Michelle Yuan
Clear cases of covert A-movement are difficult to identify and seem to be exceedingly rare (Polinsky & Potsdam 2013). However, recent work in the A-bar domain has demonstrated that spell-out patterns of movement copies can be regulated by morphological well-formedness conditions (e.g. Landau 2006, Reintges 2007, Scott 2021). This talk argues that, in the right contexts, this logic can be applied to reveal covert A-movement. The empirical basis of this proposal is Inuktitut (Eastern Canadian Inuit). Due to its polysynthetic nature, Inuktitut provides a unique lens into possible interactions between syntactic movement and complex word-formation.
In particular, Inuktitut has productive incorporation processes that target nouns and embedded clauses alike. Contrary to most previous characterizations of incorporation, this talk argues that incorporated elements in Inuktitut are syntactically active and may undergo various types of A-movement, including object shift, passivization, and even hyperraising. That these extracted elements must surface within the verb complex is analyzed as lower copy spell-out, enforced by morphological requirements on incorporation—essentially a "stray affix" effect. Therefore, this talk puts forth a novel diagnostic of covert A-movement based on a cross-linguistically generalizable interaction, and, more broadly, illustrates the utility of morphologically complex languages in investigating clausal syntax.