Mechanism of Search and Float for Internal Merge

Abstract

This chapter outlines the mechanism of Search and Float, demonstrating how this mechanism deals with typical cases of A- and A’-movement. Under the assumption that Move is a special case of Merge, called Internal Merge, Search and Float are characterized as prerequisite operations for Internal Merge. It is demonstrated that the Relativized Minimality as well as the superiority cases are explained by the Minimal Link Condition applying to Search (called minimal Search), which searches down a given structure to find the closest syntactic object carrying a relevant feature. The operation of Float is motivated by the successive-cyclicity of A- and A’-movement. Given that Float is constrained by Minimize chain links, the reason why A- and A’-movement take place successive-cyclically is attributed to the fact that the intermediate positions are regarded as possible landing sites for the Float operations and hence cannot be skipped.