Ways of solving (counter-)cyclic A-movement in phase theory

Abstract

A-movement in phase syntax is executed counter-cyclically under the assumption that movement or Internal Merge applies at the phase level. This poses a non-trivial problem to syntax as the subject infixes into Spec, TP in violation of the No-Tampering Condition. This paper addresses the counter-cyclicity problem and argues that it is only apparent. I propose two ways to solve the counter-cyclicity, claiming that A-movement is made cyclic by Transfer and Merge. I also suggest that Transfer is reducible to Merge, with counter-cyclic A-movement solved by Merge alone. I show that the proposed analysis can explain subject extraction from the embedded clause and argues for vacuous movement in local subject Ā-movement. The EPP effect is reconsidered as one consequence of the proposals and I argue that it is deducible from externalization as well as from labeling. The present paper endorses the assumption that Merge is the core of syntactic derivation and supports the basic hypothesis in the Minimalist Program, which says that language is explained by Merge and interfaces with two other internal systems. (Toyo University)