Abstract Minimalist grammars have been criticized for their inability to analyze successive cyclic movement and multiple wh-movement in a manner that is faithful to the Minimalist literature. Persistent features have been proposed in the literature as a potential remedy (Stabler, 2011; Laszakovits, 2018). We show that not all persistent features are alike. The persistent features involved in multiple wh-movement do not increase subregular complexity, making this phenomenon appear very natural from the perspective of MGs. The persistent features in successive-cyclic movement, on the other hand, change the subregular nature of movement, favoring an alternative treatment along the lines of Kobele (2006).
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@misc{GrafKostyszyn21SCiLtalk,
author = {Graf, Thomas and Kostyszyn, Kalina},
author+an = {2=sbu},
title = {Multiple Wh-Movement is not Special: The Subregular Complexity of Persistent Features in {M}inimalist Grammars},
year = {2021},
note = {Slides of a talk given at \emph{{SCiL} 2021}, February 15--19, online},
}