Functional categories categorized Draft

In Vermaat (1999a) and Vermaat (1999b) we have shown that the basic operations Merge and Move can be covered naturally in multimodal Categorial Grammar (MMCG). On the basis of a feature correspondence between lexical feature specifications in Minimalist Grammar (Stabler, 1999, MG) and the categorial types assigned to lexical entries, a mapping can be made between MG and MMCG. As a conclusion of the research in Vermaat (1999a) we have seen that there is no need for ‘phantom’ functional categories in the lexicon. The role of the functional categories as triggers for movement or assigners of inflection to a verb is taken over by feature elements that are implemented as type forming connectives. The connectives are either placed on the so-called goal -formula that drives the derivation to its surface order or put on the moving element itself which is typed as an higher order formula. Why would we choose to eliminate these functional categories from the lexicon? One reason is that by eliminating these elements from the lexicon, less burden is put on the lexicon. The selection procedure and the derivational part of the process have less lexical resources to use, so the lexical complexity reduces. A second advantage is that with less lexical resources, less rules have to be applied, so the derivational complexity reduces. The question that rises after stating these claims is that if we eliminate the use of functional categories from the lexicon, can we capture the role they play in a minimalist derivation? In this paper we want to answer the following two questions: