Interpretable features in vP-ellipsis: On the licensing head

The present article offers theoretical and empirical motivation for the licensing of verb-phrase ellipsis. It puts forth an interface-based generalization according to which a necessary condition in spelling out a phrasal ellipsis site in a minimalist taxonomy is derived from anchoring it to a formal and interpretable feature of the licensing head. Positive consequences of the modeling used are discussed drawing on various domains. The specifics of the proposal are developed for the clausal T(ense) head; it offers a unified analysis not only of transparent YPE cases involving temporality (have/be licensers), but also of apparent exotic licensers (English modals and Slovenian clitics), as well as some combined cases of licensing heads.