Documentation

Linglib.Studies.ArregiPietraszko2021

GenHM and Do-Support #

[AP21]

Connects the GenHM formalization to A&P's do-support paradigm (Data/Examples/ArregiPietraszko2021.json).

Structure #

§1 English GenHM chain configurations for A&P's four do-support contexts §2 The bridge table: each contextual datum paired with its GenHM prediction §3 The parallelism theorem: do-support uniformity across all four contexts §4 Deriving VMovementParam from GenHM

Central Result #

The parallelism of do-support across A&P's three core contexts (negation, SAI, verum focus) plus VPE is a DERIVED consequence of GenHM chain structure, not a stipulation about the V-movement parameter. The four contexts involve two structurally distinct reasons for chain-splitting — intervention by a [+P] specifier (negation, SAI, verum) and post-syntactic [-P] on V* (VPE) — yet all produce the same do-support outcome because spell-out depends only on WHETHER the chain is split.

A&P unify the three intervention contexts under a single specifier-intervention rule (footnote 30). SAI is intervention by the subject in Spec,TP, NOT "probe displacement"; verum focus is intervention by a covert specifier in Spec,ΣP, NOT a "weak Foc head".

Out of scope #

Tag questions (e.g. She likes him, doesn't she?) are not in A&P's paper; their analysis belongs in a future Sailor 2018 study file. A substantive TenseSupportContext → GenHMChain bridge that would connect this file's predictions to Pollock1989.lean's needsDoSupport is deferred to a cross-framework wiring follow-up. Orphan Assignment (the actual do-insertion derivation) and the strong V parameter (A&P's cross-linguistic prediction) are deferred to follow-up substrate work; needsDoSupportGenHM here is a Boolean proxy.

Generalized Head Movement (relocated from Minimalist/GenHM.lean) #

Formalization of Generalized Head Movement following [AP21].

Central Claim #

Head displacement (subject-auxiliary inversion, T-lowering, do-support) is not syntactic movement but a single Agree-based operation — GenHM — that shares morphological features (M-values) between terminal nodes. The direction of displacement (upward vs downward) is determined postsyntactically at PF, based on which terminal in the chain spells out the shared M-value.

Mechanism #

  1. GenHM relates two terminals X and Y in a local syntactic configuration, sharing an M-value (tense/phi features) between them → chain ⟨X, Y⟩.
  2. PF Chain Resolution: The M-value is pronounced on exactly one terminal.
    • Default: the M-value lowers to the goal (V) — affix hopping.
    • When the chain is split, the M-value is stranded on the probe (T) — looks like "raising".
  3. Chain-splitting occurs for exactly two reasons (A&P unify intervention contexts under a single [+P]-specifier rule; cf. footnote 30):
    • Split-by-Intervention: a [+P] specifier intervenes between the top of the chain and V*. This subsumes overt negation (Spec,ΣP), verum focus (covert specifier in Spec,ΣP), and SAI (subject in Spec,TP).
    • Split-by-Deletion: V* is marked [-P] post-syntactically, e.g. inside an elided VP.
  4. Do-support: When the M-value is stranded on a probe (T) that has no independent lexical content, a dummy verb do is inserted at PF.

Key Result #

The parallelism of do-support across A&P's three core contexts (negation, SAI, verum focus) plus VPE is DERIVED from GenHM chain structure: all four share the same structural property, namely a split chain stranding the M-value on a contentless T. The specific reason for the split is irrelevant to the do-support prediction.

Out of scope (deferred) #

@[reducible, inline]

An M-value is a bundle of morphological features (tense, agreement) shared between terminal nodes via GenHM.

We reuse FeatureBundle since M-values are grammatical features.

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    The Generalized Head Movement relation.

    GenHM relates two terminal nodes X (probe) and Y (goal) in a local syntactic configuration, sharing an M-value between them. This is an instance of Agree specialized for head displacement.

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      GenHM is an instance of Agree: it relates a probe with unvalued features to a goal with valued features under c-command.

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        A valid GenHM relation satisfies the conditions for valid Agree.

        Identification of the [+P] specifier that triggers Split-by-Intervention.

        Per [AP21] footnote 30, A&P unify the three intervention contexts under a single specifier-intervention rule. This field is therefore diagnostic only — A&P's chain-splitting rule itself does not branch on which specifier intervened.

