that-Trace Effect in English: Box System and Labeling

Abstract

The aim of this study is to account for the asymmetries between subject and object in English wh-movement, topicalization, and wh-in-situ within the framework of Chomsky’s (2024) Box System (BS) and the Labeling Algorithm (LA) (Chomsky 2013, 2015). Building on recent developments in the Minimalist Program, the paper proposes that the (in)accessibility of a matrix phase head C to its goal determines the (un)grammaticality of a wh- or topic element extraction from an embedded clause. When the overt complementizer that inherits ϕ-features and a force feature (subsuming [Q] or [Topic]) to INFL, a <Q, Q> or <Topic, Topic> label is established within the embedded {XP, INFLP} configuration, rendering an embedded wh- or topic element inaccessible to the matrix C. Conversely, in the absence of the overt complementizer that, the embedded wh- and topic element is accessible to the matrix C.