接口条件与句法推导——从Norvin Richards(2010)的区分性条件谈起

Syntactic derivation at interfaces:A critical review of the distinctness condition

名词词组为什么需要格?这一问题对于形式句法来说,似乎是一个理论内部问题。而对于功能语法来说,可能就是一个语义或语用问题。当形式句法从接口的角度来考虑格问题时,格要求就成了接口要求,而接口要求实际上在某种程度上中和了形式句法与功能语法之间的对立。我们认为格条件并不是一个初始条件,格背后隐藏的更深层的条件是进行语义解读的区分性条件(胡建华2007,2010a)。Richards(2010)认为格的作用可以由区分性推出,而区分性的要求来自句法和音系之间的接口:只有符合区分性的成分才可以被线性化,才可以获得音系解读。不管是从语义解读还是音系解读角度来考虑,格条件都不过是区分性条件的副产品,而区分性条件产生的动因又来自句法推导之后的接口条件:或者是句法-语义接口条件,或者是句法-音系接口条件。走到这一步,句法推导就无法只靠句法内部因素来驱动,它不可避免地会走上一条寻求理据的不归之路。

According to the Case theory of the generative grammar,every overt NP must be assigned abstract Case,and as Case is often viewed as a theory-internal requirement,few generativists ask the question why an NP should be in need of(abstract) Case.However,when a generativist does attempt to ask this ' naive' question and then takes all the trouble to find the answer,he may find that what's behind Case may be some non-syntactic requirements that arise at the linguistic interfaces.This is just what occurs to Norvin Richards(2010) when he claims that Case can be viewed as a device to avoid the violation of Distinctness condition.According to him,the derivation crashes when it fails to satisfy Distinctness condition.However,this condition is not a syntactic one,but a constraint imposed on syntax by the requirement of phonology.We will show that when a formalist tries to seek answers from the interfaces,his investigation will inevitably be led to some areas of research that might blur the distinction between formalism and functionalism.