1st Edition

On Economizing the Theory of A-Bar Dependencies

By Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai Copyright 1999
    222 Pages
    by Routledge

    224 Pages
    by Routledge

    First Published in 1999. This book is divided into two parts. The first part is essentially a response to a minimalist question: how perfect is language? There are so many factors involved in hiding the true nature of a language from casual observers. On the other hand, it is a lot easier to put a few languages side by side and show that the apparent imperfection actually comes from the diversity of their lexicons. By comparing wh-construals in Chinese, Japanese, English and Hindi, it becomes clear that these languages follow an optimal design of operator-variable dependencies as best as they could. As best as their individual morphologies allow, for that matter. The second part of this book addresses the issue how syntax interacts with semantics in a minimalist way.

    Chapter 1 From Lexicon to LF; Chapter 2 Some Asymmetries between Chain Formation and Unselective Binding; Chapter 3 Toward LF Interface;

    Biography

    Tsai, Wei-Tien Dylan