        • subjectInSpecTP : InterveningSpecifier

          Subject in Spec,TP. The configuration A&P invoke for SAI: GenHM relates V, T, and C across the subject specifier.

        • negSpecifier : InterveningSpecifier

          Overt negation in Spec,ΣP (sentential negation, e.g. Sue does not eat fish).

        • verumCovertSpecifier : InterveningSpecifier

          Covert specifier in Spec,ΣP triggering verum focus (e.g. Sue DOES eat fish).

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            The reason a GenHM chain is split, preventing M-value lowering.

            [AP21] recognize exactly two chain-splitting mechanisms:

            1. Split-by-Intervention: a [+P] specifier intervenes between the top of the chain and V*. Subsumes overt negation, verum focus, and SAI under one rule.
            2. Split-by-Deletion: V* is marked [-P] post-syntactically (e.g. inside an elided VP), blocking Vocabulary Insertion of the lowered M-value.

            Both produce the same PF effect: the M-value cannot lower and is stranded on the probe.

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                A GenHM chain between a probe and a goal, possibly split.

                The chain captures the structural configuration relevant for PF spell-out: whether the M-value can lower from probe to goal, or is stranded on the probe. The splitReason field tracks both whether the chain is split and why.

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                  Is the chain split? A split chain strands the M-value on the probe.

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                    Where the M-value is pronounced at PF.

                    • .onGoal: M-value lowers to the goal (= affix hopping / T-lowering)
                    • .onProbe: M-value stays on the probe (= "raising" / stranding)
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                        Determine where the M-value is spelled out.

                        The M-value surfaces on the goal (lower terminal) unless the chain is split, in which case it is stranded on the probe (higher terminal). The reason for the split is irrelevant — only whether it is split.

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                          def ArregiPietraszko2021.needsDoSupportGenHM (chain : GenHMChain) (probeHasContent : Bool) :
                          Bool

                          The do-support condition.

                          Do-support is triggered when:

                          1. The M-value is stranded on the probe (chain is split), AND
                          2. The probe has no independent lexical content (is a contentless T head)

                          This is a PF repair strategy: the grammar inserts do to host tense features that cannot lower to V and have no other host.

                          NOTE: this is a Boolean proxy. A&P's actual derivation routes through Orphan Assignment ([O] feature on the stranded V_m, then defective Vocabulary Insertion as do). Modeling that machinery is deferred.

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                            theorem ArregiPietraszko2021.doSupport_is_lastResort (chain : GenHMChain) (probeHasContent : Bool) :
                            needsDoSupportGenHM chain probeHasContent = truespellOutTarget chain = SpellOutTarget.onProbe probeHasContent = false

                            Do-support is a last resort: it is only used when the M-value cannot reach the goal AND the probe cannot host it independently.

                            Theorem 1: Lowering when chain is clear.

                            When the chain is not split, the M-value surfaces on the goal (= T-lowering / affix hopping).

                            Theorem 2: Raising when chain is split.

                            When the chain is split (by intervention or deletion), the M-value surfaces on the probe (= "raising" / stranding).

                            theorem ArregiPietraszko2021.doSupport_iff_split_and_empty (chain : GenHMChain) (probeContent : Bool) :
                            needsDoSupportGenHM chain probeContent = true chain.isSplit = true probeContent = false

                            Theorem 3: Do-support iff split and contentless.

                            Do-support is triggered iff (a) the chain is split AND (b) the probe has no lexical content.

                            theorem ArregiPietraszko2021.doSupport_uniform_across_contexts (chain₁ chain₂ : GenHMChain) (content₁ content₂ : Bool) (h_same_split : chain₁.isSplit = chain₂.isSplit) (h_same_content : content₁ = content₂) :
                            needsDoSupportGenHM chain₁ content₁ = needsDoSupportGenHM chain₂ content₂

                            Theorem 4: Do-support is uniform across contexts.

                            For ANY GenHM chain with the same split status and probe content, do-support is triggered or not uniformly. The specific reason for the split (intervention or deletion) is irrelevant. This is the parallelism theorem.

                            Theorem 5: Auxiliaries don't need do-support.

                            When the probe IS the auxiliary (T = Aux with lexical content), do-support is never needed, regardless of chain structure.

                            Corollary: Lexical verbs need do-support when chain is split.

                            Extended head displacement classification.

