Derivations in Minimalism

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.

Acknowledgements; Preface; 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; References; Index.

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, which provides a pioneering challenge to fundamental assumptions in syntactic theory.

SAMUEL DAVID EPSTEIN is a Professor in the Linguistics Department at the University of Michigan. He is co-author of A Derivational Approach to Syntactic Relations (with E. Groat, R. Kawashima and H. Kitahara, 1998), and co-editor (with N. Hornstein) of Working Minimalism (1999). He is co-founder ( with S. Flynn) of the journal Syntax.
T. DANIEL SEELY is Professor of Linguistics and Chair of the Linguistics Program at Eastern Michigan University. His work in syntax has appeared in Linguistic Inquiry and Syntax. He is organizer and editor of Geometric and Thematic Structure in Binding (1996), The First LINGUIST List online conference and he is co-editor (with S. D. Epstein) of Derirotion and Explandtion in the Minimalist Program (2002).