Head Movement in Syntax

Head Movement in Syntax PDF Author: Rosmin Mathew
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027268142
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Head Movement in Syntax argues that verb movement is a narrow syntactic phenomenon that can affect locality constraints. The altered locality domains are detectable from the way certain phrasal elements such as a phrase containing a Wh are forced to undergo movement. The basic idea explored in the book dates back to Chomsky (1986) where the movement of a verb is proposed to be able to affect and alter a barrier. This idea is translated into contemporary minimalist apparatus to capture locality conditions, with Wh movement in Malayalam, a Dravidian language spoken in Southern India, providing the necessary data. The book also points out that analysing Wh movement in Malayalam as a sub-case of Focus movement is untenable and offers a fresh perspective on Wh-in-situ versus Wh-movement. In addition, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of the pronominal system in Malayalam, a language that violates the canonical binding conditions.

Head Movement in Syntax

Head Movement in Syntax PDF Author: Rosmin Mathew
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027268142
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Get Book Here

Book Description
Head Movement in Syntax argues that verb movement is a narrow syntactic phenomenon that can affect locality constraints. The altered locality domains are detectable from the way certain phrasal elements such as a phrase containing a Wh are forced to undergo movement. The basic idea explored in the book dates back to Chomsky (1986) where the movement of a verb is proposed to be able to affect and alter a barrier. This idea is translated into contemporary minimalist apparatus to capture locality conditions, with Wh movement in Malayalam, a Dravidian language spoken in Southern India, providing the necessary data. The book also points out that analysing Wh movement in Malayalam as a sub-case of Focus movement is untenable and offers a fresh perspective on Wh-in-situ versus Wh-movement. In addition, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of the pronominal system in Malayalam, a language that violates the canonical binding conditions.

Syntactic Movements

Syntactic Movements PDF Author: Mergim Bytyci
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3640420241
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 29

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2.0, Technical University of Braunschweig, language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction In the course of this term paper I will analyze three kinds of syntactic movements, which will be the Head Movement, Argument Movement and the Wh-Movement. Initially I will defer to basic knowledge such as Feature Checking, Merge and C-Command since these operations are the basis of syntactic comprehension. After a short introduction I will briefly discuss and explain the Head Movement and the Argument Movement with the help of examples before I focus on the latter, namely the Wh-Movement. This syntactic operation will be the core of this paper. I will try to analyze the latest concepts and approaches to this issue and try to illustrate the way Wh-Movement takes place by several examples. I decided to concentrate on Adger's and Radford's points of view on this topic since they rate among the most accepted syntacticians worldwide. Despite this I will parse their statements very closely and try to find potential differences or grievances. An interesting question will be whether all operations can be explained in a plausible way or if there are arbitrary assumptions without any evidence. 2. Feature Checking Syntacticians assume that every word of a sentence bears certain features. These features are called categorial-selectional (or c-selectional) features and can be either interpretable or uninterpretable. A noun, for example, bears an interpretable feature [N], a verb [V], an adverbial [Adv] and a preposition the feature [P]. A verb cannot stand alone in a sentence but it needs the existence of a subject. In order to explain this phenomenon linguists came to the assumption that a verb has to bear uninterpretable features as well. Since a verb needs the presence of a subject, which usually is a DP, it is assumed that the verb bears next to the interpretable

The Copy Theory of Movement

The Copy Theory of Movement PDF Author: Norbert Corver
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027292302
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
This volume brings together papers which address issues regarding the copy theory of movement. According to this theory, a trace is a copy of the moved element that is deleted in the phonological component but is available for interpretation at L(ogical) F(orm). Thus far, the bulk of the research on the copy theory has mainly focused on interpretation issues at LF. The consequences of the copy theory for syntactic computation per se and for the syntax–phonology mapping, in particular, have received much less attention in the literature, despite its crucial relevance for the whole architecture of the model. As a contribution to fill this gap, this volume congregates recent work that deals with empirical and conceptual consequences of the copy theory of movement for the inner working of syntactic computations within the Minimalist Program, with special emphasis on the syntax–phonology mapping.

