Derivational approach in M.P ,EPP & pro-drop

[mallu]

The derivational approach Epstien and others posit seems to challenge the notion of E.P.P.Does that mean there on't be any pro-drop parameter ithin this  approach 

[Daniel]

What do you mean by "parameter"? As I understand it, the old sense ("Principles and Parameters") of "parameter" is no longer applied within Minimalist theories. Certainly there may be some apparently parametric variation across languages, but it would probably be discussed in terms of something like features.

[mallu]

What do you mean by "parameter"? As I understand it, the old sense ("Principles and Parameters") of "parameter" is no longer applied within Minimalist theories.

Is it? But it is still used in that sense in Generative literature,I think.Or my understanding is dated
I have got some titles dealing Parameters like,'The Null Subject Parameter and Parametric theory', Parameters and Universals.The latter is Kayne's.Do you think all these literature deals ith an outdated notion?

[lx]

Is it? But it is still used in that sense in Generative literature,I think.Or my understanding is dated
I have got some titles dealing Parameters like,'The Null Subject Parameter and Parametric theory', Parameters and Universals.The latter is Kayne's.Do you think all these literature deals ith an outdated notion?

Yes, very much so. There are outdated aspects to Generativism that even came after a lot of this stuff.

[mallu]

Can you suggest some reading vvhere in the Parametric approach being critically discussed

[lx]

Can you suggest some reading vvhere in the Parametric approach being critically discussed

Not in anything modern, sorry. I purposely stay far away from that kind of stuff. I'm sure you will be able to find something if you search, though.

[mallu]

Can you tell me the rationale behind your aversion to the parametric approach to Language Comparison?

[lx]

Can you tell me the rationale behind your aversion to the parametric approach to Language Comparison?

Because it's flawed. It doesn't work. It's based on a bad understanding and once-hopeful attempt that has successively failed any attempt to validate its justification. The conceptualisation behind the idea had good intentions and people really, really wanted to find justification for the way it worked, but it led to such a mess that the leading researchers in generativism basically asked for people to stop working on it (or rather, aggressively directed people to new areas and away from this one) because it was so flawed and it had turned into a nightmare that was generating explanations that were almost as complex as the data they should have explained (bad science). That's where the later version, Minimalism, came from. It grew as an attempt to restore what P&P should have originally been. There was once a time I had a bit of hope and my naivety led me to entertain some of the claims as a possibility, but then it became clear it was just a badly conceptualised theory when it came anywhere near to actually trying to generate predictions or validate itself as a useful way to describe what's going on in/between languages.

[MalFet]

Can you suggest some reading vvhere in the Parametric approach being critically discussed

It depends on whose criticism you want. Within generativism, the most comprehensive critique is probably the minimalist program itself.  P&P became so cumbersome as to have virtually collapsed under its own weight by the late 80s. Chomsky's explicit aim in the Minimalist program was to clear the dead brush and to come up with something more responsible to advances in language typology. He certainly accomplished the first, though the second is more questionable.

[mallu]

Can you suggest some reading vvhere in the Parametric approach being critically discussed

It depends on whose criticism you want. Within generativism, the most comprehensive critique is probably the minimalist program itself.  P&P became so cumbersome as to have virtually collapsed under its own weight by the late 80s. Chomsky's explicit aim in the Minimalist program was to clear the dead brush and to come up with something more responsible to advances in language typology. He certainly accomplished the first, though the second is more questionable.

I am not asking about the earlier version of P&P model ,I am interested  in  the uses of parametric approach in comparative syntax.Is that turned out be so despicable?Can you suggest some critique on the subect

[MalFet]

If there's a parametric approach to comparative syntax other than  the one conventionally called "Principles & Parameters", I am afraid that I'm not familiar with it (at least not specifically).

[Daniel]

For discussion of parameters within Minimalism, you might see work by Ian Roberts at Cambridge. (I don't have anything particular in mind, just some comments he had at a conference.) He is one of the few I know of still using parameters, but an updated version of them, trying to fit them into Minimalism, or at least see how well that would work out. So you will likely find discussion of compatibility with Minimalism and criticisms of parameters in his work.