Revisiting locality: two case studies from Italian

In the generative tradition, the conditions on subextraction (i.e., the extraction from a phrase XP) have been captured by either one of the following incompatible formulations: (i) a formulation based on the notion of phase (the PIC, i.e., the Phase Impenetrability Condition); (ii) a formulation based on the notion of selection and on the configuration in which XP occurs (the subjacency condition). We provide two empirical case studies, both focused on Italian, to test the predictions of formulations (i)-(ii): inverse copular sentences and the complement of quality. Our main finding is that subextraction is naturally accounted for by the subjacency condition, not by the PIC. In this way, this study brings fresh empirical evidence to bear on the role of phases in the theory of locality.