Explorations in Maximizing Syntactic Minimization

This volume presents a series of papers written by Epstein, Kitahara and Seely, each of which explores fundamental linguisticquestions and analytical mechanisms proposed in recent minimalist work, specifically concerning recent analyses by Noam Chomsky. The collection includes eight papers by the collaborators (one with Miki Obata), plus three additional papers, each individually authored by Epstein, Kitahara and Seely, that cover a range of related topics including: the minimalist commitment to explanation via simplification; the Strong Minimalist Thesis; strict adherence to simplest Merge, Merge (X, Y) = {X, Y}, subject to 3rd factor constraints; and state-of-the-art concepts and consequences of Chomsky’s most recent proposals. For instance, the volume clarifies and explores: the properties of Merge, feature inheritance and Agree; the nature of phases, cyclicity and countercyclicity; the properties of Transfer; the interpretation of features and their values and the role formal features play in the form and function of syntactic operations; and the specific properties of derivations, partially ordered rule application, and the nature of interface representations. At the cutting edge of scholarship in generative syntax, this volume will be an essential resource for syntax researchers seeking to better understand the minimalist program.

Introduction 1. Derivation(s) Epstein, S. D., Kitahara, H., and Seely, T. D. 2. Economy of Derivation and Representation Epstein, S. D., Kitahara, H., Obata, M., and Seely, T. D. 3. Exploring Phase-Based Implications Regarding Clausal Architecture. A Case Study: Why Structural Case Cannot Precede Theta Epstein, S. D., Kitahara, H., and Seely, T. D. 4. On I(nternalist)-Functional Explanation in Minimalism Epstein, S. D. 5. Uninterpretable Features: What are They and What Do They Do? Epstein, S. D., Kitahara, H., and Seely, T. D. 6. Merge, Derivational C-Command, and Subcategorization in a Label-Free Syntax Seely, T. D. 7. Structure Building That Can’t Be! Epstein, S. D., Kitahara, H., and Seely, T. D. 8. Simplest Merge Generates Set Intersection: Implications for Complementizer-Trace Explanation Epstein, S. D., Kitahara, H., and Seely, T. D. 9. External Merge of Internal Argument DP to VP and its Theoretical Implications Kitahara, H 10. Labeling by Minimal Search: Implications for Successive Cyclic A-movement and the Conception of the Postulate "Phase." Epstein, S. D., Kitahara, H., and Seely, T. D. 11. *What Do We Wonder is Not Syntactic? Epstein, S. D., Kitahara, H., and Seely, T. D.

Samuel D. Epstein is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Michigan, USA. He is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Director of the Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science. Hisatsugu Kitahara is Professor at the Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, Keio University, Japan. T. Daniel Seely is Professor in the Linguistics Program of the Department of English Language and Literature at Eastern Michigan University.