On the interaction between Move and Delete in the phrasal/clausal coordinator let alone construction of English

Abstract

Park, Myung-Kwan and Cho, Euiyon. 2016. On the interaction between Move and Delete in the phrasal/clausal coordinator let alone construction of English. Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics 16-3, 513-536. This paper examines the let alone construction in English that has been extensively investigated since the seminal work on it by Fillmore et al. (1988). First, adopting the view that let alone is a coordinating conjunction/coordinator, we move on to argue that the combination of let alone and the second conjunct immediately after it undergoes Extraposition, thereby the first and the second conjuncts entering into structurally parallel relation. It is then shown that the resulting, Extraposition-derived parallel/coordinate structure allows for the application of Stripping or Gapping in its second conjunct. Noting that let alone cannot be a coordinator of two finite TPs, either Stripping or Gapping in the let alone construction applies in the smaller VP or vP domain. All in all, let alone and the ensuing conjunct turn derivationally into discontinuous coordination via Extraposition as Move, which feeds either Stripping or Gapping as Delete.