Found:
Resumptive pronoun
SYNTAX: pronoun which appears in the position of the variable bound by a wh-phrase. EXAMPLE: in (i) him is a resumptive pronoun bound by who and interpreted as a bound variable.
(i) I wonder [whoi they think [that [if Mary marries himi ] then
everybody will be happy]]
The appearance of resumptive pronouns is marginal in standard English, but quite acceptable in French and colloquial English. Theoretically, the construction is
exceptional as well. Since the if-clause creates an
Adjunct Island, extraction of who out of the object position of marries is ungrammatical,
as shown in (ii):
(ii) * I wonder [whoi they think [that [if Mary marries ei ] then
everybody will be happy]]
The resulting chain presumably violates subjacency. In (i), on the other hand, who has not been moved. But being an operator, it must bind a variable, in this case the resumptive pronoun him.
| LIT. | Chomsky, N. (1982) Chomsky, N. (1981) Zribi-Hertz, A. (1984) |