 'of1 whom' cannot be spelled out
    (30) the man who Patrick bought the house of (cf. (27))
    *the man who that Patrick bought the house of
    *the man of who Patrick bought the house
    *the man of who that Patrick bought the house     		[man, who_rel, of_1, house, the, buy, 'v*', [patrick, d], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations, one blocked at Spellout.
    Relativization of a genitive from the object.
    Preposition of here is monadic of1, i.e. it takes a single argument. and assigns both a theta role and Oblique Case to it.
    Assume the DP {the, {house, {of1, {whorel man}}}}.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP house of1 whorel man to its edge.
    By economy, T-to-C blocked, no that, Rel and T on Crel valued by whorel. (This assumes a DP complement position is more accessible than a specifier.)
    N man has an unvalued (by whichrel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whorel spells out as whom (dialect).
    Implementation detail: a parse is obtained at step 18. A second parse is obtained later at step 34. However, we assume it's blocked by a spellout rule:
    Crash: sequence 'of1 whom' cannot be spelled out
    (31) the boy who the brother of was taught by Sandra (cf. (28))
    *the boy of who the brother was taught by Sandra     		[boy, who_rel, of_1, brother, the, teach, [[sandra, d], by], prt, 'v~', 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivatios, one blocked at Spellout.
    Relativization of a genitive from a passivized object.
    Preposition of here is monadic of1, i.e. it takes a single argument. and assigns both a theta role and Oblique Case to it.
    Assume the DP {the, {brother, {of1, {whorel boy}}}}.
    Implementation detail: we adapt Sobin's (2014) account of passivization. Unvalued Case shared between prt and the brother of1 whorel boy. Brother values ɸ for prt. Tpast values Nominative Case on the brother of1 whorel boy. Brother values ɸ on Tpast. The brother of1 whorel boy raises to the edge of Tpast.
    Assume also that the agentive by-phrase is pair-merged to teach (lowest available point on the VP, not prt or v~).
    Phase head Crel attracts DP the brother of1 whorel boy to its edge.
    Rel on Crel valued by whorel. Nominative Case-marked subject the brother of1 whorel boy can valued T on Crel. Then economy still holds.
    N boy has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Oblique Case whorel spells out as whom (dialect).
    Implementation detail: the parse is obtained at step 25. A second parse with of pied-piping is obtained later at step 51. However, we assume it's blocked by a spellout rule:
    Crash: sequence 'of1' whom' cannot be spelled out
    Furthermore, the agentive by-phrase is tested for both pair and set Merge. The illicit set Merge cases start at steps 29 and 52 for the non-pied-piping and pied-piping varieties. Both illicit cases crash (with no possible action).
    (32) Give me the phone number of the person whose mother's friend's sister's dog's appearance had offended the audience (Sag 1997: 450)
    (See also Figure 26.)     		[audience, the ,offend, 'v*', [appearance, '\'s', [dog, '\'s', [sister, '\'s' ,[friend, '\'s', [mother, '\'s', [person, who_rel]]]]]], perf, v, 'Tpast', c_rel, the, of_1, number, phone, the] One derivation.
    The DP with the relative pronoun whorel is recursively embedded within the specifier of possessive 's for the head noun appearance. Despite this, whorel must be visible to Rel probing.
    Preposition of here is monadic of1, i.e. it takes a single argument. and assigns both a theta role and Oblique Case to it.
    Assume the DP {{{{{{whorel person}, {'s, mother}}, {'s friend}}, {'s, sister}}, {'s dog}}, {'s, appearance}}.
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel person ‘s mother’s friend’s sister’s dog’s appearance to its edge.
    Rel on Crel valued by whorel. Nominative Case-marked subject whorel person ‘s mother’s friend’s sister’s dog’s appearance can valued T on Crel. Then economy still holds.
    N person has an unvalued (by whichrel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. v + perf spells out as have. whorel + 's spells out as whose. of1 spells out as of.
    (fn58)(i) the person whose mother's friend the play offended
    the person whose mother's friend that the play offended
    *the person whose the play offended mother's friend     		[friend, '\'s', [mother, '\'s', [person, who_rel]] , offend, 'v*', [play:n, the], 'Tpast', c_rel, the] Two derivations.
    Assume the DP {{{whorel person}, {'s, mother}}, {'s friend}}. Despite the embedding inside the specifier of the possessive DP, whorel must be visible to Rel probing.
    LEX: play is both a noun and verb. Here, we pick out the nominal with :type (n).
    Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel person 's mother 's friend to its edge.
    Rel on Crel valued by whorel. If embedded whorel cannot value T, economy does not apply. Two alternate choices for valuing T on Crel: (A) T raising to edge of Crel, or (B) Nominative subject the play raising to Crel. We produce both examples listed as grammatical.
    N person has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. whorel + 's spells out as whose. If (A) above, T in edge of Crel spells out as that. If (B), no that is pronounced.
    (fn62i) the student who lives here who studies English [[here, d, live, 'v*', [student, who_rel], 'T', c_rel], [english, d, study, 'v*', [student, who_rel], 'T', c_rel], the] One derivation.
    Doubly stacked relative clause. We assume FormSet (Chomsky, 2021) is an available Narrow Syntax operation for independently formed syntactic objects that meet certain (syntactic) parallelism requirements.
    The following two CrelP's can be formed in the Workspace separately:
    1. {whorel student, {Crel, whorel student lives here}}
    2. {whorel student, {Crel, whorel student studies English}}
    In each case, Phase head Crel attracts DP whorel student to its edge. By economy, both Rel and T on Crel are valued by Nominative Case-marked subject whorel student, (and the option of the complementizer that is not available).
    Next, n-ary FormSet applies (n ≥ 2):
    { {whorel student, {Crel, whorel student lives here}}, {whorel student, {Crel, whorel student studies English}} }
    Because we have a parallel set, denoted here by {... } (and by a straight connecting line in the tree representation), necessary to distinguish it from a set formed by Merge, raising must apply Across-the-Board (ATB)-style to all members of the set.
    N student has an unvalued (by whorel) D-feature. It raises to head a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature. We therefore obtain {student, { {whorel student, {Crel, whorel student lives here}}, {whorel student, {Crel, whorel student studies English}} }
    (Assume in general that a set formed by FormSet must undergo ATB-style extraction before further Merge (for Labeling/INT reasons). See (Fong & Oishi, 2023) for further details. We just note here the possibility of coordination, e.g. the student who lives here and who studies English.)
    As with the regular (non-FormSet) case, student heads a new nominal, and Merges with the, which values its D-feature.
    EXT: Crel does not spell out. Nominative whorel spells out as who.
    • Machine Parameters: expand

