Part 1: The Lexicon #
We define the lexical items for the Bulgarian sentence from @cite{harizanov-gribanova-2019}. Each item has a category (V, N, D, T) and selectional requirements.
Pročeli bjaha studentite statijata.
read be.3p.pst the.students the.article
The participle "pročeli" (read): category V, selects a D (object). @cite{harizanov-gribanova-2019}
Equations
- Minimalism.Phenomena.HeadMovement.BulgarianLHM.verbProceli = { item := Minimalism.LexicalItem.simple Minimalism.Cat.V [Minimalism.Cat.D] "pročeli", id := 201 }
Instances For
The auxiliary "bjaha" (be.3p.pst): category T, selects V
Equations
- Minimalism.Phenomena.HeadMovement.BulgarianLHM.auxBjaha = { item := Minimalism.LexicalItem.simple Minimalism.Cat.T [Minimalism.Cat.V] "bjaha", id := 206 }
Instances For
Determiner: category D, selects N (no independent phonForm — Bulgarian uses suffixed definite articles).
Equations
Instances For
"studentite" (the students): category N
Equations
- Minimalism.Phenomena.HeadMovement.BulgarianLHM.nounStudentite = { item := Minimalism.LexicalItem.simple Minimalism.Cat.N [] "studentite", id := 202 }
Instances For
"statijata" (the article): category N
Equations
- Minimalism.Phenomena.HeadMovement.BulgarianLHM.nounStatijata = { item := Minimalism.LexicalItem.simple Minimalism.Cat.N [] "statijata", id := 203 }
Instances For
Part 2: Syntactic Structure BEFORE Movement #
We build the clause structure with the verb in its base position. This corresponds to Harizanov's structure (52) on p.21, before V raises.
T'
/ \
T VP
bjaha / \
DP V'
studentite / \
V DP
pročeli statijata
The participle as a syntactic object
Equations
Instances For
DP "statijata" (the article) = {D, N}
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
DP "studentite" (the students) = {D, N}
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
VP = {V, DP_object} — the verb's base position
Equations
Instances For
V' = {DP_subject, VP} (subject in Spec-VP for simplicity)
Equations
Instances For
T' = {T, V'} — the target for movement
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
Part 3: Syntactic Structure AFTER Movement #
The participle moves to Spec-TP, yielding verb-initial order:
TP
/ \
pročeli T'
/ \
T VP
bjaha / \
DP V'
studentite / \
(V) DP
statijata
The participle now appears at the LEFT edge (specifier position). Under copy theory, a copy remains in VP.
This derives: "Pročeli bjaha studentite statijata" (read had the.students the.article)
TP after movement = {participle, T'}
Equations
Instances For
Part 4: The Movement Operation #
We package the movement as a Movement structure, which records:
- What moved (the participle)
- Where it moved from (contained in T')
- The result (TP with participle in Spec)
The participle is contained within T' (it's deeply embedded in VP)
Bulgarian LHM as a Movement structure
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
Part 5: The Key Property — Maximality at Derived Position #
The crucial claim: the participle is MAXIMAL at Spec-TP.
Being "maximal" means: NOT PROJECTING (not passing its label upward). At Spec-TP, the participle doesn't project because T' projects instead.
We formalize this using POSITION-SPECIFIC maximality:
- A position is a path from the root (here: "go left" = Spec)
- We check projection only at THAT position
- This handles copy theory correctly (verb projects in VP but not at Spec-TP)
The derived position: Spec = left daughter of root
Equations
Instances For
VERIFIED: The participle is located at Spec-TP
VERIFIED: The participle does NOT project at Spec-TP
Why? The parent (TP) has label T, but the participle has label V. Since T ≠ V, the participle doesn't project.
VERIFIED: The participle is maximal at its derived position
Part 6: Verifying Head-to-Specifier Movement #
We now verify all the conditions for head-to-specifier movement:
- Mover was a head: V projected in VP (it was -maximal there)
- Mover is now maximal: V doesn't project at Spec-TP
- Target projects: T' determines the label of TP
VERIFIED: The participle was a HEAD in the source structure
In VP, the participle PROJECTS (V selects D, so V's label becomes VP's label). Projecting means -maximal, i.e., being a head.
VERIFIED: T' projects in the result (T' is the "head" of TP)
Part 7: Main Results #
We can now state and prove the main theorems.
Bulgarian LHM is head-to-specifier movement (all conditions verified)
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
MAIN THEOREM 1: The participle is maximal at Spec-TP
This formalizes Harizanov's claim (Section 4.2, p.29): "The head X is therefore a maximal projection in its derived position— though it is of course also minimal, as it is a lexical item"
The Bulgarian example structure is given as (52) on p.21.
MAIN THEOREM 2: Bulgarian LHM violates the Head Movement Constraint
This formalizes the claim (Section 3.1, p.12; Section 4.2, p.29): "head-to-specifier movement violates the Head Movement Constraint"
The participle moves from VP to Spec-TP, becoming maximal at its derived position. By the universal theorem that head-to-specifier movement violates HMC, Bulgarian LHM violates HMC. ∎
Part 8: Step-by-step Derivation #
Express the tree construction as a Derivation, gaining stageAt and
phonYield for free. The Movement/maximality proofs above use copy theory
(Parts 2–7); here we use trace theory for the derivational perspective.
Bulgarian LHM as a step-by-step derivation.
Steps (bottom-up):
- EM-R DPobj →
[VP V DPobj] - EM-L DPsubj →
[V' DPsubj [VP V DPobj]] - EM-L T →
[T' T [V' DPsubj [VP V DPobj]]] - IM V →
[TP V [T' T [V' DPsubj [VP trace DPobj]]]]
Equations
- One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
Instances For
Pre-movement tree (stage 3) equals tBarBefore.
The derivation has exactly one movement (V to Spec-TP).