The Limits of Syntactic Variation; Editorial page; Title page; LCC data; Table of contents; Preface and Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Introduction; 2. The non-randomness of syntactic variation; 3. Accounting for limits on syntactic variation; 4. The locus of parametric variation; 5. A classic parameter revisited: The Null Subject Parameter; 6. Parametric clustering; 7. The acquisition of parameters; References; Part 1 The locus of (parametric) variation; Parametric versus functional explanations of syntactic universals*; Three fundamental issues in parametric linguistics
Summary
Against the background of the past half century's typological and generative work on comparative syntax, this volume brings together 16 papers considering what we have learned and may still be able to learn about the nature and extent of syntactic variation. More specifically, it offers a multi-perspective critique of the Principles and Parameters approach to syntactic variation, evaluating the merits and shortcomings of the pre-Minimalist phase of this enterprise and considering and illustrating the possibilities opened up by recent empirical and theoretical advances. Contributions focus on f
