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A Theory of Syntax
Human language seems to have arisen roughly within the last 50–100,000
years. In evolutionary terms, this is the mere blink of an eye. If this is correct,
then much of what we consider distinctive to language must in fact involve
operations available in pre-linguistic cognitive domains. In this book Norbert
Hornstein, one of the most influential linguists working on syntax, discusses
a topical set of issues in syntactic theory, including a number of original pro-
posals at the cutting edge of research in this area. He provides a theory of
the basic grammatical operations and suggests that there is only one that is
distinctive to language. If this theory is correct then this narrows the evolu-
tionary gap between verbal and non-verbal primates thus facilitating the rapid
evolutionary emergence of our linguistic capacity.
norbert hornstein is Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the
University of Maryland, College Park. He has written several books on min-
imalist syntax including Understanding Minimalism (with J. Nunes and K.
Grohmann, 2005) and Move!: A Minimalist Theory of Construal (2000).
A Theory of Syntax
Minimal Operations and Universal Grammar
Norbert Hornstein
University of Maryland
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
Information on this title: 0521449700
© Norbert Hornstein 2009
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the
provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part
may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2008
ISBN-13 978-0-511-46362-4 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-44970-0 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-72881-2 pa