Form Sequence and the Coordinate Structure Constraint: A Labelability-Based Minimalist Account

This paper develops a unified minimalist analysis of coordination by treating Form Sequence (FSQ) as the single operation responsible for forming coordinate structures and by deriving extraction possibilities from the distinction between labelable and unlabelable FSQ outputs. FSQ creates flat, ordered sequences designed for externalization. When the conjuncts share no formal feature that the Labeling Algorithm (LA) can use at Transfer, the FSQ is unlabelable and is sent immediately to the interfaces, resulting in the opacity of the classical Coordinate Structure Constraint (CSC). When conjuncts share a feature such as an event feature [+E] in CSC-exceptional coordination or an operator feature [+wh] in Across-the-Board (ATB) movement, the FSQ becomes labelable and remains inside the syntactic workspace until the LA applies. While the FSQ remains in the workspace, a probe can interact with the FSQ, allowing extraction. This account explains why coordination is sometimes opaque and other times transparent without positing multiple types of coordination or construction-specific mechanisms. Differences in interpretation, including additive versus event-integrated readings of and, also follow from the labelability of the FSQ. The proposal integrates coordination into the general architecture of Merge, labeling, and Transfer, providing a parsimonious and theoretically motivated explanation for the full range of CSC-regular, CSC-exceptional, and ATB structures.