Round 10: Tossup 16

Tanya Reinhart coined the name of a key concept in this sub-field in a 1976 thesis on anaphora. This linguistic sub-field is the subject of the “penthouse principle” and Richard Kayne’s theory of its “antisymmetry.” In one framework, a “narrow” form of this sub-field’s namesake subject consists of interfaces of D-structure, S-structure, and logical form, and then proceeds via the operations “Merge,” “Move,” and “Agree.” The notion of (*) “c-command” is central to many theories in this sub-field, in which languages can be classified as “left-branching” or “right branching.” The “autonomy” of this sub-field is often demonstrated by the sentence “colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” For 10 points, name this sub-field which studies grammar (10[1])and the formation of grammatical sentences. ■END■

ANSWER: syntax [or syntactics; prompt on X-bar Theory, Government and Binding Theory, or the Minimalist Program; prompt on grammar until “grammar” is read by asking “what linguistic sub-field studies grammatical relations?”]
<JG, Social Science> | NAFTA-Packet-10
= Average correct buzzpoint

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Buzzes


Summary

TournamentEditionMatchHeardConv. %Power %Neg %Avg. Buzz
2026 NAFTA at Stanford01/17/20264100%50%0%77.00
2025 NAFTA Online02/14/20264100%50%0%76.50
2026 NAFTA at Vanderbilt02/14/2026367%33%0%82.50
2025 NAFTA at Toronto09/13/20251100%0%0%112.00
2025 NAFTA at Maryland09/27/20251100%100%0%64.00
2025 NAFTA at Harvard10/04/20253100%33%0%88.67
2025 NAFTA at Oxford10/11/20253100%33%33%91.67
2025 NAFTA at Chicago11/08/20256100%0%33%104.50
2025 NAFTA at Columbia11/08/20255100%20%20%94.80