A Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory

Abstract This chapter describes a Minimalist Program for linguistic theory that builds on the principles-and-parameters model and, in particular, on principles of economy of derivation and representation. It begins with an overview of some general considerations, such as the assumption that language is part of the natural world before turning to a discussion of language faculty and one of its components, a generative procedure that generates structural descriptions (SDs). It then considers Universal Grammar in relation to lexicon and a computational system, along with X-bar theory and the notions that enter into a Minimalist Program. It also looks at the level of D-Structure, the internal interface between the…