A featured based syntax of functional categories

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This work develops Minimalist syntax ideas to derive functional categories from partially-ordered features of functional elements, eliminating the need for functional categories as primitives. It expands on existing literature while drawing important empirical consequences from constraints designed to prevent overgeneration. The theory is applied to various syntactic analysis issues, including Germanic language variations in verb-second patterns and expletive subjects in existential constructions, verb positions in Old and Middle English, clitic pronoun placement in Romance languages and Modern Greek, and previously unexplored structures of reduced clause coordination in colloquial English. Early syntax acquisition facts are shown to align with mechanisms for projecting functional features as categories, occurring before all language features and their ordering are fully acquired. Child acquisition of functional elements reveals successive developmental stages, each marked by the number of clausal functional elements representable within a clause. Additionally, the lag in functional category development in children with specific language impairment is linked not solely to working memory or processing limitations but also to the growth of representational resources necessary for projecting functional categories.