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Revisiting the freezing principle

Minimal search-free merge and form copy

ORCiD logo with link | Toyo University
 | Meiji University
Published online: 21 April 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.24022.got
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to provide an explanation for both the freezing principle and its exceptions in the framework of . 2021. Minimalism: Where are we now, and where can we hope to go. Gengo Kenkyu 1601. 1–41.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar. In pursuit of the goal, we first review some basic assumptions about Search and Merge in . 2021. Minimalism: Where are we now, and where can we hope to go. Gengo Kenkyu 1601. 1–41.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, and then introduce the Minimal Search-free Merge Hypothesis, a hypothesis that is proposed by Goto, Nobu & Toru Ishii. 2024. Seeking an optimal design of search and merge: Its consequences and challenges. In Victor Junnan Pan, Mamoru Saito and Yuqiao Du (eds.), The Linguistics Review 41(1) — Special Issue: Workspace, MERGE and Labelling, 119–152. De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar. It is shown that Minimal Search-free Merge Hypothesis not only presses forward Chomsky’s (. 2013. Problems of projection. Lingua 1301. 33–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2015. Problems of projection: Extensions. In Elisa Di Domenico, Cornelia Hamann & Simona Matteini (eds.), Structures, strategies and beyond — Studies in honor of Adriana Belletti, 3–16. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2021. Minimalism: Where are we now, and where can we hope to go. Gengo Kenkyu 1601. 1–41.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) free Merge hypothesis but also provides empirical advantages over Chomsky’s approach to Search and Merge, arguing that the freezing principle follows from Binarity. We then review Chomsky’s Form Copy analysis of A-positions and elaborate it by extending it to A’-positions, arguing that the exceptions to the freezing principle follow from Form Copy. We also discuss some consequences of the Form Copy analysis, i.e., traditional criterial freezing effects and crosslinguistic variation with left branch extraction.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Chomsky’s (2021) approach to search and merge
    • 2.2Goto and Ishii’s (2024) minimal search-free merge hypothesis
    • 2.3Goto and Ishii’s (2024) analysis of the freezing principle
    • 2.4Bošković’s (2018) analysis of the exception to the freezing principle
  • 3.A Proposal
    • 3.1Chomsky’s (2021) form copy approach to copy relations
    • 3.2An elaboration of Chomsky’s (2021) form copy approach and the exceptions to the freezing principle
    • 3.3Deep left branch extraction
  • 4.Further consequences
    • 4.1Traditional criterial freezing effects
    • 4.2Crosslinguistic variation with left branch extraction
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
References (76)
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