Node (linguistics)

Under the X-bar theory, a node necessarily divides into two branches because of the binarity principle.

When these syntactic objects are combined by Merge, that yields the structure in Figure 3.

(This means that the X-bar theory indirectly assumes that speakers have in their Universal Grammar a rule that determines the canonical linear order for them, depending on their native language.)

On the other hand, under the Minimalist Program, there is no such canonical fundamentals since the lexical array does not constitute an ordered set.

For this reason, linear order under the Minimalist Program is determined by the phonological operation of linearization applied to the partial string called a phase (under the Phase Theory) that is sent out to PF by Transfer.

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3