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orion.oac.uci.edu>Irvine Linguistics Students Association is pleased to announce the publication of the following two UCI Dissertations in Linguistics. Feature Attraction and Category Movement Brian K. Agbayani University of California, Irvine, 1998 This dissertation presents a new theory of movement in generative grammar within the framework of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky 1993, 1994, 1995). The most important aspect of the new theory is that it departs from the standard view of Move a as a unitary operation. The dissertation has three main goals. The first goal is to simplify the theory of feature checking in such a way that a single structural configuration (namely, the head-adjunction structure) holds for feature checking in both overt and covert syntax. The second goal is to present evidence for the Split Movement Hypothesis, according to which a set of formal features and its associated category move to separate structural positions in syntax. The claim is that UG makes both Attract and Move available in the form of Attract F and category movement, respectively. The former satisfies the formal requirement of feature checking, and the latter yields the phonological "displacement" effect of overt movement. The theory thus abandons the treatment of Move a as a unitary operation. The third goal is to explore consequences for the proper characterization of locality in syntax. The Split Movement approach opens up a novel way to account for the traditional Subjacency and Condition on Extraction Domain effects (Huang 1982a) that do not fall under Chomsky's (1995) Attract F theory. It is argued that Attract F and category movement are subject to different types of economy conditions, and that the traditional Subjacency and Condition on Extraction Domain effects should not be given a unified account, contrary to the Barriers approach (Chomsky 1986a). The theory also derives a number of previously mysterious properties related to cross linguistic variation in extractability out of islands, the relative strength of island effects, and the nature of successive-cyclic movement. This dissertation presents a new approach to movement in syntax which overcomes the conceptual and empirical shortcomings of the traditional approach, while gaining new insights into previously mysterious phenomena and properties of natural languages. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Parametrization of Features in Syntax Sze-Wing Tang University of California, Irvine, 1998 The major focus of this study is to propose a restrictive theory of parameters of Universal Grammar in terms of the principles-and-parameters approach. I propose that semantic features are invariant across languages; only features that may play a role in the derivation from N to the PF interface level including phonetic features, categorial features, and affix features are subject to parametric variation, which is called the 'Overt Parametrization Hypothesis' (OPH). It is argued that where affix features are associated with a word is subject to parametric variation. Movement is largely determined by morphology: movement in the overt component can be signaled by 'impoverished' morphology; movement of morphologically 'rich' elements takes place in the phonological component. Under this approach, a variety of syntactic differences among Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), English, French, Japanese, Navajo, and Hebrew can be accounted for. Based on the idea of parametrization of affix features, I claim that T has an affix feature [-V] in English. Such an affix feature is missing in Chinese. Consequently, there is no V-to-T movement in Chinese and V moves out of vP in English. A number of apparently disparate differences between these two languages, including postverbal no-phrases, the distribution of focus elements, binominal each, the 'SOV' focalization construction, scopal ambiguity of quantifiers, definiteness of preverbal numeral phrases, gapping, and heavy NP shift, receive a unified explanation. The data presented as evidence for the claim that categorial features are subject to parametric variation are primarily based on small clauses in Chinese, English, and Japanese. It is argued that Chinese small clauses are bare, English small clauses are 'not-so-bare', and Japanese allows both types of small clauses. The major typological differences among these languages regarding the structure of small clauses are derived from a parameter related to the combination of categorial features of nouns and adjectives. The findings lend support to the OPH. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Also available: > UCI Dissertations in Linguistics Griffith, Teresa A. 1996 Projecting Transitivity and Agreement Ikawa, Hajime 1996 Overt Movement as a Reflex of Morphology Ishii, Toru 1997 An Asymmetry in the Composition of Phrase Structure and its Consequences Li, Xiaoguang 1997 Deriving Distributivity in Mandarin Chinese Takano, Yuji 1996 Movement and Parametric Variation in Syntax Zoerner, Cyril Edward 1995 Coordination: The Syntax of &P US$14 each, plus shipping and handling > UCI Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 3 (1997). Edited by Luther > Chen-Sheng Liu and Kazue Takeda Articles appearing in the third volume are: Brian Agbayani: Category Raising, Adjunction, and Minimality Lisa Lai-Shen Cheng: "Partial" Wh-Movement Naoki Fukui: Attract and the A-over-A Principle Toru Ishii: The " Crossing" Constraint and the Minimal Link Condition Luther Chen-Sheng Liu: Light Verb and Accusative-ing Gerund in Taiwanese Yuji Takano: Scrambling and Partial Object Shift Kazue Takeda: A Note on Locality of Category Movement and Feature Movement Sze-Wing Tang: The Parametric Approach to the Resultative Construction in Chinese and English Miyoko Yashui: Identification of Ellipses and Other Empty Categories US$14 , plus shipping and handling > UCI Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 2: Proceedings of the South > Western Optimality Theory Workshop (SWOT II). Edited by Brian Agbayani > and Naomi Harada US $12, plus shipping and handling > UCI Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 1. Edited by Brian Agbayani, > Kazue Takeda and Sze-Wing Tang US$12, plus shipping and handling Shipping and handling (per item) Domestic: $4; Canada: $6; Mexico: $7 (airmail), $5 (surface); Elsewhere: $12 (airmail), $7 (surface) * International shipping and handling rates are subject to the numbers of items ordered and location. Please contact <ilsaMail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue
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