The Limits of Syntactic Variation
Editor
Against the background of the past half century’s typological and generative work on comparative syntax, this volume brings together 16 papers considering what we have learned and may still be able to learn about the nature and extent of syntactic variation. More specifically, it offers a multi-perspective critique of the Principles and Parameters approach to syntactic variation, evaluating the merits and shortcomings of the pre-Minimalist phase of this enterprise and considering and illustrating the possibilities opened up by recent empirical and theoretical advances. Contributions focus on four central topics: firstly, the question of the locus of variation, whether the attested variation may plausibly be understood in parametric terms and, if so, what form such parameters might take; secondly, the fate of one of the most prominent early parameters, the Null Subject Parameter; thirdly, the matter of parametric clusters more generally; and finally, acquisition issues.
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 132] 2008. vii, 521 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 12 June 2009
Published online on 12 June 2009
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Preface & Acknowledgements | p. vii
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Introduction | pp. 7–72
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I. The locus of (parametric) variation
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Parametric versus functional explanations of syntactic universalsMartin Haspelmath | pp. 75–107
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Three fundamental issues in parametric linguisticsChiara Gianollo, Cristina Guardiano and Giuseppe Longobardi | pp. 109–142
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On the syntactic flexibility of formal featuresHedde Zeijlstra | pp. 143–173
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Expletives, datives, and the tension between morphology and syntaxRichard S. Kayne | pp. 175–217
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Mapping a parochial lexicon onto a universal semanticsGillian Ramchand and Peter Svenonius | pp. 219–245
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Aspect matters in the middleMarika Lekakou | pp. 247–294
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II. A classic parameter revisited: the null-subject parameter
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The null subject parameter and correlating properties: The case of Creole languagesMarco Nicolis | pp. 271–294
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The Case-F valuation parameter in RomanceGerardo Fernández-Salgueiro | pp. 295–310
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Silent arguments without pro: The case of BasqueMaia Duguine | pp. 311–329
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Case morphology and radical pro-dropAd Neeleman and Kriszta Szendröi | pp. 331–348
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III. Parametric clustering
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The macroparameter in a microparametric worldMark C. Baker | pp. 351–373
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Topic prominence and null subjectsMarcello Modesto | pp. 375–409
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Non-configurationality: Free word order and argument drop in TurkishBalkız Öztürk | pp. 411–440
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Diachronic stability and feature interpretabilityE. Phoevos Panagiotidis | pp. 441–456
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III. The acquisition of parameters
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Can children tell us anything we did not know about parameter clustering?Larisa Avram and Martine Coene | pp. 459–482
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Parameter setting and input reductionArnold Ernest Evers and Jacqueline van Kampen | pp. 483–515
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Index | pp. 517–521
Cited by (42)
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2024. Exploring Microvariation in Verb-Movement Parameters within Daco-Romanian and across Daco-Romance. Languages 9:1 ► pp. 19 ff. 
De Cia, Simone & Mariangela Cerullo
2024. Towards a Typology of Zero Aboutness: Expletive A in Fornese and Chiru in Cilentano. Languages 9:2 ► pp. 60 ff.
Gakkhar, Sitanshu & Matilde Marcolli
2024. Syntactic Structures and the General Markov Models. Mathematics in Computer Science 18:1
Pato, Enrique
2024. New Approaches to Spanish Dialectal Grammar: Guest Editor’s Introduction. Languages 9:2 ► pp. 36 ff.
Müller, Natascha
2023. AAiMLL: Acquisition Advantages in MultiLingual Learners: The Case of the Multilingual Child. Languages 9:1 ► pp. 8 ff.
Zeijlstra, Hedde
2023. Pas de Problème: The Distribution and Nature of Double Negation in French and Other Romance Negative Concord Languages. Languages 8:2 ► pp. 118 ff.
Alharbi, Bader
2022. On the Syntax of Existential Sentences in Najdi Arabic. Languages 7:1 ► pp. 18 ff.
Colasanti, Valentina
2022. Micro-Contact in Southern Italy: Language Change in Southern Lazio under Pressure from Italian. Languages 7:4 ► pp. 286 ff.
Etxepare, Ricardo & Ángel J. Gallego
2022. A Note on Parameter Setting in Contact Situations. Languages 7:1 ► pp. 34 ff.
Pescarini, Diego
2022. Expletive Subject Clitics in Northern Italo-Romance. Languages 7:4 ► pp. 265 ff.
Acedo-Matellán, Víctor, Theresa Biberauer, Jaume Mateu & Anna Pineda
Cerrudo, Alba, Ángel J. Gallego & Francesc Roca Urgell
2021. Introduction. In Syntactic Geolectal Variation [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 34], ► pp. 1 ff.
