PF Relaxation: An Asymmetry between Local and Long-Distance Movement
In Hindi, as in Punjabi, either the lower or the higher copy of a rel-phrase can be pronounced when rel-movement does not involve crossing a CP domain. When the lower copy of a movement chain is pronounced, (1a) is derived. On the other hand, if PF chooses to pronounce the higher copy, the result is (1b).
(1)
However, if a rel-phrase crosses a finite CP, then the highest copy of the movement chain must be the only copy that is pronounced.
(2)
The grammaticality of (2a) indicates that pronunciation of the highest copy is required. (2b) shows that the option of pronouncing the lower copy is not available in embedded finite clauses; neither is the option of ‘‘partial movement,’’ as shown in (2c). Note that (2b–c) are legitimate in Punjabi. What we have observed here is that pronunciation of a rel phrase inside a finite clause—local movement—is free; either the higher or the lower copy can be pronounced. I will call this kind of PF flexibility PF Relaxation. However, PF Relaxation is not operative when rel movement involves crossing a CP domain, in that only the highest copy is pronounced.
As for the requirement to pronounce the highest copy in a longdistance movement chain, I adopt both Bobaljik’s (2002) and Diesing’s (1997) proposals that it is the result of an economy condition that prefers isomorphism between PF and LF. This condition is called Minimize Mis match in Bobaljik’s terms, and the Scope Principle in Diesing’s.
(3)
Under this view, it is more economical when PF and LF choose to pronounce and interpret the same copy, as we have seen with Hindi long-distance rel-movement.
An asymmetry between local and long-distance movement is not un usual. Richards (1997) provides a detailed discussion of asymmetries between local and long-distance wh-movement; for example, he shows that in Serbo-Croatian, superiority eFFects occur only with long-distance movement and not with local movement.
(4)
(5)
A similar asymmetry between local and long-distance movement is found in Japanese, where superiority effects constrain only the latter. An asymmetry is also found in weak crossover (Richards 1997), where long distance movement appears to be subject to stricter constraints than local movement. In Serbo-Croatian and Japanese, it is superiority effects that create the asymmetry between local and long-distance movement, and in Hindi, it is the phonological condition PF Relaxation.
