On Phase-over-Phase Configurations and phase collapsing: wh-extraction in V + de + CP clauses in Spanish

Abstract This paper discusses wh-extraction in Spanish clauses involving a V + de + CP sequence (de ‘of’ is a preposition). The previous literature has observed that objects, but not adjuncts, can be extracted from a single de + CP embedded clause. I make the following novel observations: (i) subjects pattern with adjuncts (not with objects) in that they cannot be extracted from a single de + CP embedded clause, (ii) there is a ‘distance’ effect in that subject extraction improves when one more level of embedding is added, and (iii) there is also a ‘distance’ effect with regard to adjunct extraction, which improves when one more level of embedding is added. (i)–(iii) are surprising since subjects otherwise do not pattern with adjuncts with regard to extraction out of islands due to the pro-drop nature of Spanish, and adjunct extraction out of islands is otherwise uniformly unacceptable. I propose a phasal account of the pattern in question where Phase Collapsing (i.e., a mechanism whereby two phasal heads, here de and C, are collapsed into one, thus voiding the phasehood of the lower phase headed by the C) and successive cyclic movement play crucial roles. I further extend the account to other cases where a CP co-occurs with a preposition.