Linguistic Minimalism: Origins, Concepts, Methods, and Aims

Boeckx examines the foundations and explains the underlying philosophy of the Minimalist Program for linguistic theory, the most radical version to date of Noam Chomsky's naturalistic approach to language. He exemplifies its methods, considers the significance of its results, and explores its roots and antecedents. He disentangles and clarifies current debates and shows how the Minimalist Program lies at the centre of the enterprise to understand the human language faculty. The book is written for everyone in and outside the field who wants to know about current developments in theoretical linguistics.

Cedric Boeckx is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Harvard University. He received his PhD from the University of Connecticut in 2001. He has held visiting positions at the Universities of Illinois and Maryland. His research interests are in theoretical syntax, comparative grammar, and architectural questions of language, including its origins and its development in children and its neurobiological basis. He is the author of Islands and Chains (2003), co-editor with Kleanthes K. Grohmann of Multiple Wh-fronting (2003), and co-author with Howard Lasnik and Juan Uriagereka of A Course in Minimalist Syntax (2005). He has published numerous articles in journals such as Linguistic Inquiry and Natural Language and Linguistic Theory.