Constraints on Distributive Coordination

The paper argues that the distributive conjunction construction formed in English by both XP and XP and in Italian by sia XP che XP is best analyzed as a sentential conjunction reduced by a combination of fronting operations and across-the-board raising. The distribution of this type of conjunction has a number of peculiar restrictions, compared to ‘plain’ coordination. The analysis accounts for these restrictions by showing a strong correlation between constituents that may appear in both/and or sia/che and constituents that may undergo A-bar fronting, including independently motivated interlinguistic variations. The paper puts forth a novel proposal to extend the analysis to non-final positions — a major stumbling block for analogous theories in the past.