Linguistic Variation Yearbook 2001 (review)

With LVYB, a new yearbook enters the market, published by John Benjamins and edited by Pierre Pica, who provides the inaugural ‘Introduction’ (v–xiii), and Johan Rooryck, who contributes to the introduction to the second issue. The aim and scope of LVYB, quoting from the inside cover blurb and official website, is ‘the study of the nature and scope of linguistic variation from the point of view of a minimalist program’. This LVYB seems to manage extremely well with the publication of the first volume (see below) and the second (see my review in LinguistList 15 in 2004). The specific theoretical take on variation gives LVYB its edge over comparable periodicals—both those that deal with linguistic change and variation from a nontheoretical or broader, typological perspective and those more theoretically inclined ones that deal with natural language as a whole. Moreover, the indefinite article preceding ‘minimalist program’ suggests, at least in theory, a wider range of theoretical perspectives than the minimalist program (of the eponymously titled book by Noam Chomsky, published in 1995 by MIT Press, and follow-up work). That this also holds in practice is witnessed by Rob Pensalfini’s contribution to this issue.

After Pica’s introductory remarks on some prominent features of a/the minimalist program and an overview of the contributions to this issue, Željko Bošković reflects ‘On the interpretation of multiple questions’ (1–15), tying in crosslinguistic variation in interpretation and order/fronting of wh-elements. In ‘Word order type and syntactic structure’ (17–59), Marit Julien proposes a novel analysis for apparent/ surface head-final languages. Going against widespread belief, Julie Anne Legate convincingly argues for ‘The configurational structure of a non-configurational language’ (61–104) with a fresh look at some old tests and a battery of new ones. Martha McGinnis treats ‘Variation in the phrase structure of applicatives’ (105–46) by suggesting a specific structure of a complex v P, consisting of two applicative projections that sandwich VP, and concomitant derivational conditions and operations.

Nicola Munaro, Cecilia Poletto, and Jean-Yves Pollock contribute ‘Eppur si muove! On comparative French and Bellunese wh-movement’ (147–80), a study on explicitly defined IP- and CP-fields and their relevance to apparent wh-in situ questions. ‘Adjective ordering as the reflection of a hierarchy in the noun system: A study from the perspective of numeral classifiers’ (181–207) by Keiko Muromatsu proposes the (one-/abstract, two-/mass, and three-/count) dimensionality of nouns and derives adjectives as modifiers of these dimensions. Rob Pensalfini’s ‘Part of speech mismatches in modular grammar: New evidence from Jingulu’ (209–27) constitutes an elegant study in autolexical syntax. In an inspiring interface study, Tal Siloni analyzes ‘Construct states at the PF interface’ (229–66).

It is my firm belief that LVYB will play an integral role in future research shedding light on both linguistic theory and explaining variation. The contributions to the first issue set a high standard which carries over to the second issue, confirming this belief so far.