1980; Koster 1987; Di Sciullo and Williams 1987; Anderson 1992; Büring 1993). The idea is that phrasal syntactic
combination takes place as usual in D-structure, but lexical items are notinserted. Syntax goes about its business using
only syntactic features until the point when lexical information is needed in order to interface with phonology and
semantics—usually S-structure. Another variant is Distributed Morphology (Halle and Marantz 1993): semantic and
syntacticlexical features are insertedearly, but phonologicalfeatures waitforinsertionuntilS-structure(orSpell-Out in
the Minimalist architecture). These approaches are an improvement, in that syntax doesn't have to carry the locked
suitcases as far. But it still has to carry them.
Lexicalinsertion—inanyoftheseversions—assumes thereisa“place”inthegrammar wherelexical items are putinto
sentences. Quite a different scenario emerges in the parallel architecture. A word, by virtue of having features in each
of thecomponents of grammar, serves as part of thelinkage betweenthemultiplestructures. For example,(24) shows
the material in the lexical entry forstar.
The proper way to regard (24) is as a small-scale three-way interface rule. It lists a small chunk of phonology, a small
chunk of syntax, and a small chunk of semantics, and it shows how to line these chunks up when they appear in
parallel phonological, syntactic, and conceptual structures. The co-subscripting of the three pieces licenses co-
subscripting among them in larger structures such as (22b) and the two occurrences ofstarin Fig. 1.1. A well-formed
sentence requires the proper matching of the structures, in part mediated by the lexical entries of its words.
In short,the function of lexical items is to serve as interface rules, and the lexicon as a whole is to be regarded as part of the interface
components. On this view, the formal role of lexical items is not that they are“inserted”into syntactic derivations, but
rather that they establish the correspondence of certain syntactic constituents with phonological and conceptual
structures.
In addition to the usual lexical items that match phonology, syntax, and semantics, there exist“defective”lexical items
that have phonology and semantics but no syntax. Some examples appear in (25), sorted approximately by semantic
class.
(25) a.yes, no
b. hello, goodbye, thanks
c. ouch, oops, wow, phooey, hooray, gadzooks, oboy, oy vey, dammit, shit, yuck, upsey-daisy
d. hey,fiddlesticks, pshaw, humph, oo-la-la