Question

Given the sentences S1 and S2, choose the option that explains why S2 cannot be derived from S1. 
S1: Deadpool was interested in Wolverine's description of morphosyntax. 
S2: *What was Deadpool interested in Wolverine's description of?

• A. Principle A violation
• B. Island violation
• C. Scope violation
• D. Ellipses violation

Hint:

Syntactic islands prevent movement of elements (like wh-phrases) from certain structures — always check if a noun phrase or clause forms an island before attempting extraction.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the structure of S2.
The sentence involves a wh-movement: {What} has been moved from within a complex noun phrase ("Wolverine's description of 1cm").

Step 2: Recognizing the constraint.
Wh-extraction from within a complex noun phrase is blocked due to the complex NP island constraint — a type of syntactic island.

Step 3: Identifying the violation.
Attempting to move "What" out of the noun phrase "Wolverine's description of _" results in an ungrammatical structure. Hence, it's an island violation.