The Minimalist MOVE operation in a deductive perspective

In this paper we analyze the Computational System as described in the Minimalist Program in a multimodal Categorial Grammar (=MMCG) framework. We can define the basic minimalist operations, such as feature checking, MERGE and MOVE using the internal logical and structural reasoning facilities of the categorial system. However, we will show how the analysis of the minimalist MOVE operation in a multimodal categorial setting results in a decomposition of MOVE into a logical and a structural part. On the logical side, the concept of hypothetical reasoning provides a principled account of MOVE as an abstraction operation. On the structural side, structural postulates capture the phenomenon of displacement.