Symmetry, Shared Labels and Movement in Syntax

Symmetry, Shared Labels and Movement in Syntax PDF Author: Andreas Blümel
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110520184
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
What is the trigger for displacement phenomena in natural language syntax? And how can constraints on syntactic movement be derived from interface conditions and so-called Third Factor principles? Within the Minimalist Program a standard answer to the first question is that it is driven by morphosyntactic features. This monograph challenges that view and suggests that the role of features in driving syntactic computation has been overestimated. Instead it proposes that "labeling" -- the detection of a prominent element in sets formed by Merge -- plays a role in driving transformations, and labeling itself is understood to derive from an interplay of efficient computation and the need for a label at the Conceptual-Intentional systems. It explores this idea in four empirical domains: Long-distance dependencies, Criterial Freezing-phenomena, nested dependencies and ATB-movement. The languages considered include English, German and Hebrew.

Introducing Syntax

Introducing Syntax PDF Author: Olaf Koeneman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108184057
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
Syntax is the system of rules that we subconsciously follow when we build sentences. Whereas the grammar of English (or other languages) might look like a rather chaotic set of arbitrary patterns, linguistic science has revealed that these patterns can actually be understood as the result of a small number of grammatical principles. This lively introductory textbook is designed for undergraduate students in linguistics, English and modern languages with relatively little background in the subject, offering the necessary tools for the analysis of phrases and sentences while at the same time introducing state-of-the-art syntactic theory in an accessible and engaging way. Guiding students through a variety of intriguing puzzles, striking facts and novel ideas, Introducing Syntax presents contemporary insights into syntactic theory in one clear and coherent narrative, avoiding unnecessary detail and enabling readers to understand the rationale behind technicalities. Aids to learning include highlighted key terms, suggestions for further reading and numerous exercises, placing syntax in a broader grammatical perspective.

A-bar Syntax

A-bar Syntax PDF Author: Gereon Müller
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110814285
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
The architecture of the human language faculty has been one of the main foci of the linguistic research of the last half century. This branch of linguistics, broadly known as Generative Grammar, is concerned with the formulation of explanatory formal accounts of linguistic phenomena with the ulterior goal of gaining insight into the properties of the 'language organ'. The series comprises high quality monographs and collected volumes that address such issues. The topics in this series range from phonology to semantics, from syntax to information structure, from mathematical linguistics to studies of the lexicon.

FOCUS in the Theory of Grammar and the Syntax of Hungarian

FOCUS in the Theory of Grammar and the Syntax of Hungarian PDF Author: Julia Horvath
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 311084916X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
The architecture of the human language faculty has been one of the main foci of the linguistic research of the last half century. This branch of linguistics, broadly known as Generative Grammar, is concerned with the formulation of explanatory formal accounts of linguistic phenomena with the ulterior goal of gaining insight into the properties of the 'language organ'. The series comprises high quality monographs and collected volumes that address such issues. The topics in this series range from phonology to semantics, from syntax to information structure, from mathematical linguistics to studies of the lexicon.

Biological Foundations and Origin of Syntax

Biological Foundations and Origin of Syntax PDF Author: Derek Bickerton
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262549123
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 491

