The L-Syntax/S-Syntax Boundary: Evidence from Austronesian

Hale and Keyser (1993) introduce a new level to the grammar by suggesting that syntax may be divided between s-syntax (syntactic syntax) and l-syntax (lexical syntax). As with any innovation, the range of application of this new level of l-syntax must be motivated and constrained. In this paper I examine the characteristics of l-syntax with the aim of both determining and restricting its use. In the process, I introduce the notion of binding categories — categories that are non-distinct from lexical categories and from functional categories. I will argue that binding categories play an important role in the representation of event structure in phrase structure and that a particular binding category, Event (E), represents the phrase structure boundary between l-syntax and s-syntax.

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