Comparing Reference Sets

A derivational constraint (e.g. subjacency) is a condition that must be met by each opera-tion used in the course of generating a well-formed syntactic structure. A transderivational constraint (e.g. Fewest Steps) is a condition that must be satisfied by a derivation when compared with other derivations. In order to obey a derivational constraint, it is sufficient to look at subsequent steps of the derivation in question; for a transderivational constraint to be satisfied it is necessary to look at a certain set of other hypothetical derivations. I will discuss several possible ways to define this set of hypothetical derivations, the so-called reference set, trying to make various options compatible with the facts. In previous work (cf. Müller & Sternefeld (1996)), it has been demonstrated that under a certain definition of reference sets, a transderivational constraint like Fewest Steps yields wrong predictions and should be replaced by a derivational constraint, the Principle of Unambiguous Binding. In this paper I will look more closely at alternative definitions of reference sets and at the Shortest Paths Condition as another relevant transderivational concept. I will argue that this condition too yields problematic results; moreover, no correc