TY - JOUR A1 - Soschen, Alona T1 - Natural law T2 - Linguistics in Potsdam N2 - This work concentrates on the requirements of the computational system of HL, by developing the idea that Natural Law applies to universal syntactic principles. The systems of efficient growth are for the continuation of motion and maximal distance between the elements. The condition of maximization accounts for the properties of syntactic trees - binary branching, labeling, and the EPP. NL justifies the basic principle of organization in Merge: it provides a functional explanation of phase formation and thematic domains. In Optimality Theory, it accounts for the selection of a particular word order in languages. A comprehensive and definitive understanding of the principles underlying MP will eventually lead to a more advanced design of OT. KW - minimalism KW - optimality KW - Natural Law KW - phases KW - applicatives Y1 - 2009 UR - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/3062 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-32316 SN - 1616-7392 SN - 1864-1857 IS - 25 SP - 43 EP - 76 ER -