Much-support as a last resort

Abstract

In this article I present evidence for Bresnan's (1973) proposal that there is an underlying QP within the adjective phrase and that a distinction should be made between two types of functional degree words, Deg (heading DegP) and Q (heading QP). The evidence comes from so-pronominalization phenomena in English adjective phrases. I show that in certain pronominalization contexts a dummy adjectival element much is inserted in the functional Q position. This phenomenon of much-support is similar to the phenomenon of do-support in the verbal domain. I further argue that much-insertion is blocked in contexts in which the more economical A-to-Q raising operation can apply.

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