The Syntax of Verb Phrase Ellipsis in English and Arabic: A Phase Approach

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the syntax of Verb Phrase Ellipsis (VPE henceforth) in English and Arabic employing a phase approach which has attracted the interest of many linguists and researchers since 2000 up to now (Winkler, 2005; Gengel 2007, 2009; Aelbrecht, 2010, 2015, 2016; Rouveret, 2012; and Bošković, 2014, etc.). The descriptive-analytic research design is used. The data are qualitatively analyzed employing the phase approach. The phase head affects and controls VPE licensing in both languages, English and Arabic. The syntactic environments in which VPE is licensed lead to similarities and differences between the two languages. In English, but merges under & of the maximal projection &P, whereas in Arabic it merges under the head C of the maximal projection CP. This study would be a cornerstone of further studies on the syntactic study of VPE, specially employing the phase approach.