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Why edges are needed

Abstract

The term edge has become ubiquitous in syntactic theory in recent years: one reads of the left edge of the clause or the edge of VP in cartographic approaches, of the edge of phases in phase-based computations, of edge features driving movement, and even of edge features underlying merge. In this contribution I look at all these different meanings of edge and conclude that they all reduce to a property underlying labelling at the heart of structure building. That is to say, the reason edges are needed is the same as the reason why labels are needed. Since the necessity of labels has been disputed in the recent minimalist literature, I reassert the need for labels and attempt to derive it from interface legibility conditions.

Abstract

The term edge has become ubiquitous in syntactic theory in recent years: one reads of the left edge of the clause or the edge of VP in cartographic approaches, of the edge of phases in phase-based computations, of edge features driving movement, and even of edge features underlying merge. In this contribution I look at all these different meanings of edge and conclude that they all reduce to a property underlying labelling at the heart of structure building. That is to say, the reason edges are needed is the same as the reason why labels are needed. Since the necessity of labels has been disputed in the recent minimalist literature, I reassert the need for labels and attempt to derive it from interface legibility conditions.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Edges
  6. Why edges are needed 11
  7. Bare nouns with different edges 23
  8. Implicit agentivity without agents in the syntax 47
  9. On the edge -feature of particles, interjections, and short answers 67
  10. The grammar of polarity particles in Romanian 87
  11. Part II. Heads and projections
  12. Evidentials as generalized functional heads 127
  13. On the pre-theoretical notion phrasal head 151
  14. Predication and the nature of non-finite relatives in Romance 191
  15. On the asymmetry of root versus embedded clauses 215
  16. The cartography of phases 233
  17. Index 263
Edges, Heads, and Projections
This chapter is in the book Edges, Heads, and Projections
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.156.04boe

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Edges
  6. Why edges are needed 11
  7. Bare nouns with different edges 23
  8. Implicit agentivity without agents in the syntax 47
  9. On the edge -feature of particles, interjections, and short answers 67
  10. The grammar of polarity particles in Romanian 87
  11. Part II. Heads and projections
  12. Evidentials as generalized functional heads 127
  13. On the pre-theoretical notion phrasal head 151
  14. Predication and the nature of non-finite relatives in Romance 191
  15. On the asymmetry of root versus embedded clauses 215
  16. The cartography of phases 233
  17. Index 263
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