Parallel Architecture: From Problems and Mysteries to Solutions and Explanations

We argue that Jackendoff's Parallel Architecture (PA) is the right way to think about the architecture of the language faculty. The critical property of this architecture is that it allows for genuine explanation by allocating different aspects of linguistic phenomena to appropriate corresponding representations and capacities. The PA forms the basis of a minimalist explanatory program for linguistic theory in the form of Simpler Syntax, emphasizing its constructional approach to syntax and the independence of semantics, phonology, and nonlinguistic cognitive systems.