TY - BOOK ID - 70459649 TI - Local instability : split topicalization and quantifier float in German PY - 2012 SN - 9783110290950 3110290952 9783110290370 3110290375 1283628732 9781283628730 9786613941183 6613941182 PB - Berlin New York : De Gruyter, DB - UniCat KW - German language KW - Minimalist theory (Linguistics) KW - Generative grammar KW - Ashkenazic German language KW - Hochdeutsch KW - Judaeo-German language (German) KW - Judendeutsch language KW - Judeo-German language (German) KW - Jüdisch-Deutsch language KW - Jüdischdeutsch language KW - Germanic languages KW - Locative constructions. KW - Syntax. KW - Quantifiers. KW - Grammar. KW - Asymmetry. KW - Movement. KW - Quantifier Float. KW - Split Topicalization. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:70459649 AB - This monograph argues for a novel approach to split topicalization and quantifier float in German, based on the premise that syntactic structure-building proceeds solely via free application of Merge. Following recent developments in the pursuit of a more principled theory of syntax, it is argued that the stipulative notion of 'projection' ought to be dispensed with: syntactic objects created by Merge are not headed, and endocentricity arises due to a simple search algorithm. When this algorithm fails, specifically in symmetric {XP,YP} structures, an unlabeled constituent results; where a label is required, such structures are locally unstable. It is argued that both split topics and floated quantifiers are the result of this kind of local instability: when an exocentric predication structure is merged in argument or adjunct position, XP must be displaced at the phase level to allow for determination of a label. It is this symmetry-breaking movement that yields the 'split constituent' in surface form. Based on careful empirical scrutiny of two recalcitrant problems for syntactic theory, the present work adduces substantial support for a 'minimalist' grammatical architecture devoid of phrase-structural residue. ER -