ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that syntax is equipped with a general search mechanism, which we call Search. It shows that the Edge = Probe Hypothesis (EPH) is a promising way to offer a generalized theory of Search, and that being located at some edge position is both a necessary and a sufficient condition for initiating some Search-operation. The chapter also shows that agree, chain-formation, and binding can be subsumed under the general operation Search and that Search can be seen as a basic operation of syntax besides Merge. It discusses a fruitful line of research that eliminates feature-valuation, feature-inheritance, and Transfer. The chapter demonstrates that Search is always initiated by an element that appears at the edge of a phase, the EPH. It argues for the elimination of feature-valuation, feature-inheritance, and Transfer in favor of a theory of syntax that is truly without tampering. The chapter draws the conclusion that Merge and Search are the only basic operations of syntax.
