Larger than expected: constraints on pied-piping across languages

pied-piping cases related to wh- movement undermine the simple idea of displacement under the standard probe-goal minimalist perspective. In this paper we discuss some critical constraints that need specific stipulations under the standard bottom-to-top assumptions but that follows smoothly from a top-down redefinition of Merge, Move and Phase. Two universal constraints will be discussed (“Don’t Leave Your Complement alone” – Don’t LYC and “Be Accessible” - BA constraints) and derived with their (apparent) exceptions. The empirical evidence considered includes alternation between preposition stranding and pied-piping, recursive genitive pied-piping and Was-für split