Title: Derivations in Minimalism
Series Title: Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, 111
Published: 2006
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
http://us.cambridge.org
Author: Samuel David Epstein, University of Michigan
Author: T. Daniel Seely, Eastern Michigan University
Hardback: ISBN: 0521811805 Pages: 231 Price: U.K. £ 45.00
Hardback: ISBN: 0521811805 Pages: 231 Price: U.S. $ 80.00
Paperback: ISBN: 0521010586 Pages: 231 Price: U.S. $ 34.99
Paperback: ISBN: 0521010586 Pages: 231 Price: U.K. £ 19.99
Abstract:
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: first, can the Extended Projection Principle (EPP) be eliminated from Minimalist analysis without loss, and perhaps with a gain in empirical coverage; and second, 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 re-analyzed, presenting a pioneering challenge to fundamental assumptions in syntactic theory.
1. Orientation and goals 2. On the elimination of A-chains 3. On the elimination of the EPP 4. More challenges to the elimination of the EPP: some movement cases 5. Exploring architecture
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