* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LINGUIST List logo Eastern Michigan University Wayne State University *
* People & Organizations * Jobs * Calls & Conferences * Publications * Language Resources * Text & Computer Tools * Teaching & Learning * Mailing Lists * Search *
* *
LINGUIST List 23.3570

Mon Aug 27 2012

Books: Local Instability: Ott

Editor for this issue: Danniella Hornby <daniellalinguistlist.org>

Date: 27-Aug-2012
From: Julia Ulrich <julia.ulrichdegruyter.com>
Subject: Local Instability: Ott
E-mail this message to a friend

Title: Local Instability
Subtitle: Split Topicalization and Quantifier Float in German
Series Title: De Gruyter Linguistische Arbeiten 544
Published: 2012
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
                http://www.degruyter.com/mouton

Book URL: http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/183737?format=G

Author: Dennis Ott
Electronic: ISBN: 9783110290950 Pages: 174 Price: Europe EURO 99.95
Hardback: ISBN: 9783110290370 Pages: 174 Price: Europe EURO 99.95
Abstract:

This monograph argues for a novel approach to split topicalization and quantifier float in German, based on the premise that syntactic structure-building proceeds solely via free application of Merge. Following recent developments in the pursuit of a more principled theory of syntax, it is argued that the stipulative notion of 'projection' ought to be dispensed with: syntactic objects created by Merge are not headed, and endocentricity arises due to a simple search algorithm. When this algorithm fails, specifically in symmetric {XP,YP} structures, an unlabeled constituent results; where a label is required, such structures are locally unstable. It is argued that both split topics and floated quantifiers are the result of this kind of local instability: when an exocentric predication structure is merged in argument or adjunct position, XP must be displaced at the phase level to allow for determination of a label. It is this symmetry-breaking movement that yields the 'split constituent' in surface form. Based on careful empirical scrutiny of two recalcitrant problems for syntactic theory, the present work adduces substantial support for a 'minimalist' grammatical architecture devoid of phrase-structural residue.

Linguistic Field(s): Generative Linguistics
                            Syntax

Subject Language(s): German (deu)

Written In: English (eng)

See this book announcement on our website:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/books/get-book.cfm?BookID=62016

Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue

-------------------------- Major Supporters --------------------------
Brill http://www.brill.nl
Cambridge Scholars Publishing http://www.c-s-p.org
Cambridge University Press http://us.cambridge.org
Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/
Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd http://www.continuumbooks.com
De Gruyter Mouton http://www.degruyter.com/mouton
Edinburgh University Press http://www.eup.ed.ac.uk/
Elsevier Ltd http://www.elsevier.com/linguistics
Emerald Group Publishing Limited http://www.emeraldinsight.com/
Equinox Publishing Ltd http://www.equinoxpub.com/
European Language Resources Association - ELRA http://www.elra.info.
Georgetown University Press http://www.press.georgetown.edu
Hodder Education http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk
John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/
Lincom GmbH http://www.lincom.eu
MIT Press http://mitpress.mit.edu/
Morgan & Claypool Publishers
Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/
Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG http://www.narr.de/
Oxford University Press http://www.oup.com/us
Palgrave Macmillan http://www.palgrave.com
Pearson Linguistics http://www.pearsoned.co.uk/linguistics
Peter Lang AG http://www.peterlang.com
Rodopi http://www.rodopi.nl/
Routledge (Taylor and Francis) http://www.routledge.com/
Springer http://www.springer.com
University of Toronto Press http://www.utpjournals.com/
Wiley-Blackwell http://www.wiley.com

---------------------- Other Supporting Publishers ----------------------
Association of Editors of the Journal of Portuguese Linguistics http://www.fl.ul.pt/revistas/JPL/JPLweb.htm
Graduate Linguistic Students' Association, Umass http://glsa.hypermart.net/
International Pragmatics Assoc. http://www.ipra.be
Linguistic Association of Finland http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/sky/
Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke - LOT http://www.lotpublications.nl/
Pacific Linguistics http://pacling.anu.edu.au/
SIL International http://www.ethnologue.com/bookstore.asp
University of Nebraska Press
Utrecht institute of Linguistics http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/



Page Updated: 27-Aug-2012
Supported in part by the National Science Foundation       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       ILIT Logo
While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.