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Book Description
Interdisciplinary perspectives on the evolutionary and biological roots of syntax, describing current research on syntax in fields ranging from linguistics to neurology. Syntax is arguably the most human-specific aspect of language. Despite the proto-linguistic capacities of some animals, syntax appears to be the last major evolutionary transition in humans that has some genetic basis. Yet what are the elements to a scenario that can explain such a transition? In this book, experts from linguistics, neurology and neurobiology, cognitive psychology, ecology and evolutionary biology, and computer modeling address this question. Unlike most previous work on the evolution of language, Biological Foundations and Origin of Syntax follows through on a growing consensus among researchers that language can be profitably separated into a number of related and interacting but largely autonomous functions, each of which may have a distinguishable evolutionary history and neurological base. The contributors argue that syntax is such a function.The book describes the current state of research on syntax in different fields, with special emphasis on areas in which the findings of particular disciplines might shed light on problems faced by other disciplines. It defines areas where consensus has been established with regard to the nature, infrastructure, and evolution of the syntax of natural languages; summarizes and evaluates contrasting approaches in areas that remain controversial; and suggests lines for future research to resolve at least some of these disputed issues. Contributors Andrea Baronchelli, Derek Bickerton, Dorothy V. M. Bishop, Denis Bouchard, Robert Boyd, Jens Brauer, Ted Briscoe, David Caplan, Nick Chater, Morten H. Christiansen, Terrence W.Deacon, Francesco d'Errico, Anna Fedor, Julia Fischer, Angela D. Friederici, Tom Givón, Thomas Griffiths, Balázs Gulyás, Peter Hagoort, Austin Hilliard, James R. Hurford, Péter Ittzés, Gerhard Jäger, Herbert Jäger, Edith Kaan, Simon Kirby, Natalia L. Komarova, Tatjana Nazir, Frederick Newmeyer, Kazuo Okanoya, Csaba Plèh, Peter J. Richerson, Luigi Rizzi, Wolf Singer, Mark Steedman, Luc Steels, Szabolcs Számadó, Eörs Szathmáry, Maggie Tallerman, Jochen Triesch, Stephanie Ann White

Rightward Movement

Rightward Movement PDF Author: Dorothee Beerman
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027227381
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
Symmetries and asymmetries have always played an important role in linguistic theorizing. From the early works on potentially universal properties of transformational processes, differences between rightward and leftward movement processes were noted and constituted a challenge to theories of conditions on transformations. The upward boundedness of extraposition rules vs. the successive cyclic character of question word movement, for example, remains a vexing problem. An idea which has gained considerable prominence in the most recent syntactic work, in particular Noam Chomsky's 'Minimalist Program' and Richard Kayne's 'Antisymmetry' proposal, is that rightward movement simply does not exist. This means, in essence, that what looks like an element that has been moved rightward is either base-generated in its surface position, or it is actually moved leftward but all its surrounding materials have been moved leftward even further. Clearly, these radical proposals have generated a large number of new analyses of the relevant phenomena, and they have fostered considerable controversy about the viability and desirability of this type of approach. The present volume brings together a representative group of articles discussing a variety of aspects of (apparent) rightward movement processes, including considerations having to do with parsing, and representing the various opposing lines of thought on this matter. Empirically, they cover a wide array of constructions (extraposition, scrambling, quantifier-floating, etc.) and languages ( American Sign Language, Bengali, Dutch, French, Frisian, German, Hindi, Japanese, Marathi, etc.).

The Syntax of Sentential Stress

The Syntax of Sentential Stress PDF Author: Arsalan Kahnemuyipour
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191570206
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
This book explores the nature of sentential stress, how it is assigned and its interaction with information structure. Its central thesis is that the position of sentential or nuclear stress, the element with the highest prominence in the sentence, is determined syntactically and that cross-linguistic differences in this respect follow from syntactic variations. Presented in a Chomskian multiple spell-out framework, the author develops the Sentential Stress Rule and provides a systematic way of accounting for a wide range of cross-linguistic facts, with data taken from Persian, English, German and Eastern Armenian. The author further proposes the Focus Stress Rule to handle the interaction between sentential structure and information structure. Sentential stress is thus determined through an interplay between two components, the default Sentential Stress Rule and the Focus Stress Rule. Syntactic phenomena are not, the author argues, triggered by phonology or prosodic motivations: the relationship between syntax and phonology is always from syntax to phonology. This important contribution to understanding processes at the syntax-phonology interface will interest syntacticians and phonologists at graduate level and above.