Against Feature Strength: The CASE Of Scandinavian Object Shift

In this article, it is argued that the distinction between strong andweak formal features can and must be eliminated. I adopt thederivation-and-evaluation model of grammar, according to whichChomsky's computational system (CHL) functions asa generator which produces candidates that are evaluated in anoptimality theoretic manner, and it is shown that the strong/weakdistinction can be captured by assuming an interaction between aconstraint that disfavors movement (STAY) and a constraint(family) F that requires checking of the formal features. Thediscussion of Scandinavian Object Shift shows that this is not justa reformulation of the original distinction, but has various desirableempirical consequences. The article concludes with a discussion ofScrambling of the Dutch/German type.

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