Dependency and Directionality

The direction in which the structure of sentences and filler-gap dependencies are built is a topic of fundamental importance to linguistic theory and its applications. This book develops an integrated understanding of structure building, movement and locality embedded in a syntactic theory that argues for a 'top down' approach, presenting an explicit counterweight to the bottom-up derivations pervading the Chomskian mainstream. It combines a compact and comprehensive historical perspective on structure building, the cycle, and movement, with detailed discussions of island effects, the typology of long-distance filler-gap dependencies, and the special problems posed by the subject in clausal syntax. Providing introductions to the main issues, reviewing extant arguments for bottom-up and top-down approaches, and presenting several case studies in its development of a new theory, this book should be of interest to all students and scholars of language interested in syntactic structures and the dependencies inside them.

• A compact and comprehensive historical perspective on structure building, 'movement' and the cycle, providing an overview of critical issues that will appeal to students and academics alike
• The top-down line of analysis provides a counterweight to the dominant trend in the field
• Includes a detailed chapter-long discussion of island effects that brings together and critiques existing literature, as well as offering a new analysis of the subject