Judy, Tiffany
2021. Effects of Adjective Type on Position and Interpretation in Native Polish Classroom Learners of Spanish. Languages 6:3 ► pp. 153 ff.
Stahnke, Johanna, Laia Arnaus Gil & Natascha Müller
2021. French as a Heritage Language in Germany. Languages 6:3 ► pp. 122 ff.
Brandner, Ellen
2020. A “borderline case” of syntactic variation. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 5:1
Ceolin, Andrea, Cristina Guardiano, Monica Alexandrina Irimia & Giuseppe Longobardi
2020. Formal Syntax and Deep History. Frontiers in Psychology 11
Gallego, Ángel J.
2020. Morpho-syntactic Variation in Romance v: A Micro-parametric Approach. Probus 32:2 ► pp. 401 ff.
Guardiano, Cristina, Giuseppe Longobardi, Guido Cordoni & Paola Crisma
2020. Formal Syntax as a Phylogenetic Method. In The Handbook of Historical Linguistics, ► pp. 145 ff.
Li, Yen-hui Audrey & Wei Haley Wei
2019. Microparameters and language variation. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 4:1
Newmeyer, Frederick J.
ZHU, Jingtao & Anna GAVARRÓ
2019. Testing language acquisition models: null and overt topics in Mandarin. Journal of Child Language 46:04 ► pp. 707 ff.
Irwin, Patricia
2018. Existential unaccusativity and new discourse referents. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 3:1
Lekakou, Marika & Marcel Pitteroff
2018. This is personal: Impersonal middles as disposition ascriptions. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 3:1
Ranero, Rodrigo
2018. Eguren Luis, Olga Fernández-Soriano & Amaya Mendikoetxea (eds.).Rethinking Parameters.. Linguistic Variation 18:1 ► pp. 197 ff.
Longobardi, Giuseppe & Cristina Guardiano
2017. Phylogenetic Reconstruction in Syntax: The Parametric Comparison Method. In The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Syntax, ► pp. 241 ff.
Madariaga, Nerea
2017. Understanding Grammars through Diachronic Change. Frontiers in Psychology 8
Biberauer, Theresa & Ian Roberts
2016. Parameter typology from a diachronic perspective. In Theoretical Approaches to Linguistic Variation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 234], ► pp. 259 ff.
Biberauer, Theresa & Ian Roberts
2017. Parameter Setting. In The Cambridge Handbook of Historical Syntax, ► pp. 134 ff.
Bidese, Ermenegildo, Federica Cognola & Manuela Caterina Moroni
2016. Introduction. In Theoretical Approaches to Linguistic Variation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 234], ► pp. 1 ff.
Kinn, Kari
2016. Referential vs. non-referential null subjects in Middle Norwegian. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 39:3 ► pp. 277 ff.
Kinn, Kari
Kinn, Kari, Kristian A. Rusten & George Walkden
2016. Null Subjects in Early Icelandic. Journal of Germanic Linguistics 28:1 ► pp. 31 ff.
D’Alessandro, Roberta & Tobias Scheer
2015. Modular PIC. Linguistic Inquiry 46:4 ► pp. 593 ff.
Longobardi, Giuseppe, Silvia Ghirotto, Cristina Guardiano, Francesca Tassi, Andrea Benazzo, Andrea Ceolin & Guido Barbujani
2015. Across language families: Genome diversity mirrors linguistic variation withinEurope. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 157:4 ► pp. 630 ff.
Longobardi, Giuseppe, Cristina Guardiano, Giuseppina Silvestri, Alessio Boattini & Andrea Ceolin
2015. Toward a syntactic phylogeny of modern Indo-European languages. In Proto-Indo-European Syntax and its Development [Benjamins Current Topics, 75], ► pp. 125 ff.
Rouveret, Alain
2015. Références bibliographiques. In Arguments minimalistes,
Corbara, Erika
2014. Language economy and the pro-drop theory from a minimalist perspective. Bohemica Olomucensia 6:1 ► pp. 18 ff.
Domínguez, Laura
2014.
How suitable is the macro-micro parametric distinction in acquisition?. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 4:3 ► pp. 325 ff.
Tsimpli, Ianthi Maria
Sakas, William Gregory & Janet Dean Fodor
2012. Disambiguating Syntactic Triggers. Language Acquisition 19:2 ► pp. 83 ff.
MEISEL, JÜRGEN M.
2011. Bilingual language acquisition and theories of diachronic change: Bilingualism as cause and effect of grammatical change. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 14:2 ► pp. 121 ff.
Hermon, Gabriella
2009. Language typology and universal grammar: a commentary on the paper by Eric Potsdam. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory 27:4 ► pp. 773 ff.
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Subjects
Main BIC Subject
CFK: Grammar, syntax
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General