Coordinate Structure Constraint

In generative syntax, Coordinate Structure Constraint is a constraint on movement proposed in Ross (1967) which says that

• In a coordinate structure, no conjunct may be moved, nor may any element contained in a conjunct be moved out of that conjunct.

Examples

The CSC explains the ungrammaticality of (i) and (ii).

(i) * which professor did you divide the cake between [ Mieke and t ]

(ii) * which book did you [_VP [_VP steal t from Ger] and [_VP give the paper to Jacqueline] ]

These examples violate the first and the second clause of the CSC, respectively.

Comment

Well-known exceptions to the CSC are Across-the-Board extractions.

Link

Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics

References

• George, L. 1980. Analogical Generalization in Natural Language. Diss. MIT.
• Pesetsky, D. 1982. Paths and categories. Diss. MIT.
• Ross, J.R. 1967. Constraints on variables in syntax. Doctoral dissertation, MIT (published as 'Infinite syntax!' Ablex, Norwood (1986)).