ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to develop a constrained theory of phrase structure variation for UG or Universal Grammar, seen as the central component of the theory of adult linguistic knowledge and the theory of first language acquisition. It presents the consequences of a debate that took place in generative syntax in the period roughly between 1979 and the late 1980s. The book argues that UG makes reference to a richly structured semantic domain of mass and count entities and speculates that there might be a semantic parameter along which different languages can vary. It also argues similarly for Turkish, another head-final and quite freely scrambling language. The book concludes that children not only are able to produce and comprehend scrambled structures but also exhibit knowledge of the constraints on scrambling and their interaction with Case.
