Reconstruction (Syntax)

In generative syntax, reconstruction is an operation proposed in Chomsky (1977b) in the derivation of LF from S-structure, which returns material pied-piped by wh-movement to the extraction site so as to derive an operator-variable chain headed by the wh-operator itself.

Example
By reconstruction, the LF (i)b is derived from the SS (i)a:

(i) a which book about Mary does he like t     b  which x, does he like [ x book about Mary ]

As a result, interpretation of the LF is relatively straightforward. Syntactic evidence for reconstruction comes from the behavior of pied-piped material with respect to binding theory. EXAMPLE: in (ii),

(ii)  which book about himself does John like t

the anaphor himself can apparently be bound by the NP John, which does not, however, c-command it at SS. This can be explained if the constituent containing the anaphor is returned to its pre-movement position prior to the operation of binding condition A. Other analyses of such "reconstruction phenomena" can involve an extended notion of c-command, a reordering of the model of grammar (van Riemsdijk &amp; Williams 1981), or a view of movement as copying and deletion (Chomsky 1992).

Links
Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics

Other languages
German Rekonstruktion (in der Syntax)