First conjunct complementiser agreement and the structure of coordination

Abstract

A recurring question in relation to first conjunct agreement concerns the underlying structure of the coordination: is first conjunct agreement the result of agreement with the first conjunct of a nominal coordination, or is it the result of agreement with the subject of a clausal first conjunct, that undergoes ellipsis and movement to make it look like a nominal conjunct? In this paper, I argue that several instances of first conjunct complementiser agreement should be analysed as resulting from clausal coordination and Right Node Raising. I show that this approach accounts for the following observations. In Frisian, the complementiser can show first conjunct agreement, but the verb cannot. Also in Frisian, first conjunct complementiser agreement triggers a two-event reading of the sentence. In Polish, last conjunct agreement on the verb is possible only in the context of first conjunct agreement on the complementiser. These observations cannot be accounted for under approaches that assume only nominal coordination, or resolution of agreement at PF. I also discuss coordinator agreement in Tegelen Dutch, and show that it provides further support for the existence of clausal coordination as an underlying structure of a superficial coordination of nouns. The analysis means that first conjunct agreement can be the result of different underlying syntactic structures, that should be distinguished empirically and theoretically.