The Merge Condition
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Susi Wurmbrand
Abstract
This paper proposes that morphological selection and subcategorization are derived from conditions on Merge, specifically the claim that Merge is only possible when it leads to feature valuation, which I argue takes place under Reverse Agree. The Merge Condition, together with a Reverse Agree mechanism, allows us to unify different types of selection and provides a strictly local and derivational mechanism for structure building which does not require recourse to special selector features or separate notions of (lexical) selection. I provide an explicit feature system encoding the selectional properties of verbs and a detailed account of clausal complementation structures in English and German. The system offers a new way of deriving verb second configurations, doubly filled Comp effects, the distribution of T–to–C movement, as well as the syntactically restricted behavior of embedded root clauses.
Abstract
This paper proposes that morphological selection and subcategorization are derived from conditions on Merge, specifically the claim that Merge is only possible when it leads to feature valuation, which I argue takes place under Reverse Agree. The Merge Condition, together with a Reverse Agree mechanism, allows us to unify different types of selection and provides a strictly local and derivational mechanism for structure building which does not require recourse to special selector features or separate notions of (lexical) selection. I provide an explicit feature system encoding the selectional properties of verbs and a detailed account of clausal complementation structures in English and German. The system offers a new way of deriving verb second configurations, doubly filled Comp effects, the distribution of T–to–C movement, as well as the syntactically restricted behavior of embedded root clauses.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface 1
- List of contributors 5
-
I. Minimalism: Quo Vadis?
- A program for the Minimalist Program 9
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II. Exploring features in syntax
- On feature interpretability and inheritance 37
- On the need for formal features in the narrow syntax 56
- Adjunct Control and edge features 79
- On the uninterpretability of interpretable features 109
- The Merge Condition 130
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III. Radicalizing the interfaces
- Chains in Minimalism 169
- Multiattachment syntax, “Movement” effects, and Spell-Out 195
- Flavors of movement 236
- Minimalism and I-Morphology 267
- A minimalist approach to roots 287
- Computations at the interfaces in child grammar 304
- Intensionality, grammar, and the sententialist hypothesis 315
- What is and what is not problematic about the T-model 350
- Regarding the Third Factor 363
- The role of arbitrariness from a minimalist point of view 392
- Index 417
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface 1
- List of contributors 5
-
I. Minimalism: Quo Vadis?
- A program for the Minimalist Program 9
-
II. Exploring features in syntax
- On feature interpretability and inheritance 37
- On the need for formal features in the narrow syntax 56
- Adjunct Control and edge features 79
- On the uninterpretability of interpretable features 109
- The Merge Condition 130
-
III. Radicalizing the interfaces
- Chains in Minimalism 169
- Multiattachment syntax, “Movement” effects, and Spell-Out 195
- Flavors of movement 236
- Minimalism and I-Morphology 267
- A minimalist approach to roots 287
- Computations at the interfaces in child grammar 304
- Intensionality, grammar, and the sententialist hypothesis 315
- What is and what is not problematic about the T-model 350
- Regarding the Third Factor 363
- The role of arbitrariness from a minimalist point of view 392
- Index 417
