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Head Movement Constraint

SYNTAX: a constraint originally formulated in Travis (1984:131):

(i) An X0 may only move into the Y0 which properly governs it
The HMC basically places a limit on the distance over which a head may be moved (head movement). In effect, the HMC prohibits skipping a governing head position, as in (ii): buy moves to COMP in disregard of its being properly governed only by the I0 will.
(ii) * [CP What [C buyi] [IP John [I will] [VP ti]]]?
Recently, it has been argued that the HMC can be derived from more general principles, such as the ECP.
LIT. Baker, M. (1988)
Chomsky, N. (1986b)
Rizzi, L. (1990)
Travis,L. (1984)