Gap Licensing in touch-and Similar Constructions

Abstract

In this paper', we will examine several different types of tough- and similar constructions. They have A-positon fillers and show unbounded dependency between filler and gap. Problems with the rule-based approach of GKPS arise when the triggering element of the construction concerned is not the head of the local structure and when the same lexical items in different constructions carry their gap-licensing properties with them. I propose a new gap licensing mechanism, which introduces a FOOT feature [<GAP a> LICENSOR], which is specified in the lexicon as a part of the syntactic information of those lexical items which trigger the construction. We will see that the present analysis can handle all the problems posed by the GKPS approach and can account for some recalcitrant data, which are too tough to handle in other approaches.