California Linguistic Notes Volume Xxxviii, No. 1 Spring 2013 Review of " Symmetry Breaking in Syntax "

Hubert Haider’ primary goal in his latest book is to establish a universal constraint on the branching structure of Language: there are only right branching structures and their mirror image—left branching ones—do not exist at all. Through this strong proposal, Haider seeks to shed light on what he considers a universal, inviolable aspect of the architecture of grammar, thus contributing to the debate on the core properties of human language. According to Haider, cross linguistic variation between VO, OV and “Type III” languages follows directly from the interaction between this unchangeable “basic branching constraint” (BBC) and a directionality parameter that defines the identification relation between heads and their dependents. Apart from offering ample evidence through the use of a wide array of diagnostics between primarily Germanic OV and VO languages, Haider provides evolutionary justification for the existence of the BBC, along with a historical explanation for the split in the Germanic family between VO and OV. This review provides a summary of each chapter and assesses the strengths of Haider’s proposal.