3.2.1 Move α

3.2.3 Traces

In the previous sections of this chapter we have concerned ourselves with the positions in which elements originate at D-structure and the positions they move to at S-structure. We might term these positions the Extraction site and the Landing site of a moved element. What is the status of the landing site at D-structure and the extraction site at S-structure? In (58) we introduced a restriction on movement called the Structure Preservation principle, which states that movements are not allowed to alter the basic X-bar nature of a structure. The result of this restriction is that the structure cannot be much different between D- and S-structure. In particular, we would not expect landing and extraction sites to appear at one level of representation but be absent at another. Thus, if we consider a passive structure in which the object moves to subject position, we can expect the object and subject positions to be present at both D- and S-structure:

3.2.3 Traces

Obviously, this is a situation we want to avoid and so we need to strengthen the Structure Preservation principle to prevent things in a structure from being deleted willy-nilly. Suppose we assume that lexical material that enters a structure cannot be altered by a movement. This maintains the Structure Preservation principle given that the lexical items that are inserted into a structure determine that structure to a great extent through notions of projection and selection, but it also prevents the deletion of lexical information once it has been inserted into a structure. This principle is called the Projection Principle:

3.2.3 Traces

One might wonder if adjunction conforms to structure preservation as it does seem to alter the structure from its D-structure condition. However, it should be noted that adjunction does not alter lexically determined aspects of structure and so is perfectly compliant with the Projection Principle which supersedes structural preservation. Moreover, adjunction is something which X-bar theory allows for and hence to create an adjunction structure is not to create something that violates the possible X-bar nature of the structure. In this way, adjunction movement does not radically alter structure and can be seen as structure preserving.