Editing Minimalist program (section)

=== Strong phases: CP and ''v''P  ===
A simple sentence can be decomposed into two phases, CP and ''v''P. Chomsky considers CP and ''v''P to be strong phases because of their  propositional content, as well as their interaction with movement and reconstruction.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Chomsky|first=Noam|title=Minimalist Inquiries: The Framework. In Roger Martin, David Michaels, and Juan Uriagereka, eds., Step by Step: Essays on Minimalist Syntax in Honor of Howard Lasnik|publisher=MIT Press|year=2000|isbn=026213361X|location=Cambridge, Mass.|pages=89–156}}</ref>

'''Propositional content''': CP and vP are both propositional units, but for different reasons.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Obata|first=Miki|date=2006-01-01|title=Phase and Convergence|url=https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol12/iss1/23|journal=University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics|volume=12|issue=1}}</ref> CP is considered a propositional unit because it is a full clause that has tense and force: example (1) shows that the complementizer ''that'' in the CP phase conditions finiteness (here past tense) and force (here, affirmative) of the subordinate clause. ''v''P is considered a propositional unit because all the [[theta role]]s are assigned in ''v''P: in (2) the verb ''ate'' in the ''v''P phase assigns the Theme theta role to the DP ''the cake'' and the Agent theta-role to the DP ''Mary''.<ref name="sportiche2014" />
 (1) ''John said'' [<sub>CP</sub> '''''that Mary will eat the cake''''' ].

 (2) [<sub>CP</sub> ''Mary'' [<sub>''v''P</sub> '''<Mary> ''ate the cake''''' ].

 {| class="wikitable"
 |<!--col1-->[[File:Syntax_Tree_of_simple_sentence.png|300x300px]]
 |<!--col2-->[[File:Propositional Evidence of CP phase.png|300x300px]]
 |<!--col3-->[[File:Propositional Evidence of vp phase.png|300x300px]]
 |-
 |<!--col1-->structure of simple sentence
 |<!--col2-->CP phase: ''that Mary will eat the cake''
 |<!--col3-->''v''P phase: ''Mary ate the cake''
 |}

'''Movement''': CP and vP can be the focus of [[Cleft sentence|pseudo-cleft]] movement, showing that CP and ''v''P form syntactic units: this is shown in (3) for the CP constituent ''that John is bringing'' ''the dessert'', and in (4) for the ''v''P constituent ''arrive tomorrow''.<ref name=":0" />
 (3) a.  ''Mary said'' [<sub>CP</sub> '''''that John is bringing the dessert'''''].
     b.  ''What Mary said was'' [<sub>CP</sub> '''''that John is bringing the dessert'''''].

 (4) a. ''Alice will'' [<sub>vP</sub> '''''arrive tomorrow'''''].
     b. ''What Alice will do is'' [<sub>vP</sub> '''''arrive tomorrow'''''].
'''Reconstruction.''' When a moved constituent is interpreted in its original position to satisfy binding principles, this is called reconstruction.<ref name=":5" /> Evidence from reconstruction is consistent with the claim that the moved phrase stops at the left edge of CP and ''v''P phases.<ref name=":6">See, among others, Legate, Julie Anne. 2003. Some Interface Properties of the Phase. Linguistic Inquiry 34: 506–516 and Chomsky, Noam. 2008. On Phases. In ''Foundational Issues in Linguistic Theory. Essays in Honor of Jean-Roger Vergnaud''. eds. Robert Freidin, Carlos Peregrín Otero and [[Maria Luisa Zubizarreta]], 133–166. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press</ref>

* '''Reconstruction at left edge of CP phase''': In (5), the reflexive ''himself''  can be understood as being co-referential with either ''John'' or ''Fred'', where co-reference is indicated by co-indexation. However, the constituent that contains ''himself'', namely the sentence-initial phrase [''which picture of himself''], is not c-commanded by either ''John'' or ''Fred'', as is required by Principle A of the Binding Theory. The fact that co-indexation of ''himself'' with either one of ''John'' or ''Fred'' is possible is taken as evidence that the constituent containing the reflexive, namely [''which picture of himself''] has moved through a reconstruction site—here the left edge of the lower CP phrase—from where it can satisfy Principle A of the Binding Theory relative to the DP ''John''.<ref name=":0" />
*'''Reconstruction at left edge of vP phase''': In (6), bound variable anaphora requires that the pronoun ''he'' must be c-commanded by ''every student'', but Condition C of the Binding Theory requires that the R-expression ''Mary'' be free. However, these requirements cannot be satisfied by the sentence-initial constituent that contains both ''he'' and ''Mary'', namely the phrase [''which of the papers that he gave Mary'']. The fact that the sentence is nevertheless well-formed is taken to indicate that this phrase must have moved through a reconstruction site first, from where it is interpreted. The left edge of the ''v''P phase is the only position where these binding requirements could be satisfied: (i) ''every student'' c-commands the pronoun ''he''; (ii) ''Mary'' is free from any c-commanding DP.<ref name=":6" />
 (5) a. [Which picture of '''himself'''<sub>k</sub>] did '''John'''<sub>k</sub> think ___ '''Fred'''<sub>j</sub> liked __?
     b. [Which picture of '''himself'''<sub>j</sub>] did '''John'''<sub>k</sub> think ___ '''Fred'''<sub>j</sub> liked __?

 (6) [Which of the papers that '''he'''<sub>k</sub> gave '''Mary'''<sub>j</sub>] did every student<sub>k  __</sub> ask her<sub>j</sub> to read __ carefully?

 {| class="wikitable"
 |<!--col1-->[[File:Syntax Tree- Reconstruction effects of vP phase.png|400x400px]]
 |<!--col2-->[[File:Syntax tree- Reconstruction effect of vP phase.png|400x400px]]
 |-
 |<!--col1-->reconstruction at left edge of CP phase
 |<!--col2-->reconstruction at left edge of vP phase
 |}