· 2013
Verb Movement, Universal Grammar, and the Structure of IP, 1989
- 3,470citations
- 2013year
Short summary
This chapter proposes that systematic syntactic differences between French and English in negation, questions, adverbs, and quantification stem from a single parameter: the 'opacity' or 'transparency' of Agreement (Agr).
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Syntactic differences between French and English in negation, questions, adverbs, and quantification are systematically correlated.
- These differences are explained by a single abstract parameter: the 'opacity' or 'transparency' of Agreement (Agr).
- The proposed structure of IP is more articulated than current models.
- The explanation is rooted in Universal Grammar.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
In this chapter the author attempts to shed some light on a few systematic differences between French and English with respect to the syntax of sentence negation, questions, adverbs, floating quantifiers, and quantification at a distance. In line with much recent work in comparative syntax, he suggests that the differences between the two languages in these seemingly unrelated areas can, and therefore should, be correlated. The author shows that they can be deduced from the structure of Universal Grammar and one abstract parameter having to do with what he calls the “opacity” or “transparency” of Agr(eement) in French and (Modern) English. The author then adopts an approach to the structure of IP that is more highly articulated than most contemporary work would seem to suggest.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source., 2013 · DOI ↗
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Field: Language and Linguistics
Language and LinguisticsArts and Humanities