A Smuggling Approach to the Dative Alternation (2021, published)

Collins, Chris. 2021. A Smuggling Approach to the Dative Alternation. In Adriana Belletti and Chris Collins (eds), Smuggling in Syntax, 96-107. Oxford University Press.

Link

Parameters of Morphosyntactic Variation in Khoe-Kwadi (2025, with Anne-Maria Fehn)

Collins, Chris and Anne-Maria Fehn. 2025. Parameters of Morphosyntactic Variation in Khoe-Kwadi. Transactions of the Philological Society 123, 246-279.

Link

Abstract: Mainly spoken in Namibia and Botswana, Khoe-Kwadi languages belong to the typological unit “Southern African Khoisan,” which is most prominently defined by the existence of phonemic click consonants. Typologically, Khoe-Kwadi languages share characteristics that set them aside from neighboring Khoisan languages of the Kx’a and Tuu families, including a sex-based gender system, verb-final constituent order, and head-final noun phrases. Despite these commonalities, recent advances in language documentation suggest that Khoe-Kwadi languages display considerable morphosyntactic variation which, to date, has not been assessed from a comparative perspective. Following Marten et al.’s (2007) seminal study of the Bantu languages, we develop a set of 20 descriptive parameters which are compared across 13 languages from the family’s three branches Kwadi, Khoekhoe, and Kalahari Khoe. We explore implicational correlations between some of the parameters and discuss possible repercussions for the subclassification of Khoe-Kwadi. Our results suggest an outlier status of Naro within the Kalahari Khoe branch, as well as a north–south split between the remaining Kalahari Khoe languages. Taken together, these findings offer new perspectives on the subclustering of the Khoe-Kwadi languages, and challenge previous hypotheses about the family’s migration routes within southern Africa.

Copies and Repetitions (To appear, with Erich Groat)

Collins, Chris and Erich Groat. To appear. Copies and Repetitions. The Cambridge Handbook of Minimalism. 

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to review proposals made concerning the difference between copies and repetitions in minimalist literature. Our conclusion is that if one adopts the well-motivated and austere assumptions of minimalist syntax, then every proposal we examine faces serious shortcomings. Although the difference between copies and repetitions can be maintained in some of these analyses, none of them explain the distinction, but merely provide stipulations capturing it.

Link

Merge(X,Y) = {X,Y} (2017, published)

Collins, Chris. 2017. Merge(X,Y) = {X,Y}. In Leah Bauke, Andreas Blümel, and Erich Groat (eds.), Labels and Roots, 47-68. De Gruyter Mouton.

Abstract: This paper explores the history, properties and implications of the syntactic operation Merge(X,Y) = {X,Y}.

Link

Towards a Theory of Morphology as Syntax (2023, Studies in Chinese Linguistics, with Richard Kayne)

Abstract: Phenomena traditionally thought of as morphological can be accounted for in terms of syntactic operations and principles, hence bringing forth questions that traditional morphology fails to ask (for instance, concerning the licensing of empty morphemes). The language faculty contains no specific morphological component, nor any post-syntactic morphological operations.

Link

Spanish usted as an Imposter (2021, Probus, with Francisco Ordóñez)

 Abstract: Across dialects, Spanish uses the third person forms usted and ustedes to refer to the addressee. In this squib, we propose an imposter analysis of these forms in the framework of Collins and Postal (2012. Imposters. MIT Press, Cambridge.).

Link

Reconstruction and the New Minimalism (published version)

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

Simplest Merge: Set Theory versus Graph Theory

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.

Morphology as Syntax 5 (University of Delaware, April 16 2027)

The LinguistList announcement for MaS 5 has been launched:

https://linguistlist.org/issues/37/2781/

Please register here:

https://sites.google.com/udel.edu/mas5/registration?authuser=0

Morphology as Syntax 5
Short Title: MaS5
Theme: Reducing morphology entirely to syntax

Date: 16-Apr-2027 - 16-Apr-2027
Location: Newark, Delaware, USA
Contact: Benjamin Bruening
Contact Email: bruening@udel.edu
Meeting URL: https://sites.google.com/udel.edu/mas5/home

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Morphology; Syntax

Submission Deadline: 15-Jan-2027

Merge: Past, Present, and Future (talk on November 6, 2026)

Here is the announcement of my talk about Merge in the Reflections talk series on November 6, 2026. I also paste the registration link for those interested.

