Derivations in Minimalism

by Samuel David Epstein , T. Daniel Seely

• ISBN13: 9780521010580
• ISBN10: 0521010586
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-20
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This pathbreaking study presents a new perspective on the role of derivation, the series of operations by which sentences are formed. Working within the Minimalist Program and focusing on English, the authors develop an original theory of generative syntax, providing illuminating new analyses of some central syntactic constructions. Two key questions are explored: firstly, can the Extended Projection Principle (EPP) be eliminated from Minimalist analysis without loss, and perhaps with a gain in empirical coverage; and secondly, is the construct 'A-Chain' similarly eliminable? The authors argue that neither EPP nor the A-chain is in fact a property of Universal Grammar, but rather their descriptive content can be deduced from independently motivated properties of lexical items, in accordance with overarching principles governing derivation. In investigating these questions, a range of new data is introduced, and existing data are re-analyzed and re-investigated, presenting a pioneering challenge to fundamental assumptions in syntactic theory.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Preface	xiv
1 Orientation and goals	1	(13)
1.1 Some methodological preliminaries	1	(3)
1.2 Outline and rationale	4	(10)
2 On the elimination of A-chains	14	(34)
2.1 Chains are not syntactic objects	14	(6)
2.2 A-chains are not specifiable under X' invisibility	20	(11)
2.3 A non-isomorphism between A-chains and successive cyclic A-movement	31	(11)
2.4 An alternative analysis without chains	42	(6)
3 On the elimination of the EPP	48	(65)
3.1 Introduction	48	(1)
3.2 The EPP	49	(7)
3.3 There-insertion and raising: more problems created by the EPP	56	(14)
3.4 The conjecture class of verbs	70	(43)
4 More challenges to the elimination of the EPP: some movement cases	113	(61)
4.1 Introduction	113	(1)
4.2 Evidence for successive cyclic A-movement as evidence for the EPP	114	(2)
4.3 The Boskovic: approach	116	(14)
4.4 Some alternative solutions	130	(34)
4.5 Lasnik's cases	164	(10)
5 Exploring architecture	174	(25)
5.1 Derivational architecture of CHL	174	(23)
5.2 Some final notes on the derivational model; eliminating feature strength, and 'obligatory' transformational rule application	197	(2)
References	199	(10)
Index	209