The Syntax of Specifiers and Heads

The essays here cover a wide range of topics: the interpretation and distribution of pronouns; ECP effects; specifiers and phrase structure; heads; the role and functioning of head movement; and the architecture of grammar.
Since the 1980s there has been remarkable progress in syntactic theory and particularly in the understanding of the structure of the theory. This book brings together Hilda J. Koopman's essays in the field, written during this time of rapid theoretical development. It covers such topics as: interpretation and distribution of pronouns; ECP effects; specifiers and phrase structure; the role and functioning of head movement; and the architecture of grammar. Each chapter draws syntactic arguments from phenomena in a broad range of languages and brings these to bear on the structure of syntactic theory and the understanding of crosslinguistic variation. Among the languages studied are the African languages, Welsh and Irish, Norwegian, French, English and Dutch. Professor Koopman has added to this collection an overview of advances in syntactic theory since the early 1980s and offers her analysis of future directions in the field. The book should be a useful resource for all those interested in syntactic structures and the development of linguistic theory.