Movement and Islands in Right Node Raising

This squib considers the syntax of Right Node Raising (RNR) and offers evidence for the movement analysis of RNR (e.g., Ross 1967). I argue that the shared rightmost DP in RNR survives VP-ellipsis, suggesting that it moves to a position higher than the base position. Moreover, when VP-ellipsis applies to RNR with an island, the island effect occurs. From these facts, I argue that movement is involved in RNR and demonstrate that Sabbagh’s (2007) linearization-based movement analysis cannot explain the data.