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    3.3.2.4.1.Coordinated and non-coordinated antecedent reading
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    Many of the coordination constructions to be discussed in the following subsections are ambiguous with respect to the scope of the relative clause in the sense that this clause can be taken as modifying either both conjuncts of the coordination or only the second conjunct; cf. Smits (1989: 122-129). In example (372a), for example, the relative clause can be taken to modify the coordinated structure preludes en etudes as a whole, or the second conjunct, etudes, only. We will refer to these two cases as, respectively, the coordinated and the non-coordinated antecedent reading. The following discussion will show that some examples allow both readings, some for the non-coordinated antecedent reading only, while yet others are unacceptable on either reading. Here, we will briefly sketch a number of possible ways of accounting for the ambiguity that may differ on account of two parameters: the question as to whether the two conjuncts do or do not have a determiner of their own, and the question as to whether we are dealing with a restrictive or with a non-restrictive relative clause.

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    [+]  I.  Coordinated noun phrases with two determiners

    If the two conjuncts each have their own determiner the analysis depends on whether the relative clause is restrictive or not.

    [+]  A.  Coordination with restrictive relative clauses

    Sentences in which each of the coordinated noun phrases has its own determiner are in principle eligible for the two analyses in (376). In (376a) it is assumed that backward conjunction reduction has taken place, which results in the coordinated antecedent reading, that is, the reading where the relative clause is interpreted as a modifier of both adjuncts. In (376b), no conjunction reduction is assumed, and in this structure the relative clause modifies only the second conjunct, which results in the non-coordinated antecedent reading. For convenience, the scope of the relative clause is indicated by boldface.

    376
    a. Coordinated antecedent reading:[DP D [NP[... N ...]i [RCRELi ...]]] and [DP D [NP[... N ...]j [RC RELj ...]]]
    b. Non-coordinated antecedent reading:
    [DP D [NP ... N ...]] and [DP D [NP[... N ...]j [RC RELj ...]]]

    Assuming conjunction reduction is necessary to account for the availability of the coordinated antecedent reading, since restrictive relative clauses are part of the NP-domain and hence do not take the determiner in their scope; it is therefore not possible to construct a structure in which the two conjuncts are both in the scope of the relative clause without also including at least the second determiner. Although we will see in Section 3.3.2.4.2, sub II, that the conjunction reduction analysis is not without its problems, we will provisionally adopt it since it will enable us to highlight certain problems related to the adjunction site of relative clauses.

    [+]  B.  Coordination with non-restrictive relative clauses

    Non-restrictive relative clauses differ markedly from the restrictive ones, in that it is never necessary to appeal to conjunction reduction in order to account for the coordinated antecedent reading; we could simply assume the structures in (377). In (377a) the relative clause modifies the two conjuncts, which is possible given that non-restrictive relative clauses do take the determiner in their scope. In (377b), on the other hand, the relative clause only modifies the second conjunct. The scope of the relative clause is again indicated by boldface.

    377
    a. Coordinated antecedent reading:
    [DP[[D [NP ... N ...]]] and [ D [NP ... N ...]]]i , [RC RELi ...]]
    b. Non-coordinated antecedent reading:
    [[DP D [NP ... N ...]]] and [DPD [NP ... N ...]i , [RC RELi ...]]
    [+]  II.  Coordination with a shared determiner

    If the two conjuncts share the same determiner, it is not necessary to appeal to conjunction reduction in order to account for the coordinated antecedent reading. In (378a), we give the structure that could be assumed for restrictive relative clauses with a coordinated antecedent reading; the structure associated with the non-coordinated antecedent reading is given in (378b). Again, the scope of the relative clause is indicated by boldface.

    378
    a. Coordinated antecedent reading:
    [DP D [NP[[... N ...] and [... N ...]]i [RC RELi ... ]]]
    b. Non-coordinated antecedent reading:
    [DP D [NP [... N ...] and [[... N ...]i [RC RELi ... ]]]]
    References:
    • Smits, R.J.C1989The relative and cleft constructions of the Germanic and Romance languagesTilburgTilburg UniversityThesis
    About this article
    Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Evelien Keizer
    Category: Dutch Syntax
    Keywords: ConjunctionConjunction Reduction
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
    Version history:
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    1.0 Hans Broekhuis, Evelien Keizer December 2015
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