8
votes
Accepted
What is the modern general communication language writing system with simplest letter symbols?
Cree syllabics seems to the be simplest by any count. The letters ᐊ ᐸ ᑕ ᑲ ᒐ ᒪ ᓇ ᓴ ᔭ represent the consonants Ø p t k ch m n s y (this is the "a" form), and vowels are indicated by the ...
- 83.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Question on move operation
First, let me get the usual caveats out of the way: MP is a program, not a theory. It tells you what kinds of questions to ask about syntax, and guides you in comparing the answers from competing ...
- 2,645
4
votes
Accepted
I-language vs E-language
It's not clearly the wrong track. A better statement of what he is saying is that when Jones "has a language", what he possesses is a grammar, and not a set of outputs. It is possible that ...
- 83.4k
4
votes
What happens when a bilingual uses a grammatical subject with a different number system than the verb?
If a bilingual English and Arabic speaker would have to use an English subject with an Arabic verb, it is fully up to the speaker, no matter which language the context is in, to choose which form ...
- 75
3
votes
Accepted
Minimalism - a question about a property of merge operation
Not precisely (for the order implications see Kayne 1994 - The antisymmetry of syntax - but note that the work is not uniformly accepted within Minimalism).
Merge is asymmetrical because one of the ...
- 201
3
votes
Accepted
Why is there no D-structure or S-structure within Minimalism
TL;DR: In the Government and Binding framework, D-structure had to be built completely before any movement could occur, while in Minimalism movement occurs as the structure is being built, eliminating ...
- 46
2
votes
What empirical evidence can be produced that all syntactic structure is binary branching?
I believe in binary branching, but not your binary branching. In HPSG (and Categorial Grammar), constituents combine by the application of a function to a single argument. Function and argument -- ...
- 12.5k
2
votes
Are there any empirical arguments for eliminating 'Deep Structure' in Minimalist Syntax?
There is empirical evidence against DS, though it has nothing to do with MP. DS is required for transformationalist theories to move things around so as to get constituents where they are observed to ...
- 12.5k
2
votes
What is the difference between vPs and v*Ps?
They are not the same. 1. v* (with this label) corresponds to a verb projection with a full argument structure or what is called a Core Functional Category (CFC) with transitivity. This v*P is the ...
- 1,078
2
votes
Accepted
Which is the most accepted case theory from a generative syntax perspective?
You're asking a number of different questions here, that range from simple
description of surface features to theory-internal ideas from specific frameworks (and asking about two different frameworks)...
- 2,645
2
votes
Does a null-subject language always have to satisfy EPP?
No. Not in the Turkish that is spoken in Istanbul. The evidence comes from scope relations when the subject is not dropped.
When you say:
Bütün çocuk-lar gel-me-di.
all kid-pl come-neg-pst
...
- 21
2
votes
Accepted
Difference between the Merge postion and the base position
Generative theories of syntax generally propose a few different "operations", which are invoked in various ways to build the tree. If you're a computationalist, you might prefer to call ...
- 69.5k
2
votes
Diagnostics for probes in phase theory (advanced syntax)
I'm not sure I fully understand the question, but maybe Burzio's generalization is relevant? There is argued to be a "weak" v, which appears in unaccusatives and passives, and a "strong" v, which ...
- 234
2
votes
I-language vs E-language
Chomsky (2015:13) says that "It is intensional in the technical sense
that the I-language is a function specified in intension, not
extension."
I think he just means “internally” rather ...
- 817
1
vote
Does a null-subject language always have to satisfy EPP?
EPP entails that [Spec; TP] must be filled. However, the subject can move out from [Spec; TP] to an adjunct position, leaving a trace at [Spec; TP]. An example of such a movement is topicalization, ...
- 39
1
vote
Problem with [NOMINATIVE] Case in GB & Phase Theory (MP)
The short, oversimplified answer is that Berber languages merge their "oblique" and "nominative" in much the same way that English merges its "oblique" and "accusative". Plenty of other languages do ...
- 2,645
1
vote
What is the difference between successive-cyclic wh-movement and long-distance wh-movement?
Well, compare TG ( Transformational Grammar) and GPSG (Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar). TG allows the formulation of rules that perform long distance movement, using the variables of a ...
- 12.5k
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