Minimalist Syntax for Quantifier Raising, Topicalization and Focus Movement: A Search and Float Approach for Internal Merge

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This volume explores the displacement property of language within the framework of the Minimalist Program, focusing on how it can be formally characterized and its implications for relevant displacement properties. The advent of the Principles and Parameters Approach enables a significant simplification of transformational rules to a single rule, Move. The author posits that Move, viewed as a special case of Merge—termed internal Merge—requires two essential operations: Search, which involves identifying a target for Merge within a structure, and Float, which ensures this target reaches the top of the structure. These operations are governed by the principle of “minimal computation.” Consequently, Search must be minimal, and Float is subject to the Minimize chain links condition, preventing it from bypassing potential landing sites. The author illustrates how this mechanism of minimal Search and Float addresses various phenomena related to quantifier raising, including scope interaction rigidity, cumulative readings in plural sentences, and pair-list readings in multiple wh-questions. Additionally, the volume demonstrates that this mechanism effectively captures locality effects in topicalization, focus movement, and ellipsis involving contrastive focus.