What drives syntactic computation?

Formal features (FFs) figure prominently in various areas of syntactic theorizing. Displacement/Internal Merge is widely held to be effected by FFs or their properties (strength, EPP, discourse‐related features, etc.). Similarly, External Merge is often taken to be controlled by FFs, e.g. to encode selectional properties of heads. However, this reliance on seemingly arbitrary triggers and the “Last Resort” character of syntactic computation in general is regarded with skepticism by many. A growing body of research emphasizes the role of externalization (PF) and interpretation (LF) in sanctioning syntactic operations. This Special Collection explores the question to what extent FFs can be replaced with more principled explanations and where, if at all, they may be indispensable. The Collection is based on the workshop “What drives syntactic computation? Alternatives to formal features,” held as part of the March 2015 Annual Meeting of the German Linguistics Society at the University of Leipzig.

Guest Editors: Dennis Ott & Radek Šimík


Research Article

Covert partial wh-movement and the nature of derivations
Covert partial wh-movement and the nature of derivations

Hadas Kotek

2016-07-28 2016 • Volume 1

Also a part of:

Collection: What drives syntactic computation?

Subset relations in ellipsis licensing
Subset relations in ellipsis licensing

Andrew Murphy

2016-10-26 2016 • Volume 1

Also a part of:

Collection: What drives syntactic computation?

Against information structure heads: A relational analysis of German scrambling
Against information structure heads: A relational analysis of German scrambling

Volker Struckmeier

2017-01-20 2017 • Volume 2

Also a part of:

Collection: What drives syntactic computation?

A computational guide to the dichotomy of features and constraints
A computational guide to the dichotomy of features and constraints

Thomas Graf

2017-03-09 2017 • Volume 2

Also a part of:

Collection: What drives syntactic computation?

Structure removal: An argument for feature-driven Merge
Structure removal: An argument for feature-driven Merge

Gereon Müller

2017-04-13 2017 • Volume 2

Also a part of:

Collection: What drives syntactic computation?

The syntax of information structure and the PF interface
The syntax of information structure and the PF interface

Kriszta Szendrői

2017-04-20 2017 • Volume 2

Also a part of:

Collection: What drives syntactic computation?

Recognizing copies: On the definition of Non-Distinctiveness
Recognizing copies: On the definition of Non-Distinctiveness

Carlos Muñoz Pérez

2018-03-23 2018 • Volume 3

Also a part of:

Collection: What drives syntactic computation?

What the EPP and comp-trace effects have in common: Constraining silent elements at the edge
What the EPP and comp-trace effects have in common: Constraining silent elements at the edge

Thomas McFadden and Sandhya Sundaresan

2018-04-05 2018 • Volume 3

Also a part of:

Collection: What drives syntactic computation?

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