I would like to express my sincerest appreciation to my thesis advisor, Dr. Eithne Guilfoyle, who has provided tremendous support in this work, including monetary support from her SSHRCC grant (SSHRCC #410-950382). It has truly been an honour to be her student.
I would like to extend my appreciation to Dr. Amanda Pounder for serving on my thesis committee.
I would also like to thank Dr. Andrew Carnie for invaluable advice and discussion in the formulation of many of the ideas presented here, and Fumi Watai for her patience and aid in finding references and for providing grammaticality judgements on my Japanese data.
I would like to thank Dr. Xiao-Jie Yang, Prof. Yoko Riley, and Prof. Fumiko Summerell of the Department of Germanic, Slavic, and East Asian Studies for their expert instruction and encouragement in learning the language and culture of Japan. I would also like to thank the other professors of the Linguistics Department who have taught me so much over the years and who have consistently fuelled my desire to learn more. Especially, I would like to thank Dr. Lorna Rowsell who taught my first two linguistics courses and without whom I may never have developed an interest in linguistics.
I would also like to thank those who have provided me with a constant source of support, release, and inspiration over the course of my degree: Ronja Bollhorn, Pam Bowyer, Gary Horn, Connie Genert, Mary-Anne Rowe, Clare Scammell, and Joe Stannard.
Most of all, I would like to thank my parents, Gaye and Ken McLennan, who have provided me with a wealth of opportunities, including the opportunity to continue my education, and who have supported my every endeavour. It is to them that I dedicate this, the final culmination of this phase of my education.