Merging Features: Computation, Interpretation, and Acquisition
José M. Brucart, Anna Gavarró, and Jaume Solà
Abstract
This book presents new work on how Merge and formal features, two Basic factors in the Minimalist program, should determine the syntactic computation of natural language. Merge combines similar objects into more complex ones. Formal features establish dependencies within objects. This book examines the intricate ways in which these two factors interact to generate well-formed derivations in natural language. It is divided into two parts concerned with formal features and interpretable features — a subset of formal features. The book combines grammatical theory with the analysis of data drawn f ... More
This book presents new work on how Merge and formal features, two Basic factors in the Minimalist program, should determine the syntactic computation of natural language. Merge combines similar objects into more complex ones. Formal features establish dependencies within objects. This book examines the intricate ways in which these two factors interact to generate well-formed derivations in natural language. It is divided into two parts concerned with formal features and interpretable features — a subset of formal features. The book combines grammatical theory with the analysis of data drawn form a wide range of languages, both in the adult grammar and in first language acquisition. The mechanisms at work in linguistic computation are considered in relation to a variety of linguistic phenomena, including A-binding, A'-dependencies and reconstruction, agreement, word order, adjuncts, pronouns, and complementizers.
Keywords:
merge,
formal features,
grammatical theory,
A-binding,
agreement,
complementizers,
adjuncts,
interpretable features,
language acquisition,
computation
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2009 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199553266 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2009 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199553266.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
José M. Brucart, editor
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Anna Gavarró, editor
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Jaume Solà, editor
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Author Webpage
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