Basic English Syntax with Exercises

I-to-C movement

7.3.3 Inversion

This suggests that the auxiliary moves to the C position from the inflection position. This is straightforward with modals as they are generated in the inflection position at D-structure. Thus they undergo a movement from I to C in certain interrogative structures:

7.3.3 Inversion

The case of aspectual auxiliaries is similar to the modals. In the previous chapter we claimed that these auxiliaries are inserted elements that may move from the tense position to the I position when there is null agreement in I. Thus, if they are in I, they can also undergo movement from I to C:

7.3.3 Inversion

As we can see, a yes–no question involving a main verb moving to the C position is ungrammatical and instead of the main verb moving to C what happens is that the dummy auxiliary do is inserted into the tense position, and from there it moves to C, via I. Of course, this is readily accounted for if main verbs do not move to I, as is the standard assumption. If they are never in I they cannot move to C without violating the head movement constraint. But we argued that main verbs can move to I and so it is not readily apparent why they cannot move to C. We will put this issue to one side until we have discussed the facts about I-to-C movement more fully. For the time being, then, we will concentrate on I-to-C movement as it involves auxiliary verbs.

7.3.4 The interaction between wh-movement and inversion

The most important issue concerning I-to-C movement is why it happens. There are two main views on this. One is that I-to-C movement happens because there is a bound C morpheme in interrogative clauses and this triggers the movement of the auxiliary to support it in the same way that inflections trigger verbs and auxiliaries to move. The other view is that the movement happens in precisely the cases when there is nothing in C and there is a requirement that there must be. The first is perhaps the most intuitively obvious, but it faces a number of problems which make the other approach more attractive. Let us consider each proposal separately.

7.3.5 Subject questions

Before we consign (67c) to the waste bin however, let us see if it might be salvaged. We have argued that main verbs do not differ in their positions from auxiliary verbs except in the case of negation where the main verb cannot move over the negative head, but as auxiliaries are inserted into tense, the presence of negation does not affect them. Other than this, though, both main verbs and auxiliaries alike can occupy the I position (contra standard wisdom). If this is a general fact, then it is possible that main verbs can raise to C just as auxiliaries do and hence (68b) might be analysed as involving I-to-C movement of the main verb: