Adjunction Structures and Syntactic Domains

Since Chomsky’s Barriers System, crucial use is made of the distinction between nodes and categories. In particular, Chomsky has shown that subjacency can be redefined in such a way that it looks like a tight command relation in the sense of Kracht [10] and yet allows for cyclical movement. However, this new shift has been accompanied by a great confusion concerning the structures about which we are now talking. In this paper we will propose a definition of adjunction structures that allows to encompass the distinction between nodes and categories. Moreover, we will adress many questions that ensue once these structures are