Resolution of ellipsis: Evidence from Old English sluicing

Abstract

English sluicing presents some puzzling patterns: as expected, it operates over syntactically related antecedents and orphans, but it also operates over those that show a less direct relationship. It is not immediately obvious how much syntax there is in the relationship. This paper reports on the Old English (henceforth OE) data that can serve a practical purpose by providing the key to this puzzle: syntax is not the only option, though originally it is the default one. My analysis documents the distribution of sluicing in the extant resources according to temporal and textual criteria, suggesting furthermore how its past motivates its present behavior. Briefly put, it shows that a successful theoretical framework needs to accommodate the early and the later developments alike.