Elementary Syntactic Structure Prospects of a Feature-Free Syntax

• Main Author: Boeckx, Cedric (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Cambridge University Press 2019
• Edition: Print book : English
• Series: Cambridge studies in linguistics, 144
• Subjects: Grammar, Comparative and general > Syntax; Minimalist theory (Linguistics)
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 Most syntacticians, no matter their theoretical persuasion, agree that features (types or categories) are the most important units of analysis. Within Chomskyan generative grammar, the importance of features has grown steadily and within minimalism, it can be said that everything depends on features. They are obstacles in any interdisciplinary investigation concerning the nature of language and it is hard to imagine a syntactic description that does not explore them. For the first time, this book turns grammar upside down and proposes a new model of syntax that is better suited for interdisciplinary interactions, and shows how syntax can proceed free of lexical influence. The empirical domain examined is vast, and all the fundamental units and properties of syntax (categories, parameters, Last Resort, labelling, and hierarchies) are rethought. Opening up new avenues of investigation, this book will be invaluable to researchers and students in syntactic theory, and linguistics more broadly.