Registration

Seminar: Morphology as Syntax (Fall 2026)

Here is the syllabus for my seminar (co-taught with Richie Kayne) this semester (Fall 2026).

Seminar Syllabus (Fall 2026)

Merge is All You Need: An Esquisse of Morphology as Syntax (talk video)

Merge is All You Need: An Esquisse of Morphology as Syntax

YouTube Video

Chris Collins, New York University

August 24, 2026

Syntactic Pathways to Morphology, Online Lecture Series

Faculty of Philosophy, Languages and Human Sciences

University of São Paulo, Brazil

Merge is All You Need: An Esquisse of Morphology as Syntax (talk handout)

 Merge is All You Need: An Esquisse of Morphology as Syntax

handout

Chris Collins, New York University

August 24, 2026

Syntactic Pathways to Morphology, Online Lecture Series

Faculty of Philosophy, Languages and Human Sciences

University of São Paulo, Brazil

Syntax as a Window into the Human Mind (for non-linguists)

Abstract: In the following list, I outline the picture that I have developed in over forty years of studying natural language syntax, the mental system that allows us to combine words and phrases into larger phrases. This presentation is meant to be completely accessible to an interested non-linguist.

Syntactic Pathways To Morphology Online Lecture Series | Chris Collins (August 24, 2026)

Syntactic Pathways to Morphology (SPTM) is a monthly online lecture series hosted by the Department of Linguistics at the University of São Paulo, bringing together researchers working on the morphology-syntax interface, with a particular focus on syntactic approaches to morphology. Conceived as a forum for scholarly exchange, SPTM fosters discussion on the explanatory power of different theoretical mechanisms within syntactic theory in accounting for morphological phenomena.

Registration

Conversations with Noam Chomsky (2021-2022)

Here are two lengthy conversations that I had with Noam Chomsky on the topics of language, thought and formal semantics. I was very honored to have been able to have these conversations with Noam, who has been a guiding light for me throughout my career.

A Conversation with Noam Chomsky about Formal Semantics (June 25, 2021)

A Conversation with Noam Chomsky about Language and Thought (March 27, 2022)

How to Turn Your QP into a Journal Publication (in Syntax)

You have spent a grueling year writing up your Qualifying Paper (QP) for your Ph.D. program. You have read and carefully studied dozens of papers preparing your QP. You have been having weekly, sometimes tense, meetings with your supervisor, and somewhat less frequent meetings with the other committee members. Now, you have a 70-page double-spaced QP, containing your analysis of X, resulting in a successful defense. 

What are the next steps?

Minimalist Syntax and the Many Faces of Recursion

This blog post summarizes the confusing web of concepts associated with recursion, and comments on how they are related to each other. In particular, I will show how each of the concepts relates to the minimalist structure building operation Merge.

Basic Skills in Syntax (Part 1): Working with Syntactic Data

There are many different concrete skills that students learn in an undergraduate syntax course. We can divide them into (at least) four groups.

a. Skills involving working with syntactic data. 

b. Skills involving tree drawing. 

c. Skills involving formulating and testing hypotheses.

d. Skills involving applying theoretical principles to data (e.g., the Binding Theory). 

Of course, there is not always a clear line between these categories, but they are a good starting point for the discussion. In this blog post, I take up the first category, skills involving working with syntactic data. In future blog posts, I will take up the other categories.

Inversion Seminar: Questions and Answers (Spring 2026)

Quotative Inversion

1. What is the status of the external argument in quotative inversion?

The external argument is in-situ in Spec vP.

2. What is the status of the quote in quotative inversion?

The quotative operator (not the quote) undergoes movement to Spec TP, and is co-indexed with the quote.

