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    Mereological Syntax

    Part of Linguistic Inquiry Monographs

    Author David Adger
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    Paperback
    $65.00 US
    The MIT Press
    On sale Nov 18, 2025 | 288 Pages | 9780262553278
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    An argument for replacing Chomsky’s set-theoretic Merge view of syntax with a theory of syntax based on mereological objects.

    Mereology is the study of parthood—what it means for one thing to be part of another. David Adger argues that a theory of syntax based on mereological objects should replace Chomsky’s set-theoretic Merge view of syntax. He shows how this new perspective solves some of the problems that have bedeviled minimalism, while opening a path to a unified approach to islands, one of the central topics in theoretical syntax for the past 50 years. Adger draws on data from across many languages and from experimental work.

    Adger focuses on two puzzles—specifically, the so-called Labeling Problem and Copy Problem—that arise from the Merge model of syntax. He adapts ideas from mereology to build a system of phrase structure, using an operation he calls Subjoin, that solves these puzzles. He defines a simple constraint on mereological objects that he calls Angular Locality, which has wide-ranging ramifications for what constitutes a possible structure, derives successive cyclicity as a theorem, and opens a new approach to explaining why certain island phenomena behave as they do.
    Contents
    1 Introduction
    2 Sets
    3 Parts
    4 Angles
    5 Wh Islands
    6 Nominal Islands
    7 Subject Islands
    8 Conclusion
    David Adger is Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London and a former president of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain. He is the author of Core Syntax, A Syntax of Substance (MIT Press), and Language Unlimited.
    David Adger View titles by David Adger
    ENDORSEMENTS

    “In this highly original monograph, David Adger reanalyzes the core of human language, hierarchical structure: Subjoin is the organizing principle that builds mereological objects in a part-whole hierarchy. Adger applies his innovative approach to many classical domains of generative syntax, approaches old facts in new light, and explores novel data. Mereological Syntax will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the field.”
    —Kleanthes K. Grohmann, Professor of Biolinguistics and Director of the CAT Lab, University of Cyprus

    "This combination of a very innovative and original (but also very simple) theoretical proposal with potentially overarching empirical consequences, and very sophisticated and precise explorations into the intricacies of very rich empirical domains on a vast number of languages, makes this book very readable and very entertaining.”
    —Caterina Donati, Laboratoire de Linguistique Formelle; Professor, Paris Cité University; Director, UFR Linguistique
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    About

    An argument for replacing Chomsky’s set-theoretic Merge view of syntax with a theory of syntax based on mereological objects.

    Mereology is the study of parthood—what it means for one thing to be part of another. David Adger argues that a theory of syntax based on mereological objects should replace Chomsky’s set-theoretic Merge view of syntax. He shows how this new perspective solves some of the problems that have bedeviled minimalism, while opening a path to a unified approach to islands, one of the central topics in theoretical syntax for the past 50 years. Adger draws on data from across many languages and from experimental work.

    Adger focuses on two puzzles—specifically, the so-called Labeling Problem and Copy Problem—that arise from the Merge model of syntax. He adapts ideas from mereology to build a system of phrase structure, using an operation he calls Subjoin, that solves these puzzles. He defines a simple constraint on mereological objects that he calls Angular Locality, which has wide-ranging ramifications for what constitutes a possible structure, derives successive cyclicity as a theorem, and opens a new approach to explaining why certain island phenomena behave as they do.

    Table of Contents

    Contents
    1 Introduction
    2 Sets
    3 Parts
    4 Angles
    5 Wh Islands
    6 Nominal Islands
    7 Subject Islands
    8 Conclusion

    Author

    David Adger is Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London and a former president of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain. He is the author of Core Syntax, A Syntax of Substance (MIT Press), and Language Unlimited.
    David Adger View titles by David Adger

    Praise

    ENDORSEMENTS

    “In this highly original monograph, David Adger reanalyzes the core of human language, hierarchical structure: Subjoin is the organizing principle that builds mereological objects in a part-whole hierarchy. Adger applies his innovative approach to many classical domains of generative syntax, approaches old facts in new light, and explores novel data. Mereological Syntax will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the field.”
    —Kleanthes K. Grohmann, Professor of Biolinguistics and Director of the CAT Lab, University of Cyprus

    "This combination of a very innovative and original (but also very simple) theoretical proposal with potentially overarching empirical consequences, and very sophisticated and precise explorations into the intricacies of very rich empirical domains on a vast number of languages, makes this book very readable and very entertaining.”
    —Caterina Donati, Laboratoire de Linguistique Formelle; Professor, Paris Cité University; Director, UFR Linguistique

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