Acknowledgments
The first person to hear the core idea of this book was, as usual,Doug Saddy (back in 2017). Since then, he has consistently providedinsightful commentary and even suggested the title Syntax on theEdge (which is perhaps the best part of this book). My debt to himextends far beyond this monograph, and is difficult to overstate. Alsoan early interlocutor for the ideas in this work, in addition to amentor and a friend, Susan F. Schmerling has painstakingly read,commented, and edited many parts of the manuscript (sometimes more thanonce!). She has also been patiently guiding me through the dense forestof Montague grammar for some years now, the results of which guidancecan be seen throughout the book. She is not to blame, of course, for mymisunderstandings.
More recently, I have greatly benefitted from lengthy discussionswith Andrea Padovan and Denis Delfitto about the details of graphtheoretic approaches to syntax. Many of the later chapters werewritten during my stay in fair Verona, which I have Denis to thank for.The sections on Spanish syntax owe much to joint work with Luis GarcíaFernández and Ana Bravo, from whom I learnt much about the art andscience of doing grammar.
At some point or another, the following individuals have commented ondifferent (technical, empirical) aspects of the framework explored hereand/or the presentation of the argument (in alphabetical order):Víctor Acedo-Matellán, Tom Bever, Probal Dasgupta, Julie Franck, DanielFryer, Hans-Martin Gärtner, Elly van Gelderen, Dave Medeiros, EbrahimPatel, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Paul Postal, Haj Ross, Whit Tabor,and Juan Uriagereka. They all have my thanks. Needless to say, I aloneam responsible for the contents of the book, and someone’s appearance inthe lists above should not be interpreted as an endorsement of oragreement with the framework explored here.
An anonymous reviewer provided comments that helped improve thecontent and structure of the monograph, and for that they have mysincere gratitude. The index owes much to Susan F. Schmerling and MerveOdabaşı, minus the errors it may contain. For editorial assistance, andpatience with my queries, thanks are also due to Elisa Perotti at Brill.Finally, my gratitude extends also to Eline Badry for her tireless workin making my manuscript into the beautifully typed piece you, reader,hold in your hands.