Symmetrizing Syntax - 9781138944435

Taylor & Francis

Symmetrizing SyntaxMerge, Minimality, and Equilibria\nAuthor(s): Hiroki Narita, Naoki Fukui\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9781138944435, 978-1138944435\nSynopsis\nSymmetrizing Syntax seeks to establish a minimal and natural characterization of the structure of human language (syntax), simplifying many facets of it that have been redundantly or asymmetrically formulated. \n\nVirtually all past theories of natural language syntax, from the traditional X-bar theory to the contemporary system of Merge and labeling, stipulate that every phrase structure is \""asymmetrically\"" organized, so that one of its elements is always marked as primary/dominant over the others, or each and every phrase is labeled by a designated lexical element. The two authors call this traditional stipulation into question and hypothesize, instead, that linguistic derivations are essentially driven by the need to reduce asymmetry and generate sy.