    Animation:
    (23a) What annoys John
    (23b) *What that annoys John
    (See also Figure 21.)

    Derivation:
    (23a) What annoys John
    (23b) *What that annoys John
    (See also Figure 21.)

    Stream:[[john!D],[d!case!N],[annoy],[v*!phi],[[pron!D],[whatrel!case!N]],[T!phi],[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):
    SO:[]

    Step 1.

    Head of stream [john!D] is the initial SO
    Stream:[[d!case!N],[annoy],[v*!phi],[[pron!D],[whatrel!case!N]],[T!phi],[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):
    SO:[john!D]

    Step 2.

    Merge [d!case!N] and [john!D]
    Label from [d!case!N] (syntactic head with an unvalued uF)
    Inherit interpretable feature(s) [f(phi,[3,sg,n])] from [john!D]
    [d!case!N] values D on [john!D]
    [john] values N on [d!case!N]
    Stream:[[annoy],[v*!phi],[[pron!D],[whatrel!case!N]],[T!phi],[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):
    SO:[d!case[d][john]]

    Step 3.

    Merge [annoy] and [d!case[d][john]]
    Label from [annoy] (syntactic head merging with a non-head)
    Theta-mark [d!case[d][john]]
    Push [d!case[d][john]] (unvalued uF) onto stack
    Stream:[[v*!phi],[[pron!D],[whatrel!case!N]],[T!phi],[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[d!case[d][john]]
    SO:[annoy[annoy][d!case[d][john]]]

    Step 4.

    Merge [v*!phi] and [annoy[annoy][d!case[d..][john..]]]
    Label from [v*!phi] (syntactic head merging with a non-head)
    [d!case[d][john]] values uPhi on [v*!phi]
    [v*] values acc case on [d[d][john]]
    Stream:[[[pron!D],[whatrel!case!N]],[T!phi],[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[d[d][john]]
    SO:[v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]

    Step 5.

    Begin substream
    Stream:[[pron!D],[whatrel!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):
    SO:[]

    Step 6.

    Head of stream [pron!D] is the initial SO
    Stream:[[whatrel!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):
    SO:[pron!D]

    Step 7.

    Merge [whatrel!case!N] and [pron!D]
    Label from [whatrel!case!N] (syntactic head with an unvalued uF)
    Inherit interpretable feature(s) [f(phi,[3,sg,n])] from [pron!D]
    [pron!D] values N on [whatrel!case!N]
    Push [pron!D] (unvalued uF) onto stack
    Stream:[]
    Stack (⥥):[pron!D]
    SO:[whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]]
    End substream, SO [whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]] re-inserted into main stream
    Substream stack [[pron!D]] saved for possible stack merge

    Step 8.

