Movement Theory and Constraints in Syntax

This article discusses the considerations that motivate the postulation of movement transformations in generative linguistics, and traces the evolution of movement theory from the early days of transformational grammar through the development of trace theory, modularity, and Move a, to the contemporary theory of Internal Merge. It further describes the development of the theory of movement constraints, starting from the A-over-A Principle and construction-specific island constraints to various subsequent approaches, incorporating notions like cyclicity, headedness, traces, and economy. The notion of covert movement is also briefly reviewed, in light of the syntax-semantics interface and crosslinguistic parametric variations.