Benz and Salzmann 2025: N-stranding NP-ellipsis in German #
This file formalizes the argument of [BS25] that German has N-stranding NP-ellipsis. [LS14] take the absence of such ellipsis in Spanish as evidence that the noun does not leave NP: a postnominal PP cannot be recovered in Juan habló con tres estudiantes de física y yo hablé con dos. Benz and Salzmann observe that in those examples the numeral is contrastive and the noun is not; make the noun contrastive and recovery becomes possible in German, English and Spanish alike. The [E] feature can then sit on n, deleting only NP while the noun survives in its raised position — the nominal counterpart of V-stranding VP-ellipsis.
The nominal spine is Minimalist.Ellipsis.nominalSpine, N, n, Num and D, whose sites include the
adjunction site of NP for prenominal modifiers beside the heads: that distinction is what the
paper's evidence against deleting individual constituents turns on.
Main definitions #
nStrandingNPE,numPEllipsis: [E] on n and on D, beside the substrate'sMinimalist.Ellipsis.nPEllipsis, [E] on Num.ePositionOfContrast: the contrast condition on [E] placement.
Main results #
n_stranding_is_xStranding: N-to-n movement instantiates X-stranding.no_individual_prenominal_deletion,no_individual_numeral_deletion: no [E] position deletes a prenominal modifier while sparing the noun.postnominal_all_or_nothing: the only [E] position recovering a postnominal dependent deletes every one of them.contrast_governs_recovery: a postnominal dependent is recoverable exactly when the noun is contrastive.gender_parallels_voice: the categorizer is external under N-stranding as Voice is under VPE.
References #
[E] positions on the nominal spine #
N-stranding NP-ellipsis: [E] on n, deleting NP alone. The noun survives in its raised position, and prenominal modifiers, being outside n's complement, survive with it.
Equations
- BenzSalzmann2025.nStrandingNPE = { ePosition := Minimalist.Cat.n }
Instances For
NumP-ellipsis: [E] on D, leaving only the determiner.
Equations
- BenzSalzmann2025.numPEllipsis = { ePosition := Minimalist.Cat.D }
Instances For
N-stranding #
N-to-n movement instantiates X-stranding: the base position of the noun lies in n's complement while n itself is external, so [E] on n deletes NP and spares the moved noun (§1.1).
The clausal and nominal patterns are the same theorem at the categorizer of each extended projection: V is to v as N is to n.
Under N-stranding the noun's dependents go and everything above n stays: the postnominal PP of zwei Studenten der Physik is recovered in zwei Professoren, while the numeral and determiner are pronounced ((6a)).
Against deleting individual constituents #
No [E] position deletes a prenominal modifier while sparing the noun, since the noun lies in the complement of every head that dominates the modifier: das schönste Auto … das schönste Motorrad is out on the elided-adjective reading ((25a)).
The same holds for numerals, since only [E] on D puts Num in the deletion domain, and that deletes the noun too ((25b)).
Deleting a postnominal dependent requires deleting the noun's whole complement, so if one postnominal modifier is pronounced no other can be recovered ((28a)) while eliding both is fine ((28b)).
The contrast condition #
[E] sits on n when the noun is contrastive and higher when it is not (§2.1, motivated by (27)).
Equations
- BenzSalzmann2025.ePositionOfContrast nounContrastive = if nounContrastive = true then BenzSalzmann2025.nStrandingNPE else Minimalist.Ellipsis.nPEllipsis
Instances For
A postnominal dependent of the noun is recoverable exactly when the noun is contrastive: with contrast the noun survives while its complement is deleted, without it the noun is deleted along with the dependent — the difference between (6a) and Spanish (5), and between (26b) and (27).
Ellipsis height and mismatches #
German N-stranding deletes strictly less than the Spanish configuration: the categorizer and the prenominal modifiers survive the one and not the other.
Gender mismatches pattern with voice mismatches: the head bearing the feature is external exactly when [E] sits on it. Gender lives on n, which survives N-stranding but not nP-ellipsis, as Voice survives VP-ellipsis but not sluicing (§3).