equi NP deletion

[ ek-wee en-pee di-lee-shuhn ]

noun

, Linguistics.

1. a rule of transformational grammar that deletes the underlying subject of a complement clause if it is coreferential with the subject or object of the main clause, as in John promised to return the money, where the underlying subject ( John ) of return has been deleted.

Word History and Origins

Origin of equi NP deletion¹

First recorded in 1970–75; short for equivalent NP