LING 3410 Syntax Vocab

binary branching

A property that holds of a hierarchical structure if each node has at most two daughter nodes (i.e. each constituent consists of at most two sub constituents).

Branch

A line in a tree diagram that connects a parent node to its daughter node

Category

A group of words that share particular grammatical properties

constituency test

A diagnostic that can be applied to a sentence to help determine whether a given string of words is a constituent.

Constituent

Any unit in the structure of a sentence

Endocentricity

A constituent is endocentric if its grammatical properties are determined intrinsically (by the constituent’s head) rather than extrinsically (by an arbitrary rule)

Head

The member of a constituent that determines the grammatical properties of the entire constituent

hierarchical structure

A structure that consists of units fully contained within other units

labeling

The assignment of a category label to a constituent, accomplished by copying the label of one of its component constituents

Merge

A hypothetical mental operation that builds syntactic structure by combining two units to form a larger unit with the same label as one of the input units

Node

A tree diagram is made up of points, known as nodes, connected by lines, known as branches. Each node represents a syntactic constituent

Projection

(1) In an abstract sense, projection is the grammatical phenomenon in which the category of one of the members of a constituent is bestowed upon the constituent as a whole. (2) In a hierarchical structure, a projection of X0 is a constituent whose head is X0.

Recursion

A representation or process is recursive if it repeats within itself

structural ambiguity

Ambiguity that arises when the same linear string of units corresponds to two or more hierarchical structures

Universal Grammar

Properties of grammar that are postulated to be innate to the human mind and thus hold universally across all languages

Adjunct

A dependent of a head X0 that is both the sister of an X′ projection and the daughter of an X′ projection. Adjuncts are optional, can be stacked, and are more semantically peripheral than complements

Complement

A dependent of a head X0 that is the sister of X0. Complements can be selected by the head, cannot be stacked, and have a close semantic relationship with the head

Dependent

The non projecting member of a binary branching constituent, i.e. anything in an XP that is not the head X0 or a projection of the head X0. Dependents fall into three types

head-final

(1) An X′ constituent whose head X0 follows its complement YP, e.g. [X′ YP X]. (2) A language whose linear order is predominantly head final

head-initial

(1) An X′ constituent whose head X0 precedes its complement YP

maximal projection

For a head X0, its maximal projection is the largest constituent

headed by X0. In X bar diagrams, the notation XP (“X phrase”) is used to denote the

maximal projection of X

non-branching node

A node that has only one daughter node. The non branching node and its daughter node both represent the same constituent. Non branching nodes are used in tree diagrams to indicate that a constituent has more than one type of X bar status, e.g. when it is both a head and a maximal projection

parent node

For a node X, the parent node is the node that occurs immediately above X in the hierarchical structure

projection (of X)

In a hierarchical structure, a projection of X0 is a constituent whose head is X0

selection

A syntactic relationship in which a head places some requirement on the head of its complement, e.g. requiring it to be some particular word or to have some particular type of meaning.

sister node

Two nodes are sisters if they have the same parent node

specifier

A dependent of a head X0 that is the sister of an X′ projection and the daughter of the maximal projection (XP). Specifiers cannot be stacked, and once an item from the class of possible specifiers has been merged, the projection obligatorily terminates

D

determiners; articles, demonstratives, quantifiers

Q

quantifiers; a subset of determiners that have special properties (all, both, each)

Adv

adverbs; modifiers + intensifiers; take no dependents, always heads/maximal projections

A

adjectives; describe things; can take adjuncts and specifiers

P

prepositions; denote relations (spatial, temporal, conceptual); can take adjuncts and specifiers; usually before NP

N

nouns;

Complements

PP or CP

Adjuncts

AP or PP

Specifier DP or NP

V

verbs

Specifier

QP

Complement

NP, PP, AP

CP

clause phrase

Meaning

complement completes meaning of head, adjunct is “extra”

Order

complement immediately follows head, precedes adjuncts

Substitution

if N/V can be replaced by one / do so, then the following PP is an adjunct

Selection

if N/V can select the head of the following PP, then the PP is a complement

clause

A constituent that consists of a subject plus a predicate. Clauses have the unique semantic property of expressing a proposition

proposition

A statement about the world that can be true or false.

embedded, root, and matrix clauses

Embedded clause

A clause that is a constituent of a larger structure

Root clause

A clause that is not embedded. Root clauses include the root node of the tree structure.

Matrix clause

For any embedded clause, the matrix clause is the clause that immediately contains that embedded clause (i.e. the “next clause up”)

finite and non-finite clauses

Finite clause

A clause whose subject predicate unit could stand alone as a sentence

Non-finite clause

A clause whose subject predicate unit could not stand alone as a sentence. In English, the verb in a non finite clause appears in a tenseless form

complement, relative, adverbial, and subject clauses

Complement clause

A clause that functions as the complement of a verb, noun, or adjective

Relative clause

A clause that functions as an adjunct that modifies a noun. Relative clauses always contain a gap, i.e. an “empty” position, that the modified noun is understood to fill.

Adverbial clause

A clause that functions as an adverbial modifier in a VP, adjoined to V′ like an adverb

Subject clause

A clause that functions as the subject of a larger clause. Subject clauses are also known as SENTENTIAL SUBJECTS

C (complementizer)

A category of function words that serve to introduce a clause and indicate its clause type

I (clausal head)

A category of function words that serve to establish the core subject predicate unit of a clause. In English, the I category includes modals (will, would, can, could, shall, should, may, might, must), infinitival to, and tense affixes (present s and Ø, past ed)

Affix Lowering (I→V)

A process in English that attaches an I affix to V. Affix Lowering is blocked when the negator not intervenes between I and V, and also when the I affix has moved to C.