    Stream:[[whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]],[T!phi],[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[d[d][john]]
    SO:[v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]

    Step 9.

    Merge [v*[v*][annoy[annoy..][d..]]] and [whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]]
    Label from [v*[v*][annoy[annoy..][d..]]] (edge feature)
    Theta-mark [whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]]
    Saved substream stack [[pron!D]] merged with stack
    Push [whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]] (unvalued uF) onto stack
    Stream:[[T!phi],[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]]
    [pron!D]
    [d[d][john]]
    SO:[v*[whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]][v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]]

    Step 10.

    Merge [T!phi] and [v*[whatrel!case[whatrel..][pron..]][v*[v*..][annoy..]]]
    Label from [T!phi] (syntactic head merging with a non-head)
    [whatrel!case[whatrel][pron!D]] values uPhi on [T!phi]
    [T] values nom case on [whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]]
    Stream:[[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]]
    [pron!D]
    [d[d][john]]
    SO:[T[T][v*[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]]]

    Step 11.

    Internal merge selected
    Merge [T[T][v*[whatrel..][v*..]]] and [whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]]
    Label from [T[T][v*[whatrel..][v*..]]] (edge feature)
    Stream:[[crel!rel!T!phi],[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]]
    [pron!D]
    [d[d][john]]
    SO:[T[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][T[T][v*[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]]]]

    Step 12.

    Merge [crel!rel!T!phi] and [T[whatrel[whatrel..][pron..]][T[T..][v*..]]]
    Label from [crel!rel!T!phi] (syntactic head merging with a non-head)
    [whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]] values rel on [crel!rel!T!phi]
    [whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]] values T on [crel!T!phi] (economy)
    [whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]] values phi on [crel!phi] (economy)
    Internal merge selected
    Merge [crel[crel][T[whatrel..][T..]]] and [whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]]
    Label from [crel[crel][T[whatrel..][T..]]] (edge feature)
    Stream:[[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]]
    [pron!D]
    [d[d][john]]
    SO:[crel[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][crel[crel][T[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][T[T][v*[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]]]]]]

    Step 13.

    Local Extent boundary at [crel[whatrel[whatrel..][pron..]][crel[crel..][T..]]]
    Stack element [pron!D] with unvalued uF found
    New boundary (b) marker stacked
    Restack [pron!D] onto stack
    Stream:[[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[pron!D]
    b
    [whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]]
    [d[d][john]]
    SO:[crel[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][crel[crel][T[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][T[T][v*[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]]]]]]

    Step 14.

    Merge [pron!D] and [crel[whatrel[whatrel..][pron..]][crel[crel..][T..]]]
    Label from [pron!D] (syntactic head merging with a non-head)
    Stream:[[d!case!N]]
    Stack (⥥):[pron!D]
    b
    [whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]]
    [d[d][john]]
    SO:[pron!D[pron!D][crel[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][crel[crel][T[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][T[T][v*[whatrel[whatrel][pron!D]][v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]]]]]]]

    Step 15.

    Merge [d!case!N] and [pron!D[pron!D][crel[whatrel..][crel..]]]
    Label from [d!case!N] (syntactic head merging with a non-head)
    Inherit interpretable feature(s) [f(phi,[3,sg,n])] from [pron!D[pron!D][crel[whatrel..][crel..]]]
    [d!case!N] values D on [pron!D[pron!D][crel[whatrel..][crel..]]]
    [pron[pron][crel[whatrel..][crel..]]] values N on [d!case!N]
    Stream:[]
    Stack (⥥):[pron]
    b
    [whatrel[whatrel][pron]]
    [d[d][john]]
    SO:[d!case[d][pron[pron][crel[whatrel[whatrel][pron]][crel[crel][T[whatrel[whatrel][pron]][T[T][v*[whatrel[whatrel][pron]][v*[v*][annoy[annoy][d[d][john]]]]]]]]]]]

    Parse:
    Spell-out:
    what -s annoy -acc John (after morpheme realization)
    what annoy -s John -acc (after affix-hop)
    what annoy -s John -acc (after morpheme realization, stage 2)
    what annoys John  

    One derivation found.
    Computational Cost:
    Merge: 11, Agree: 12, Unify: 0, Push: 3, Boundaries: 1, Inject: 1
    Non-TOS access: 0, Pop: 0, Depth cost: 17
    Step:0123456789101112131415
    Stack depth:0001100113333444

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