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1 - Structure Building

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2025

Gereon Müller
Affiliation:
Universität Leipzig
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Summary

This chapter is an introduction to a minimalist approach to German syntax. It starts with very basic concepts (like lexical items, categories, complements, specifiers, modifiers, derivations, and Merge), and goes on to carefully develop accounts of basic structure building (external Merge) and of movement (internal Merge). Furthermore, the concept of Agree is introduced, as are two fundamental principles of derivational syntax: the Strict Cycle Condition and the Cyclic Principle. Various kinds of movement types are analyzed in detail (among them wh-movement, scrambling, pronoun fronting, topicalization, relativization, and extraposition). The notion of successive-cyclic long-distance movement is introduced, and four different morpho-syntactic reflexes of movement are identified for German. Next, the role of edge features and improper movement is clarified. Finally, a concept of cyclic Agree is postulated for Agree relations in German syntax that are not strictly local.

Type
Chapter
Information
German Syntax
A Structure Removal Approach
, pp. 5 - 87
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Structure Building
  • Gereon Müller, Universität Leipzig
  • Book: German Syntax
  • Online publication: 28 February 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009518048.002
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  • Structure Building
  • Gereon Müller, Universität Leipzig
  • Book: German Syntax
  • Online publication: 28 February 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009518048.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Structure Building
  • Gereon Müller, Universität Leipzig
  • Book: German Syntax
  • Online publication: 28 February 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009518048.002
Available formats
×