On Linearization

The first attempt at a restrictive theory of the linear order of sentences and phrases of the world’s languages, by one of the founders of cartographic syntax.

Linearization, or the typical sequence of words in a sentence, varies tremendously from language to language. Why, for example, does the English phrase “a white table” need a different word order from the French phrase “une table blanche,” even though both refer to the same object? Guglielmo Cinque challenges the current unders…