Erik Zyman
Biographic Data
| ID | 2174827 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Erik Zyman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Erik |
| FAMILY NAME | Zyman |
| SIGNATURE | ZYMAN E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Chicago |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6960-2630 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
On the syntactic autonomy of theme vowels
Some of the most fundamental questions in linguistic theory concern grammatical architecture. Focusing on morphosyntax specifically, how many components are ‘morphosyntactic’ phenomena distributed over, and how do they divide up their labor? Answers differ: some versions of Distributed Morphology posit a rich postsyntactic morphological component, whereas Morphology-as-Syntax approaches sharply reduce its role. Against that backdrop, this article…
Radical tmesis is Internal Merge
One major achievement in syntax has been a deep understanding of displacement in terms of Internal Merge. Therefore, displacement types initially resisting that analysis deserve scrutiny. This article investigates one. Latin verse permits tmesis – the division of “words” into nonadjacent pieces. In one subtype, radical tmesis, the cut is not obviously at a morpheme boundary. If it were not, radical tmesis would be theoretically recalcitrant. The …
On the definition of Merge
Two fundamental tasks of syntactic inquiry are to identify the elementary structure-building operations and to determine what properties they have and why. This article aims to bring us closer to those goals by investigating Merge. Two recent definitions of Merge are evaluated. It is argued that both have significant strengths but also some drawbacks, and that set-theoretic definitions of Merge in general face conceptual problems. It is proposed …
Proleptic PPs are arguments
One of the most significant results in syntax has been a deep empirical and, to some degree, theoretical understanding of the argument/adjunct distinction, which underlies a range of superficially disparate phenomena. Therefore, any phenomenon that seems to challenge the argument/adjunct distinction merits careful examination. This paper investigates just such a phenomenon: proleptic PPs. Previous claims about the argument/adjunct status of prole…
Raising out of Finite Clauses (Hyperraising)
Classical syntactic theory was designed to permit the type of movement called raising to proceed out of infinitival, but not finite, clauses—a positive result for languages such as English. But crosslinguistic investigation reveals that many languages actually allow raising out of finite clauses (hyperraising), challenging certain commonly assumed locality constraints on movement. This article reviews three types of Minimalist analyses of hyperra…
Phase-Constrained Obligatory Late Adjunction
It has sometimes been argued that adjuncts can merge late. This article provides a new argument for late adjunction and a new analysis of it.Exactly(orprecisely) can adjoin to awh phrase, andwh movement can affect either the entire adjunction structure (What exactlyis it?) or only the host (Whatis itexactly?). Structures likewhat exactlycan be generated VP internally, but surprisingly-and despite appearances-exactlycannot be stranded VP internall…
Antilocality at the Phase Edge
Much work has argued that syntactic movement is subject to antilocality constraints that prevent it from being too short. If so, a crucial question is precisely what those constraints are. This article investigates the interaction between antilocality and phases, and it argues that antilocality manifests in a particular way at phase edges. The article defends a generalization dubbed Phasal Antilocality: for a phase YP, movement from within a cons…
In situ mixed wh -coordination and the argument/adjunct distinction
One of the most important results of syntactic inquiry has been a detailed empirical and, to some extent, theoretical understanding of the argument/adjunct distinction, which underlies a wide array of superficially different phenomena. Therefore, any phenomena that appear to challenge the argument/adjunct distinction deserve scrutiny. This squib investigates an almost unremarked-upon phenomenon of just that type: apparent in situ mixed wh-coordin…
XP- and X 0 -movement in the Latin verb
Latin verbs appear to both obey and disobey the Mirror Generalization (Baker 1985), albeit in different inflectional forms (Cinque 1999). Given the importance of the Mirror Generalization to morphosyntactic theorizing, this situation deserves scrutiny. We develop an analysis on which all Latin finite verbs, whether mirroring or anti-mirroring, share a single, simple, virtually invariant derivation, involving one step of head movement (Asp to T) a…
Quantifier float as stranding
Phase-Constrained Obligatory Late Adjunction
It has sometimes been argued that adjuncts can merge late. This article provides a new argument for late adjunction and a new analysis of it.Exactly(orprecisely) can adjoin to awh phrase, andwh movement can affect either the entire adjunction structure (What exactlyis it?) or only the host (Whatis itexactly?). Structures likewhat exactlycan be generated VP internally, but surprisingly-and despite appearances-exactlycannot be stranded VP internall…
Antilocality at the Phase Edge
Much work has argued that syntactic movement is subject to antilocality constraints that prevent it from being too short. If so, a crucial question is precisely what those constraints are. This article investigates the interaction between antilocality and phases, and it argues that antilocality manifests in a particular way at phase edges. The article defends a generalization dubbed Phasal Antilocality: for a phase YP, movement from within a cons…
On the definition of Merge
