Government, Barriers, Links, and Chains

1. 看看Government

Goverment is usually defined in terms of c-command:

(1)看X governs Y iff;

X c-commands Y

X is a governor ([+G])

There is governor W, such that X governs W, and W governs Y.

The last condition is of importance here. The basic idea is a governor is a barrier to outside government. Hence, the term barrier. Let us assume, taking slightly differfent approach, that barriers are defaults (which means they count little) and the barrier has to be overcome. In ealier transformational literature, bridges were proposed to cross over barriers at the clause level, though the barriers weren't known by that name. Let us try to redefine government so that a barrier is bridged:

(2)看看X governs Y iff;

X c-commands Y

X is a governor ([+G])

A barrier to Y can be bridged.

Note that the last clause essentially says the same thing, except we change the perspective. [+G] means that the form is a governor which is capable of building a bridge over the barrier provided that there nothing blocking this from happening.

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This page last updated 8 MY 2004