Constraining Free Merge
Year: 2024
Type: preprint
Abstract: Some recent influential work in the Minimalist Program takes the position that Merge, the core language ability to recursively combine two elements together, is free. However, if Merge were completely free, there would be an infinite number of possible derivations for every utterance. Thus, Merge must be constrained in some way. In this paper, I describe a computer model of language that implements a limited form of Merge that is free. I attempt to demonstrate that, within the confines of the language module, Labeling is generally sufficient to constrain Free Merge, and I discuss issues that arise regarding overgeneration of syntactic structures given Free Merge.
Source: Psychology Archives
Author: Ginsburg, Jason
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6944799082
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