Null Operators in DPs

Abstract

It has been shown that adnominal gaps in double dont constructions display the behaviour of syntactic variables. In the first part of the present chapter, I argue that the gaps exhibit all the properties characteristic of parasitic gaps. Furthermore, evidence is adduced which supports a derivation of adnominal PGs by null operator movement to the [Spec, DP] position. The idea that [Spec, DP] constitutes a landing site for operators is substantiated by the fact that this position in French (and more generally in Romance) has COMP-like properties, in that it serves as an escape hatch for Wh-movement out of noun phrases.