2023 Theoretical Linguistics at Keio-EMU
Linguistics as Scientific Inquiry Lecture Series 3
Working Toward the Strong Interpretation of SMT Lecture 3
We start our discussion by exploring the history, form, and function of the most fundamental operation of the narrow syntax, Merge. The question we'll focus on is this : What 'should' Merge do, what 'should' Merge not do; and, most importantly, why? With this question, our primary goal is to explore Chomsky's recent thinking on Merge, from a series of lectures and papers, and ultimately trace conclusions of the following two forthcoming papers: “Merge and SMT” by N. Chomsky, R. Berwick, S. Fong, M.A.C. Huybregts, H. Kitahara, A. McInnerney, T.D. Seely, Y. Sugimoto, in R. Freidin (ed) Elements, Cambridge, and “The Miracle Creed and SMT” by N. Chomsky, in M. Greco & D. Mocci (eds).
Noam Chomsky
(University of Arizona)
Laureate Professor, Linguistics, University of Arizona
He is Institute Professor emeritus at MIT. He has written and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, cognitive science and social-political issues. He is a member of numerous professional societies in the US and abroad, and recipient of many awards.
T. Daniel Seely
(Eastern Michigan University)
Professor, Program in Linguistics, Eastern Michigan University
He is the co-author of numerous articles and a number of books, including Derivation and Explanation in the Minimalist Program (2002), Derivations in Minimalism (2006), Explorations in Maximizing Syntactic Minimization (2015), and A Minimalist Theory of Simplest Merge (2022). He is the recipient of many teaching awards and honors.
Hisatsugu Kitahara
(Keio University)
Professor, Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies, Keio University
His expertise is in theoretical linguistics, addressing fundamental issues regarding the nature of phrase structure and movement. His books include Elementary Operations and Optimal Derivations (1997) and co-authored: A Derivational Approach to Syntactic Relations (1998), Explorations in Maximizing Syntactic Minimization (2015), and A Minimalist Theory of Simplest Merge (2022).