Link to Paper: Reconstruction and the New Minimalism
Abstract
In this brief note, I discuss a problem that arises within the theoretical framework for natural language syntax based on Hopf algebra (Marcolli et al., 2025). The framework does not capture reconstruction effects that are the main empirical motivation for the copy theory of movement, and a cornerstone of minimalist syntax.
Keywords
reconstruction, internal Merge, copies, No Tampering Condition
In this blog post, I give a set-theoretic formalization of simplest Merge and a graph-theoretic formalization and then compare the two. The conclusion is that the graph-theoretic definition is more complicated, and involves a violation of the Inclusiveness Condition.
Hartnett, Kevin. 2026. The Proof in the Code. Quanta Books.
Abstract: In this brief note, I discuss a problem that arises within the theoretical framework for natural language syntax based on Hopf algebra (Marcolli et. al. 2024). The framework does not capture reconstruction effects that are the main empirical motivation for the copy theory of movement, and a cornerstone of minimalist syntax.
Keywords: reconstruction, internal Merge, copies, No Tampering Condition
In this blog post, I put together most of my papers on the foundations of minimalist syntax. At a later date, I will add commentary. I have written many more papers using minimalism as a framework for analysis, but these papers specifically focus on foundational issues.
The appendix to Collins and Stabler 2016 contains proofs of various theorems that were given in the paper. We usually have a few people ask for it each year, so I thought I would post it in a convenient place (my blog):
Collins, Chris and Edward Stabler. 2016. A Formalization of Minimalist Syntax. Syntax 19, 43-78.
