• Cambridge Scholars Publishing

    "[Second Thoughts on Capitalism and the State is a] profoundly reflective book shows a pathway forward for academics and activists alike who are stymied by the disconnect between deep critical scholarship and emancipatory social change, yet who will still not give up the good fight."

    - Professor Diane E. Davis, Harvard University

Rightward Movement Phenomena in Linguistics

This book demonstrates that some properties of rightward movement phenomena (a cover term referring to sentences in which an element appears to be “displaced” to the right) may be derived from syntactic principles and interface conditions within the framework of the generative grammar/minimalist program. It also argues that certain properties, which up to now have been dealt with purely in regards to syntax, can be better accounted for in terms of language processing; accordingly, the human parser should undertake explanations of part of the competence system’s output.

The volume’s analysis of rightward movement phenomena leads to the conclusion that phrasal rightward movement rules in syntax fail to follow specific principles. At first glance, this conclusion seems identical with Kayne’s (1994) claim that no rightward movement rules exist. However, this work provides completely different grounds for the absence of rightward movement rules, meaning that it presents an original view of rightward movement phenomena.


Kohji Kamada is an Associate Professor of English Grammar and Linguistics at Chiba University, Chiba, Japan. He received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2009.

“This monograph is a major contribution to the study of rightward movement phenomena, especially as it focuses on an understudied area: the occurrence of postverbal constituents in a clearly head-final language. Kamada carefully shows that the properties of these constructions follow from the interplay between purely syntactic principles and properties of the human processor. [It is] essential reading for anyone interested in the debate on competence vs performance.”
Peter Ackema
Reader in Linguistics and English Language, University of Edinburgh

Buy This Book

ISBN: 1-5275-1147-2

ISBN13: 978-1-5275-1147-7

Release Date: 24th August 2018

Pages: 340

Price: £68.99

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