Dynamic Antisymmetry

The central idea of this book is that movement and phrase structure are not independent properties of grammar; instead, movement is triggered by the geometry of phrase structure. Using this idea of "Dynamic antisymmetry", the book analyzes the consequences for the design of grammar.

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The central idea of "Dynamic Antisymmetry" is that movement and phrase structure are not independent properties of grammar; more specifically, that movement is triggered by the geometry of phrase structure. Assuming a minimalist framework, movement is traced back to the necessity for natural language to organize words in linear order at the interface with the perceptual-articulatory module. Andrea Moro uses this innovative perspective to analyze several empirical domains, focusing on small clauses, split "wh"-movement and clitic constructions. In a final speculative chapter, he examines the general consequences for the design of grammar implied by Dynamic Antisymmetry. The book is self-contained, with a synopsis of current theories of movement and a synthetic presentation of the theory of antisymmetry. An appendix presents the essentials of a unified theory of copular sentences, which plays a central role in the argument and has several important consequences for syntax, for example, for expletives and locality.