Abstract

Assuming the general framework of the Minimalist Program of Chomsky 1995, this article argues that Move is not a primitive operation of the computational system, but rather the output of the interaction among the independent operations Copy, Merge, Form Chain, and Chain Reduction (deletion of chain links for purposes of linearization). The crucial aspect of this alternative model is that it permits constrained instances of sideward movement, whereby a given constituent “moves” from a syntactic object K to an independent syntactic object L. This version of the copy theory of movement (a) provides an explanation for why (some) traces must be deleted in the phonological component, (b) provides a cyclic analysis for standard instances of noncyclic movement, and (c) accounts for the main properties of parasitic gap and across-the-board extraction constructions.

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