On the Syntax of Stripping in Libyan Arabic

Abstract

The paper discusses a type of clausal ellipsis referred to as stripping with special focus on its syntactic properties and distribution, on the one hand, and its interaction with information structure on the other. The paper argues that stripping can be derived by focus movement of the remnant out of TP plus deletion of that TP at the PF interface in a way similar to that proposed by Depiante (2000), Merchant (2003) and Kolokonte (2008). The behaviour of the remnant with respect to preposition stranding, identity readings, binding and locality effects can be taken as arguments in favour of this movement-plus-deletion analysis. Given that stripping involves focus movement prior to TP ellipsis, it is further argued that the remnant in stripping, as far as information structure is concerned, is perceived as new informational focus.