Syntactic analysis of conjunction phrases through X’-theory raises several problems for syntacticians. Currently, the analysis of coordination widely used within the Principles and Parameters...Show moreSyntactic analysis of conjunction phrases through X’-theory raises several problems for syntacticians. Currently, the analysis of coordination widely used within the Principles and Parameters-theory is to label them as conjunctive phrases (ConjP) with the conjunction at its head, the first element of the conjunction as the specifier, and the second element as its complement, as proposed by Munn (1978). In this thesis I plan to closely analyze this construction through established theories, previous studies and evidence found in English as well as several other languages when appropriate for the discussion. This thesis will focus exclusively on coordination of Determiner Phrases in order to establish an accessible basis for arguments for and objections against ConjP, as well as to easily foreground arguments dealing with case and agreement. From the compiled arguments I will present a judgement about the integrity of Munn’s structure. Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to find out whether coordinative phrases propose a significant problem to X’-theory, as is assumed in papers such as Borsley (2015).Show less
This thesis reports about two studies on what the preferred order of stacked adjectives is in noun phrases, according to native speakers of English and Dutch. Recent theoretical research on this...Show moreThis thesis reports about two studies on what the preferred order of stacked adjectives is in noun phrases, according to native speakers of English and Dutch. Recent theoretical research on this topic (Scott 2002, Truswell 2004, 2009, Szendrői 2010, 2013) use this domain of investigation as a basis for theoretical claims concerning the nature of adjectives (being specifiers vs. adjuncts) and NP-internal displacement, but they seriously lack when it comes to reporting about native speaker consultation about the data. This thesis aims to fill this gap by presenting the results of two online questionnaire studies of adjectival ordering, specifically testing the proposals above against native speaker judgements in two contexts: noun phrases with neutral orders and those with contrastive contexts. The results predominantly validate the findings of Truswell (2004, 2009) as opposed to those of Scott (2002) when it comes to neutral orders, and the claims of Szendrői (2010, 2013) as opposed to Truswell (2005) when it comes to contrastive orders. This in turn suggests that (i) adjectives should not be thought of as specifiers but rather as adjuncts, and (ii) some types of A-bar displacement in noun phrases are optional.Show less
