Minimalist Analysis of Subject-Auxiliary Inversion #
@cite{adger-2003}
Connects the Minimalist T-to-C analysis of inversion
(Theories/Syntax/Minimalism/Inversion.lean) to the theory-neutral SAI data
(Phenomena/WordOrder/SubjectAuxInversion.lean).
The Minimalist analysis derives SAI from head movement:
- Matrix questions have [+Q] on C, triggering T-to-C movement → T precedes subject.
- Embedded questions satisfy [+Q] via the embedding verb → no T-to-C → subject precedes T.
Each theorem pairs a Data judgment with the corresponding Minimalist licensing result, verifying that the theory's predictions match the empirical pattern.
Matrix wh-questions #
The Data file marks inverted matrix wh-questions as grammatical and non-inverted ones as ungrammatical. Minimalism licenses the former via T-to-C movement and blocks the latter because [+Q] on C requires T in C.
ex01 "What can John eat?" — grammatical per Data, licensed per Minimalism
ex02 "*What John can eat?" — ungrammatical per Data, not licensed per Minimalism
Embedded questions #
ex07 "I wonder what John can eat" — grammatical per Data, licensed per Minimalism
ex08 "*I wonder what can John eat" — ungrammatical per Data, not licensed per Minimalism
Summary #
The Minimalist T-to-C analysis correctly captures all 4 core SAI data points:
| Datum | Sentence | Data | Minimalism |
|---|---|---|---|
| ex01 | What can John eat? | ✓ gram. | ✓ licensed |
| ex02 | *What John can eat? | ✗ ungram. | ✗ blocked |
| ex07 | ...what John can eat | ✓ gram. | ✓ licensed |
| ex08 | *...what can John eat | ✗ ungram. | ✗ blocked |
Note: The Minimalist theory file uses T-position (finding .AUX tokens)
rather than category-neutral word order, so it covers the same empirical
ground as HPSG but through different formal machinery (derivational
movement vs. declarative feature constraint).