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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/66712
Description
Title
"An investigation of ""John is Easy to Please"""
Author(s)
Halpern, Richard Neil
Issue Date
1979
Department of Study
Linguistics
Discipline
Linguistics
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Language, Linguistics
Language
eng
Abstract
In this thesis, I defend Noam Chomsky's transformational account of "John is easy to please". Then, in the light of an analysis of "John is an easy man to please", based on the infinitival relative, I propose a speculative historical hypothesis concerning the origins of "John is easy to please". In addition, I attempt to explain the lexical government of object-shift and to account for the synchronic occurrence of such sentences as "John is too smart to fool" and "John is stupid enough to fool" alongside of the more conventional passivized variants "John is too smart to be fooled" and "John is stupid enough to be fooled". In, general, the emphasis is placed on attempting to account for the occurrence of complex syntax, in particular, the permuted structure found in "John is easy to please".
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