Affiliation:
1. Stony Brook University
Abstract
Abstract
Based on a formal analysis of the operations Merge and Move, I provide a computational answer to the question why
Move might be an integral part of language. The answer is rooted in the framework of subregular complexity, which reveals that
Merge is most succinctly analyzed in terms of the formal class TSL. Any cognitive device that can handle this level of complexity
also possesses sufficient resources for Move. In fact, Merge and Move are remarkably similar instances of TSL. Consequently, Move
has little computational or conceptual cost attached to it and comes essentially for free in any grammar that expresses Merge as
compactly as possible.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company