The complexity of narrow syntax: Minimalism, representational economy, and simplest Merge
The complexity of narrow syntax: Minimalism, representational economy, and simplest Merge
This chapter considers the question of formal complexity measurement within linguistic minimalism and argues that the minimalist approach to complexity of derivations and representations shows similarities with that of alternative theoretical perspectives that assume that linguistic complexity does not arise from syntax alone. In particular, the chapter claims that information structure properties should not be encoded in narrow syntax as features triggering movement, suggesting that the relevant information is established at the interfaces. The chapter argues for a minimalist model of grammar in which complexity arises out of the cyclic interaction of subderivations, a model it takes to be compatible with construction grammar approaches. The chapter demonstrates that this model allows one to revisit the question of the formal complexity of a generative grammar and show that narrow syntax can be captured by a finite-state device and, therefore, falls low on the Chomsky hierarchy.
Keywords: Chomsky hierarchy, cyclicity, finite-state grammar, grammatical complexity, information structure, merge, Minimalist Program, narrow syntax, recursion, representational economy
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .