This chapter discusses the challenges involved in unifying Antisymmetry and Bare Phrase Structure (BPS) and develops a proposal that captures the insights of both theories. There are two problems in formulating a theory of phrase structure which retains the core properties of both Antisymmetry and BPS. The first has to do with the theoretical framework in which Antisymmetry was developed, namely X-Bar Theory. Kayne’s original formulation does not translate into BPS in a straightforward way. As will become clear, choices have to be made about how to reformulate the LCA under BPS. I will consider various proposals for this as I proceed. The second problem deals with a particular aspect of BPS that seems irreconcilable with Antisymmetry, namely the initial merger of two heads. When two heads are merged at the outset of a derivation, they c-command each other, in violation of the LCA. I refer to this as the Initial Merger Problem.
CITATION STYLE
Barrie, M. (2011). Unifying Antisymmetry and Bare Phrase Structure. In Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory (Vol. 84, pp. 53–91). Springer Science and Business Media B.V. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1570-7_3
Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.