Abstract

Both target articles, in conformity with minimalist ideals, aim to discover to what extent syntax itself can be relieved of descriptive burden, and just how much of word order can be attributed to mechanisms of linearization at the PF interface. I point out two paradoxes the treatment of V2 gives rise to in Erteshik-Shir’s paper, and dispute the status and effectiveness of processing constraints in accounting for (un)grammaticalities in various word order patterns. I discuss the relation of Fox and Pesetsky’s cyclic linearization algorithm to ‘tucking in’ as well as to the ‘Attract Closest’ property of movement. Qualms are raised regarding several apparently stipulative and / or conceptually unattractive properties of the linearization mechanism, and ostensible violations of order preservation are examined.