On one tree T, the primitive term of the unit stage contributes β if T = β, and each
cut with crown {β} contributes β beside its trunk.
Docs / Syntax / Minimalist / Workspace / Merge / Internal
Internal Merge
import Linglib.Syntax.Minimalist.Workspace.Merge.Internal · namespace Minimalist.Merge
Internal Merge (Proposition 1.4.2 of Marcolli, Chomsky and Berwick) is the composition
M_{T/β,β} ∘ M_{β,1}. The unit stage selects a cut of T with crown {β}, giving the two-object
workspace {β, T/β}, and External Merge then merges β with the quotient. When one cut extracts
β, the composition yields node lbl {T/β, β} over every cut enumeration admitting Merge
(mergeOpG_im_composition). At the deletion cuts of the book's Merge the quotient is the remainder
with its unary vertex contracted (mergeOp_im_composition); at the pruning cuts that vertex stays,
and at the trace cuts a trace takes the place of β (mergeOpC_im_composition).
Main results
Minimalist.Merge.mergeOpUnitG_apply_singleton,mergeOpUnitG_apply_singleton_unique: the unit stage on one tree, a sum over the cuts with crown{β}.Minimalist.Merge.mergeOpUnitG_ofTree_mul,mergeOpUnitG_apply_singleton_unique_residual: the unit stage beside a spectator workspace.Minimalist.Merge.mergeOpG_im_composition,mergeOp_im_composition,mergeOpC_im_composition: Internal Merge as a composition of Merges.Minimalist.Merge.mergeOpG_im_composition_residual: Internal Merge beside a spectator workspace.
Implementation notes
The composition theorems assume a single cut extracting β, as in the book's worked example.
Proposition 1.4.2 does not; with several occurrences of β the unit stage is a sum over them
(mergeOpUnitG_apply_singleton).
References
- Marcolli et al. 2025, Mathematical Structure of Syntactic Merge: An Algebraic Model for Generative Linguistics formalized
Declarations
When T ≠ β and exactly one cut of T has crown {β}, the unit stage moves β to its own
component beside that cut's trunk.
The unit stage commutes with a spectator component T that does not have β as a subtree.
With a residual workspace F̂ none of whose components has β as a subtree, the unit stage
on {T} + F̂ splits β off T and leaves F̂ unchanged.
Internal Merge as the composition M_{T/β,β} ∘ M_{β,1} over a cut enumeration admitting
Merge, for β extracted from T by a single cut with trunk Q.
Internal Merge with a residual workspace F̂, none of whose components has β or the trunk
Q as a subtree.
Internal Merge at the deletion cuts, for a mover β without unary vertices extracted by a
single deletion cut with trunk Q.
At the trace cuts Internal Merge merges the mover m with the trunk Q, which keeps a trace
in its place.