Some Anaphoric/Elliptical Constructions of English (Corrected after class) Ivan A. Sag (Stanford University) sag@stanford.edu April 5, 2012 1 Most Discussed (1) Verb Phrase Ellipsis (a.k.a. VP Deletion, VP Ellipsis, VPE, VP Anaphora; Sag 1976) a. Pat has climbed Mt. Everest, and Chris has , too. b. A: My daughter absolutely adores spinach! B: My son doesn’t . c. My aunt will continue to try to be helpful, and my uncle will (continue to (try to (be ))), as well. (2) Sluicing (Ross 1969; Merchant 2001) a. Somebody just left. Guess who . b. Lee is writing something, but you can’t imagine what/where/why/how . c. They’re sending the present away, but we don’t know to/with/for whom . 2 Nominal Ellipsis (3) Noun Phrase Ellipsis (a.k.a. N-Deletion - Jackendoff 1971) I like Leslie’s turquoise shirt, but not Pat’s . (4) Null Complement Anaphora (Hankamer and Sag 1976; Fillmore 1986) A: Who just left? B: Guess ! 1