Two fundamental tasks of syntactic inquiry are to identify the elementary structure-building operations and to determine what properties they have and why. This article aims to bring us closer to those goals by investigating Merge. Two recent definitions of Merge are evaluated. It is argued that both have significant strengths but also some drawbacks, and that set-theoretic definitions of Merge in general face conceptual problems. It is proposed …
Raising out of Finite Clauses (Hyperraising)
Classical syntactic theory was designed to permit the type of movement called raising to proceed out of infinitival, but not finite, clauses—a positive result for languages such as English. But crosslinguistic investigation reveals that many languages actually allow raising out of finite clauses (hyperraising), challenging certain commonly assumed locality constraints on movement. This article reviews three types of Minimalist analyses of hyperra…
Quantifier float as stranding
Quantifier float as stranding
In situ mixed wh -coordination and the argument/adjunct distinction
One of the most important results of syntactic inquiry has been a detailed empirical and, to some extent, theoretical understanding of the argument/adjunct distinction, which underlies a wide array of superficially different phenomena. Therefore, any phenomena that appear to challenge the argument/adjunct distinction deserve scrutiny. This squib investigates an almost unremarked-upon phenomenon of just that type: apparent in situ mixed wh-coordin…
XP- and X 0 -movement in the Latin verb
Latin verbs appear to both obey and disobey the Mirror Generalization (Baker 1985), albeit in different inflectional forms (Cinque 1999). Given the importance of the Mirror Generalization to morphosyntactic theorizing, this situation deserves scrutiny. We develop an analysis on which all Latin finite verbs, whether mirroring or anti-mirroring, share a single, simple, virtually invariant derivation, involving one step of head movement (Asp to T) a…
Antilocality at the Phase Edge
Much work has argued that syntactic movement is subject to antilocality constraints that prevent it from being too short. If so, a crucial question is precisely what those constraints are. This article investigates the interaction between antilocality and phases, and it argues that antilocality manifests in a particular way at phase edges. The article defends a generalization dubbed Phasal Antilocality: for a phase YP, movement from within a cons…
Proleptic PPs are arguments
One of the most significant results in syntax has been a deep empirical and, to some degree, theoretical understanding of the argument/adjunct distinction, which underlies a range of superficially disparate phenomena. Therefore, any phenomenon that seems to challenge the argument/adjunct distinction merits careful examination. This paper investigates just such a phenomenon: proleptic PPs. Previous claims about the argument/adjunct status of prole…
Raising out of Finite Clauses (Hyperraising)
Classical syntactic theory was designed to permit the type of movement called raising to proceed out of infinitival, but not finite, clauses—a positive result for languages such as English. But crosslinguistic investigation reveals that many languages actually allow raising out of finite clauses (hyperraising), challenging certain commonly assumed locality constraints on movement. This article reviews three types of Minimalist analyses of hyperra…
Phase-Constrained Obligatory Late Adjunction
It has sometimes been argued that adjuncts can merge late. This article provides a new argument for late adjunction and a new analysis of it.Exactly(orprecisely) can adjoin to awh phrase, andwh movement can affect either the entire adjunction structure (What exactlyis it?) or only the host (Whatis itexactly?). Structures likewhat exactlycan be generated VP internally, but surprisingly-and despite appearances-exactlycannot be stranded VP internall…
On the definition of Merge
Two fundamental tasks of syntactic inquiry are to identify the elementary structure-building operations and to determine what properties they have and why. This article aims to bring us closer to those goals by investigating Merge. Two recent definitions of Merge are evaluated. It is argued that both have significant strengths but also some drawbacks, and that set-theoretic definitions of Merge in general face conceptual problems. It is proposed …
Radical tmesis is Internal Merge
One major achievement in syntax has been a deep understanding of displacement in terms of Internal Merge. Therefore, displacement types initially resisting that analysis deserve scrutiny. This article investigates one. Latin verse permits tmesis – the division of “words” into nonadjacent pieces. In one subtype, radical tmesis, the cut is not obviously at a morpheme boundary. If it were not, radical tmesis would be theoretically recalcitrant. The …
On the syntactic autonomy of theme vowels
Some of the most fundamental questions in linguistic theory concern grammatical architecture. Focusing on morphosyntax specifically, how many components are ‘morphosyntactic’ phenomena distributed over, and how do they divide up their labor? Answers differ: some versions of Distributed Morphology posit a rich postsyntactic morphological component, whereas Morphology-as-Syntax approaches sharply reduce its role. Against that backdrop, this article…
Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (10 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Linguistics (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Mathematics (6 works) · Artificial Intelligence (5 works) · Natural Language Processing Techniques (5 works) · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis (4 works) · Merge (version control (4 works) · Information retrieval (3 works)