3. What is the status of the verb in quotative inversion?

The VP moves to a position higher than the in-situ subject: VP-S.

4. What is the role of smuggling in quotative inversion?

The movement of the VP smuggles the quotative operator over the in-situ subject so that the quotative operator can undergo A-movement to Spec TP.

5. What is the status of the transitivity constraint in quotative inversion?

The transitivity constraint follows without stipulation from minimal search.

6. What sort of variation is found in quotative inversion cross-linguistically?

Different languages use different constructions for the task, depending on what is available. Setswana uses a post-verbal focus construction. German and Dutch use a verb-second construction.

Inversion

7. What other kinds of inversion are found in English?

Quotative inversion, locative inversion, presentatives, inverse copular constructions, existential there constructions, so-inversion and as-inversion.

8. How does quotative inversion relate to the other kinds of inversion in English?

They have exactly the same derivation involving VP movement, smuggling and A-movement to Spec TP.

9. What properties do inversion constructions in English have in common?

(a) The transitivity constraint, (b) resisting post-verb nominative subjects, (c) agreement alternations, (d) [V prt DP] word order (where applicable).

Passive

10. What is the relationship between quotative inversion and the passive?

Both involve smuggling the object over the in-situ subject. 

11. What is the status of VoiceP in syntactic theory?

VoiceP mediates between theta-positions and A-positions. VoiceP does not introduce the external argument, contrary to popular opinion.

12. What are the smugglers in quotative inversion and the passive?

The quotative inversion involves VP movement, whereas passive involves PartP movement.

13. If implicit arguments are possible in the passive, why not in quotative inversion?

The post-verbal subject in quotative inversion needs Case, but in Collins 2024 implicit arguments do not get assigned case (caseless pro).

Heavy DP Shift

14. Does Heavy DP Shift give evidence for rightward movement?

No, c-command tests show clearly that it is not rightward movement.

15. Is movement of the DP in Heavy DP Shift A- or A’-movement?

Heavy DP Shift is A’-movement, since it licenses parasitic gaps.

16. What is the analysis of Heavy DP Shift?

Heavy DP Shift involves vP movement smuggling the subject over the element in Spec FocP.

17. What is the theoretical importance of Heavy DP Shift in quotative inversion?

Normally the subject of a finite clause cannot undergo Heavy DP Shift, but in quotative inversion it can. 

General

18. What does inversion tell us about the status of rightward movement in UG?

Neither inversion nor Heavy DP Shift provide any evidence for rightward movement in UG.

19. What is the status of smuggling in UG?

Smuggling is made freely available by UG, since it involves a sequence of two permissible operations of internal Merge. 

20. How can the different types of smuggling be classified?

Smuggling can be classified by the kind of movement of the smuggler. For example, there is A’-smuggling (tough-movement). We have not seen any example of A-smuggling yet (the smuggler is a DP undergoing A-movement). Smuggling can also be classified by the size and category of the smuggler (e.g., VP, vP versus PartP).

21. What is the status of freezing in UG?

There is no general freezing constraint in UG, as shown by the ubiquity of smuggling. 

22. What are the implications of smuggling for the theory of locality?

Smuggling is the only way of avoiding a locality constraint (such as RM, MLC or PIC). Other approaches, such as leapfrogging, involve unnecessary complications (such as equidistance).

23. What are the implications of inversion phenomena for the A/A’-distinction?

VP/PartP movement is neither A- nor A’-movement. It is its own category with its own properties.

24. What does inversion in English tell us about the theory of argument structure?

Inversion phenomena are analyzed as movement, not the alternative projection of arguments. The projection of arguments is determined by the theta-criterion, not simply by the formal mechanisms of formal semantics, which is unrestrictive.

25. What are the implications of inversion phenomena for the theory of voice?

Voice can be defined as the mapping of arguments to A-positions. Voice phenomena such as the middle, passive and inverse voice all involve inversion and smuggling in the same sense as quotative inversion, locative inversion and presentatives.