Hans Broekhuis

AGAINST FEATURE STRENGTH: THE CASE OF SCANDINAVIAN OBJECT SHIFT ?

In this article, it is argued that the distinction between strong andweak formal features can and must be eliminated. I adopt thederivation-and-evaluation model of grammar, according to whichChomskys computational system (CHL) functions asa generator which produces candidates that are evaluated in anoptimality theoretic manner, and it is shown that the strong/weakdistinction can be captured by assuming an interaction between aconstraint that disfavors movement (STAY) and a constraint(family) F that requires checking of the formal features. Thediscussion of Scandinavian Object Shift shows that this is not justa reformulation of the original distinction, but has various desirableempirical consequences. The article concludes with a discussion ofScrambling of the Dutch/German type.

Derivations and Evaluations

This chapter departs from the observation that the minimalist framework and optimality theory adopt the same overall architecture of grammar (see also the Introduction): they both assume that a generator defines a set S of potentially wellformed expressions that can be generated on the basis of a given input, and that there is a filter component that selects the expressions from S that are actually grammatical in a given language L. This chapter proposes a hybrid model of grammar which combines the two frameworks: more specifically, it is argued that the computational system of human language from MP functions as the generator that creates the set S of potentially well-formed expressions, and that these are subsequently evaluated in an optimality-theoretic fashion. The properties of this hybrid model will be illustrated by means a discussion of object shift in Icelandic and Danish.

Derivations (MP) and Evaluations (OT)

The main claim of this paper is that the minimalist framework and optimality theory adopt more or less the same architecture of grammar: both assume that a generator defines a set S of potentially well-formed expressions that can be generated on the basis of a given input, and that there is an evaluator that selects the expressions from S that are actually grammatical in a given language L. The paper therefore proposes a model of grammar in which the strengths of the two frameworks are combined: more specifically, it is argued that the computational system of human language CHL from MP creates a set S of potentially well-formed expressions, and that these are subsequently evaluated in an optimality theoretic fashion.

Syntax of Dutch : Nouns and Noun Phrases - Volume 2

The aim of this publication is to present a complete synthesis of the available knowledge of Dutch syntax. It is primarily concerned with language description and not with linguistic theory, providing support to all researchers of language and linguistics, including graduate students. The first two volumes in this series, Nouns and Noun Phrases, discuss the internal make-up as well as the distribution of noun phrases, and address the following areas: complementation and modification of noun phrases; properties of determiners (articles and demonstratives), numerals and quantifiers; the use of noun phrases as arguments, predicates and adverbial modifiers.

Prelims, Contents, Contributors

This volume focuses on the role of the postulated derivational and filtering devices in current linguistic theory. It promotes the exchange of ideas between the proponents of Chomsky’s Minimalist Program and Prince and Smolensky’s Optimality Theory to evaluate the role of these devices in the two frameworks. It discusses the tenability of the often proclaimed opinion that the Minimalist Program and Optimality Theory are incompatible frameworks, given that the explanatory power of the former mainly resides on the generative device, whereas the explanatory power of the latter mainly resides in the filtering device. The papers presented here discuss and compare the two devices in these two frameworks from various perspectives, collating a number of arguments that favour a strictly derivational, a strictly filtering, or a hybrid approach. This book is directed to syntacticians working within the current frameworks that have developed from the Minimalist Program and Optimality Theory, but it will also be of interest to researchers or advanced students of linguistic theory.