Guglielmo Cinque

Deriving Greenberg's Universal 20 and Its Exceptions

Of the 24 mathematically possible orders of the four elements demonstrative, numeral, adjective, and noun, only 14 appear to be attested in the languages of the world. Some of these are unexpected under Greenbergs Universal 20. Here it is proposed that the actually attested orders, and none of the unattested ones, are derivable from a single, universal, order of Merge (Dem > Num > Adj > N) and from independent conditions on phrasal movement.

Issues in adverbial syntax

A number of recent articles have criticized the analysis of adverbs as specifiers of different, dedicated, functional projections of the clause, proposing, on semantic or other grounds, a return to the traditional adjunction analysis. These arguments are critically examined here, and more evidence is adduced for the functional nature of adverbs.

Ergative adjectives and the Lexicalist Hypothesis

Among intransitive verbs, a distinction is generally made between those whose subject is generated external to the verb phrase (‘unergative’ verbs) and those whose subject is generated in the structural object position of the verb phrase (‘unaccusative’ or ‘ergative’ verbs). In this essay, I argue that a comparable distinction must be recognized for the class of intransitive adjectives, despite the fact that adjectives morphologically related to ‘ergative’ verbs are not themselves ‘ergative’. I suggest that this apparent inconsistency in the lexical properties of morphologically related verbs and adjectives is a consequence of the way in which the adjectives in question are morphologically derived.I wish to thank Adriana Belletti, Luigi Burzio, Alessandra Giorgi, Richard Kayne, Giuseppe Longobardi, Frederick Newmeyer, Luigi Rizzi, and three reviewers for their comments on an earlier draft of the article.

The fundamental left-right asymmetry of natural languages *

The article discusses a pervasive left-right asymmetry found in the order of modifiers and functional heads associated with distinct lexical heads. In each case, it is shown that one and the same pattern is involved. The account proposed for such an asymmetry is based on a unique underlying structure for each head and the modifiers and functional heads associated with it, in interaction with independent conditions on phrasal movement.

A Note on "Restructuring" and Quantifier Climbing in French

Although Modern French was originally taken to lack the restructuring phenomenon altogether, four different restructuring effects have more recently been claimed to exist in the language:en andy climbing, quantifier climbing, adverb climbing, and long movement in easy-to-please constructions. Evidence discussed in this article shows that only en andy climbing and long movement in easy-to-please constructions are bona fide instances of restructuring in French.

A note on linguistic theory and typology

Abstract Let me say right away that I do not consider (“formal”) linguistic theory and linguistic typology as two separate approaches. The in-depth, abstract analysis of a certain phenomenon (say, how a restrictive relative clause is built) and the study of what variation there is concerning that phenomenon (how many ways of forming restrictive relative clauses are found across languages) are two sides of the same inquiry.