An l-syntax for adjuncts

This paper puts forward an l-syntactic approach (see Hale & Keyser 1993 and subsequent work) to VP adjuncts/modifiers, which are analyzed as PPs undergoing Merge with the VP —as high applicatives, in Pylkkänen’s (2008) sense—. The present proposal argues for a treatment where the merger of VPs and adjuncts gives rise to a Talmian Figure-Ground relation whereby VPs are interpreted as subjects (Figures), and adjuncts as predicates (Grounds). If tenable, the analysis requires no additional mode of combination for adjuncts (pair Merge, predicate composition, etc), apart from Chomsky’s (set) Merge. Given the nature of the matters to be discussed, the paper has the most general goal of reexamining the consequences of Chomsky’s (2008) recent label-free conception of Bare Phrase Structure (BPS) for Hale & Keyser’s l-syntax.