On Linearization

The first attempt at a restrictive theory of the linear order of sentences and phrases of the world's languages, by one of the founders of cartographic syntax.

Linearization, or the typical sequence of words in a sentence, varies tremendously from language to language. Why, for example, does the English phrase “a white table” need a different word order from the French phrase “une table blanche,” even though both refer to the same object? Guglielmo Cinque challenges the current understanding of word order variation, which assumes that word order can be dealt with simply by putting a head either before or after its complements and modifiers. The subtle variations in word order, he says, can provide a window into understanding the deeper structure of language and are in need of a sophisticated explanation.

The bewildering variation in word order among the languages of the world, says Cinque, should not dissuade us from researching what, if anything, determines which orders are possible (and attested/attestable) and which orders are impossible (and not attested/nonattestable), both when they maximally conform to the “head-final” or “head-initial” types and when they depart from them to varying degrees. His aim is to develop a restrictive theory of word order variation—not just a way to derive the ideal head-initial and head-final word orders but also the mixed cases.

In the absence of an explicit theory of linearization, Cinque provides a general approach to derive linear order from a hierarchical arrangement of constituents, specifically, by assuming a restrictive movement analysis that creates structures that can then be linearized by Richard S. Kayne's Linear Correspondence Axiom.Series Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations and Symbols xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 Nominal Subprojections and Their Word Orders 9
3 Toward a Restrictive Theory of Linear Order 23
4 Extending the Analysis to the Clause 59
5 The Generalizations That Characterize Linear Order and What They Follow From 95
6 Conclusion 107
Notes 109
References 141
Author Index 183
Language Index 189
Subject Index 193“This is a monumental work of great significance for comparative linguistics, linguistic theory and formal language typology. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a major step forward in our understanding of word-order variation.”
—Ian Roberts, Professor of Modern & Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge
 
“This manuscript presents groundbreaking research in an exciting and accessible way. It will be of interest to many linguists, especially syntacticians with interests in theory development and typology.”
—Peter Arne Svenonius, Professor of Language and Culture, The Arctic University of NorwayGuglielmo Cinque is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at Ca' Foscari University, Venice, Italy. He is the author of Types of Ā-Dependencies and The Syntax of Adjectives (both published by MIT Press).