Overview

In the previous two chapters, we discussed in some detail the motivation for (and operation of) the five transformations listed in (1) below:

1. (1) (i) V movement (moves V out of VP into an empty finite I)

2. (ii) I movement (moves an I containing an Auxiliary into an empty C)

3. (iii) NP movement (moves an NP into an empty NP position)

4. (iv) extraposition (adjoins a PP or CP (S-bar) to the minimal XP containing the Phrase out of which it moves)

5. (v) WH movement (moves a wh-phrase into an empty C-specifier position to the left of C-bar)

In this chapter, we begin by looking at a number of other transformations. We then go on to argue that there are many important similarities between the various different transformations we have looked at, and we explore the possibility of conflating all the various different transformations together into a single rule of alpha movement. We also suggest that there are a number of general principles which determine the operations that movement rules can and cannot perform in natural language grammars, the ways in which they apply, how they interact, etc., and we take a look at some of the relevant principles involved.

Other movement rules

After reading the previous chapter, you're probably convinced that transformational grammarians are obsessive wh-paranoiacs (who see the ghosts of wh-phrases lurking in the inner recesses of even the most un-wh-like structures)! So, let me redress the balance somewhat by looking briefly at a few structures which appear to involve movement rules other than WH movement.