Successive Cyclicity under (Anti‐)Local Considerations

Abstract

Abstract. Locality effects are typically understood to ensue when a dependency between two positions is too long—that is, as an upper bound on the distance an element may move (standard locality). This article explores some consequences of asking whether the opposite effect exists also, in terms of the Anti‐Locality Hypothesis: movement must be local, but not too local. Anti‐locality is formulated through a tripartite split of clause structure into Prolific Domains, subdomains of the derivation relevant for the operation Spell‐Out. The focus of the investigation will be generalized successive‐cyclic movement: clause‐internal movement from thematic to A‐ to A′‐positions as well as movement across clause boundaries, thereby unifying the derivational steps involved in unrelated constructions. I argue that, within a clause, an element can only ever move to the next higher Prolific Domain (Intraclausal Movement Generalization), whereas movement across clauses targets a position within the next higher Prolific Domain of the same type (Interclausal Movement Generalization). These two generalizations are claimed to boil down to an interaction between standard locality and anti‐locality considerations. Consequently, we can observe a transparent symmetry in locality issues, which I take to be a desira ble result.

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