This paper addresses the inconsistency in the literature regarding the prioritization of External Merge (EM) and Internal Merge (IM). Some studies have proposed the ‘EM over IM’ principle for constructions like there-structures, while others argue for alternative views—such as ‘IM over EM’ or ‘no cost difference between EM and IM’—particularly in expletive it-structures and passive-related constructions. I argue that the illegitimacy of a structure is not caused by a preference for a particular type of Merge; subtypes of Merge do not preclude one another. Rather, based on the idea that EM and IM apply freely within the dynamic Workspace setting and by adopting the notion of ‘no phase-cross copy relations’, I provide a unified explanation for sentences previously analyzed as arising from the competition between EM and IM.
1. Introduction
2. Economy of External vs. Internal Merge
3. Inconsistency in the Preference between EM and IM
4. A Novel Preference-Free Analysis
5. Conclusion
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