Minimalist Syntax

Željko Bošković is Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of The Syntax of Nonfinite Complementation: An Economy Approach (1997) and On the Nature of the Syntax–Phonology Interface: Cliticization and Related Phenomena (2001).Howard Lasnik is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Maryland. His publications include Essays on Anaphora (1989), Minimalist Analysis (Blackwell, 1999), Minimalist Investigations in Linguistic Theory (2003), and A Course in Minimalist Syntax (with Juan Uriagereka, Blackwell, 2005).

"The physicist Paul Dirac noted that the beauty of an equation is far more important than its fit to the experimental evidence. The Minimalist Program in linguistics, championed by Chomsky in the mid-1990s, is an attempt to seek beauty in the theory of linguistics. Minimalist Syntax synthesizes the current state of play, showing both the elegance of the theory, and its far reaching implications for not only the study of language, but the mind more generally. You may not agree with the perspective outlined, and may not find the evidence compelling, but if you don’t take the proposal seriously, you will miss out on what could be one of the most radical and intellectually stimulating theories of the mind in the 21st century."--Marc Hauser, Harvard College, author of Wild Minds (2000) and Moral Minds (2006)."A fine collection of excerpts from many of the most important and influential texts of the Minimalist Program. Organized by topic, the editors have helpfully juxtaposed selections from the literature to give the reader a feel for how debates progressed and how ideas were shaped. This book provides the essential core reading list for any course on minimalist syntactic theory. It is also a must-have all-in-one-place reference source for syntacticians."--Tim Stowell, UCLA "An authoritative and comprehensive volume detailing how the Minimalist Program developed out of earlier work, and making clever use of extracts from key works by the world’s leading scholars. A unique teaching and research resource."--Andrew Radford, University of Essex

• Acknowledgements ixIntroduction 11. The Basic Design of Language: Levels of Representation and Interaction with Interfaces 142. Eliminating Government 663. Structure Building and Lexical Insertion 2234. Verbal Morphology 2635. LCA/C-command Related Issues 2886. Copy Theory of Movement 3437. Existential Constructions 3688. Syntax/semantics Interface 398Index 440