                            Adds GenHM as a third option alongside syntactic movement (= MCB Internal Merge, encoded as Step.im in Derivation.lean) and postsyntactic amalgamation. The syntactic constructor is now a pure tag — the analyst supplies the actual Step.im evidence via a separate Derivation when the diagnostic predicates are needed. Refactored at 0.230.788 when the legacy Movement record was deleted in favor of MCB-aligned Step.im / Derivation.movedItems.

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                              GenHM subsumes both "raising" and "lowering" as surface realizations of a single operation.

                              GenHM chain structure determines the surface pattern captured by VMovementParam.

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                                When the chain is clear, the surface pattern is V-raising.

                                When the chain is split, the surface pattern is V-in-situ.

                                A&P's four do-support contexts as GenHM chains. The four chains involve two distinct split mechanisms:

                                Negation chain: T ... [Spec,ΣP: not] ... V

                                "Sue does not eat fish" — overt not in Spec,ΣP intervenes. Split-by-Intervention.

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                                  Verum focus chain: T ... [Spec,ΣP: covert verum specifier] ... V

                                  "Sue DOES eat fish" — covert specifier in Spec,ΣP intervenes (cf. A&P fn. 30 — same intervention mechanism as negation). Split-by-Intervention.

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                                    Question chain (SAI): C ← T ... [Spec,TP: subject] ... V

                                    "Where does Sue eat fish?" — the subject in Spec,TP intervenes between T (chained to C) and V*. Crucially this is intervention, NOT "probe displacement" — see A&P, where GenHM is taken to relate V, T, and C across the subject specifier. Split-by-Intervention.

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                                      VP ellipsis chain: T ... V (with V* marked [-P] post-syntactically)

                                      "She runs faster than he does" — V is present and chained to T; VPE marks V* with [-P], blocking lowered Vocabulary Insertion. Split-by-Deletion (NOT goal-absence — A&P's analysis crucially has GenHM still applying).

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                                        A declarative chain with no split: T ... V

                                        "Sue eats fish" — clear chain, M-value lowers to V (affix hopping).

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                                          @[simp]

                                          Behavioral fact about declaratives: M-value lowers (affix hopping).

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                                          Behavioral fact about declaratives with lexical V: no do-support.

                                          Does the sentence use do-support? (do_support feature).

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                                            Does the probe carry lexical content? (auxiliary = true, lexical V = false; verb_type feature).

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                                              A&P's do-support paradigm as a bridge table: each generated row paired with the GenHM chain configuration assigned in §1.

                                              Coverage: A&P's three core contexts (negation, SAI, verum focus) each tested with lexical V, auxiliary, and the starred do-support misuse; VPE tested with lexical V only (the auxiliary case is not a do-support trigger and not in A&P's discussion of VPE).

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                                                Transfer equation: a row in the bridge table is acceptable iff its use (or omission) of do-support matches the GenHM prediction for its chain and probe content. The starred rows (ex31, ex33, ex35, ex41) are exactly those whose do-support usage contradicts the prediction — A&P's parallelism claim is precisely that this holds uniformly across all four contexts.

                                                theorem ArregiPietraszko2021.doSupport_parallel_lexical (chain : GenHMChain) (h : chain.isSplit = true) :
                                                needsDoSupportGenHM chain false = true

                                                Parallelism for lexical verbs: any split chain triggers do-support when the probe is contentless. Concrete consequence of the substrate theorem lexical_verb_needs_doSupport_when_split.

                                                Parallelism for auxiliaries: no chain triggers do-support when the probe carries lexical content. Concrete consequence of auxiliaries_dont_need_doSupport.

                                                theorem ArregiPietraszko2021.doSupport_context_irrelevant (chain₁ chain₂ : GenHMChain) (content : Bool) (h : chain₁.isSplit = chain₂.isSplit) :
                                                needsDoSupportGenHM chain₁ content = needsDoSupportGenHM chain₂ content

                                                Context-irrelevance: any two chains with the same split status give the same do-support decision. The reason for the split (intervention vs deletion) is irrelevant.

                                                TODO: a substantive chainOf : TenseSupportContext → GenHMChain map would let us state needsDoSupport p ctx = needsDoSupportGenHM (chainOf ctx) (contentOf p) — converting Pollock1989's flat parameter into a derived view of GenHM's chain structure. Deferred to a cross-framework wiring follow-up that also touches Pollock1989.lean.