The right roof constraint'' is the assumption that rightward-movement rules are always upward-bounded; see J.R. Ross' dissertation, Constraints on Variables in Syntax'' (MIT, 1967). (RS)

This dissertation seeks to provide an improved syntactic analysis of the phenomena known as "island constraints" and to offer a natural explanation for these and other phenomena in behavioral terms. The author approaches the problem using the notions of "nucleus" and "satellite," and shows that these concepts are a necessary part of a…