Under current assumptions, the structural representation of a clause consists of three kinds of structural layers, each layer an instantiation of the X-bar schema: 

1.

The lexical layer, headed by the verb, the structural layer in which theta assignment takes place.




2.

The inflectional layer, headed by functional heads corresponding to concrete or abstract morphological specifications on the verb, and responsible for the licensing of argumental features such as case and agreement.




3.

The complementizer layer, typically headed by a free functional morpheme, and hosting topics and various operator-like elements such as interrogative and relative pronouns, focalized elements, etc.






In the mid eighties, each layer was identified with a single X-bar projection (VP, IP, CP), but this assumption quickly turned out to be too simplistic. Under the impact of Pollock’s (1989) influential analysis of verb movement, IP dissolved into a series of functional projections, each corresponding to system (Agr, T, Asp,…). Kayne’s (1984) binary branching hypothesis naturally led to the postulation of multiple VP layers for multi-argument verbs, e.g. along the lines of Larson (1988) and much related work.

The Fine Structure of the Left Periphery

Foreword by Norbert Hornstein Preface Part I 1 Mind and Body 2 Structures, Capacities, and Conventions 3 Knowledge of Grammar 4 Some Elements of Grammar Part II 5 On the Biological Basis of Language Capacities 6 Language and Unconscious Knowledge Notes Index

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/BB96E4E09C461EFC230F72A9D7BDF603/S0140525X00001515a.pdf/div-class-title-rules-and-representations-div.pdf

Rules and Representations

Noam Chomsky,The Minimalist Program. (Current Studies in Linguistics 28.) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995. Pp. 420.The Minimalist Program, by Noam Chomsky, is a collection of four articles, ‘The Theory of Principles and Parameters’ (written with Howard Lasnik, 13–127), ‘Some notes on Economy of Derivation and representation’ (129–166), ‘A Minimalist Program for linguistic theory’ (167–217), and ‘Categories and transformations’ (219–394). The first three articles have appeared elsewhere, and are reprinted here with minor revisions. The fourth was circulated in manuscript form earlier in 1995 and is commonly referred to as ‘Chapter four’. The volume opens with an ‘Introduction’ (1–11) and closes with a general bibliography and an index (395–420).The work collected here is based on material presented by Chomsky, and discussed by participating students, faculty, and visitors, in Chomsky's fall term lecture-seminars at MIT in the period of 1986 through 1994. For those who have ever wanted to attend these class lectures, but were never in the position to, this is a must read. The MIT Press is to be commended for having made this collection available in such an exemplary inexpensive volume.

/pdf/the-minimalist-program-51133e4i6g.pdf

The minimalist program

Syntaxe comparative de l'anglais et de l'espagnol dans le cadre de la theorie des barrieres

Verb movement, universal grammar and the structure of IP

Many people have argued that the evolution of the human language faculty cannot be explained by Darwinian natural selection. Chomsky and Gould have suggested that language may have evolved as the by-product of selection for other abilities or as a consequence of as-yet unknown laws of growth and form. Others have argued that a biological specialization for grammar is incompatible with every tenet of Darwinian theory – that it shows no genetic variation, could not exist in any intermediate forms, confers no selective advantage, and would require more evolutionary time and genomic space than is available. We examine these arguments and show that they depend on inaccurate assumptions about biology or language or both. Evolutionary theory offers clear criteria for when a trait should be attributed to natural selection: complex design for some function, and the absence of alternative processes capable of explaining such complexity. Human language meets these criteria: Grammar is a complex mechanism tailored to the transmission of propositional structures through a serial interface. Autonomous and arbitrary grammatical phenomena have been offered as counterexamples to the position that language is an adaptation, but this reasoning is unsound: Communication protocols depend on arbitrary conventions that are adaptive as long as they are shared. Consequently, language acquisition in the child should systematically differ from language evolution in the species, and attempts to analogize them are misleading. Reviewing other arguments and data, we conclude that there is every reason to believe that a specialization for grammar evolved by a conventional neo-Darwinian process.

http://www.biolinguagem.com/ling_cog_cult/pinker_bloom_1990_naturallanguage_naturalselection.pdf

Natural language and natural selection

This collection of essays presents an up-to-date overview of research in the minimalist program of linguistic theory. The book includes a new essay by Noam Chomsky as well as original contributions from other renowned linguists.Contributors : Andrew Barss, Zeljko Boskovic, Noam Chomsky, Hamida Demirdache, Hiroto Hoshi, Kyle Johnson, Roger Martin, Keiko Murasugi, Javier Ormazabal, Mamoru Saito, Daiko Takahashi, Juan Uriagereka, Myriam Uribe-Extebarria, Ewa Willim.

Step by step : essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik

The questions that we want to consider here have arisen in a number of different contexts in recent work on the nature and use of language. Among these are the following: 

(1)a.

Restricting the options for transformational grammar (TG) (discussed in section 1.1 below);




b.

Perceptual strategies and syntactic rules (section 1.2);




c.

Problems of obligatory control (section 1.3);




d.

Properties of the complementizer system (section 1.4).

Filters and Control

The Theory of Principles and Parameters

In the last few years, there has been extensive investigation of the Empty Category Principle (ECP) — the requirement that an empty category must be properly governed. Attention has particularly focused on the ECP as a constraint on the representations resulting from Wh Movement (see for example Jaeggli (1980a), Chomsky (1981a), Kayne (1981a), Stowell (1981), Huang (1982)). In this article we will address such issues as (a) the definition of “proper government,” (b) the level(s) of representation to which the ECP applies, and (c) the relationship between the ECP and other principles. We will integrate this discussion into a treatment of Wh Movement in general and wh-in-situ in particular.

Howard Lasnik

Papers

Step by step : essays on minimalist syntax in honor of Howard Lasnik

Filters and Control

The Theory of Principles and Parameters

On the nature of proper government

A note on anaphora and double objects