Budding the Tree. Towards a Theory of Structure Removal

This paper presents a theory of structure removal based on the operation of Bud. Bud is defined as a variant of External Merge. While External Merge always targets the root of a syntactic object, Bud targets a lower projection. The operation is constrained by minimality and is used to provide a novel account to analytic passive, causative constructions in Italian and infinitival constructions like raising predicates. It also offers an elegant way to account for structure pruning in cases of language disorder, root infinitives in child speech and preference for passive plus subject relativization over object relative clauses.