Do-Support (do in I)

A process in English that inserts a semantically empty “dummy” verb do to provide a host for a stranded I affix

argument

A grammatically represented entity that participates in the event denoted by the verb

thematic role (θ-role)

The semantic role that an argument plays in the event denoted by the verb

Theta Criterion

A principle that states that “each argument bears one and only one θ role, and each θ role is assigned to one and only one argument”

agent

The thematic role (θ role) assigned to an argument that instigates and/or carries out the event. Agents are prototypically animate and act with volition

theme

The thematic role (θ role) assigned to an argument that undergoes the event. Common ways of undergoing an event include being changed, moved, or perceived. (The more specific roles of PATIENT, THEME, and STIMULUS are sometimes used to distinguish among arguments that are changed, moved, and perceived, respectively.

goal

The thematic role (θ role) assigned to an argument that is the endpoint of motion or transfer

experiencer

The thematic role (θ role) assigned to an argument that has an involuntary mental involvement in the event, such as perceiving, feeling, or judging. Love, see, know, forget, fear, and suspect are examples of verbs that assign the experiencer role to their subject, while scare, annoy, please, impress, disgust, and interest are examples of verbs that assign the experiencer role to their object. Only sentient beings can be experiencers. (Note that the term “experiencer” should not be used as a synonym for “undergoer”. Most undergoers are themes, not experiencers.)

nominative case

A case that is assigned an NP when it is the subject of a finite clause

accusative case

A case that is assigned to an NP when it is the direct object of a transitive verb, and in certain other contexts as well

genitive case

A case that is assigned to an NP when it is the possessor of a noun

Case Filter

A principle that states that an NP is grammatical only if a head has assigned Case to it

Abstract Case

The idea that case is assigned to NPs even when it is not realized by overt case morphology. When used in this abstract sense, the term “Case” is often capitalized, giving a distinction between an NP’s Case (as assigned in the syntactic structure) and its case (as realized by the morphology). In the sentence Sue saw John, for example, the NP Sue is assigned Case by I but carries no overt case morphology

Licensing

Any syntactic requirements that must be met in order for a particular item to occur grammatically in a particular structure. For example, an NP must be licensed by the receipt of a θ role and Case; a negative polarity item must be licensed by being c commanded by a negative element; pro must be licensed by the presence of sufficient information to identify the features of its referent

Exceptional Case Marking (ECM)

A pattern in which a transitive verb with a non finite complement clause assigns accusative case to the subject of the complement clause. For example, in the sentence I want [him to leave], the assignment of accusative case by want to him is an instance of ECM. The pattern is exceptional in that it treats the subject of the verb’s complement clause as if it were the verb’s own object

ECM

a matrix verb assigns accusative case to the subject of an embedded infinitival clause, rather than its own object

referential index

A diacritic added to an NP to indicate that NP’s referent. By convention, each referent in a given context is arbitrarily assigned a particular letter, which is used as the index on all NPs that refer to that referent

coindexed

Two NPs are coindexed if they have the same referential index. This indicates that the two NPs corefer

corefer

Two NPs corefer if they have the same referential index and thus the same referent

disjoint

Two NPs are disjoint if they have different referential indices and thus different referents

c-command

A node c commands its sister and all nodes that its sister dominates.

negative polarity item (NPI)

A word or phrase that either (1) can occur only in a negative environment or (2) has a special meaning when it occurs in a negative environment. In addition to negation, certain other non affirmative environments can also license NPIs

R-expression

In Binding Theory, an R expression (“referring expression”) is any non

pronominal NP, i.e. any NP that contains a full fledged common noun (e.g. that student) or proper noun

Pronoun

In Binding Theory, a pronoun is more specifically a personal or possessive

pronoun (e.g. we, us, our). Pronouns are subject to Binding Condition B

Anaphor

In Binding Theory, an anaphor is a reflexive pronoun (e.g. ourselves) or reciprocal expression (e.g. each other). Anaphors are subject to Binding Condition A

Bound

A node is bound if it meets the following definition of binding

Free

Any node that is not bound is said to be free (not c-commanded and/or co-indexed)

binding domain

The constituent within which an anaphor must be bound and a pronoun must be free. The binding domain corresponds approximately to the smallest IP containing the anaphor or pronoun, although there are additional details that complicate this simple definition.

Binding theory

A set of syntactic principles that place certain requirements on the reference of an NP depending on that NP’s syntactic position

Binding Condition A

A syntactic principle that states that an anaphor must be bound in the smallest IP that contains it

Binding Condition B

A syntactic principle that states that a pronoun must be free in the smallest IP that contains it

Binding Condition C

A syntactic principle that states that an R expression must be free

syntactic movement

A syntactic phenomenon in which an item occupies an atypical position but retains the semantic interpretation associated with its typical position, which remains obligatorily empty.

Re-Merge

An application of Merge in which one of the inputs is a constituent from within the existing syntactic structure. The effect of Re Merge is the syntactic phenomenon known metaphorically as “movement.”

Wh-Movement

A phrasal movement process that moves a wh phrase to the specifier of -=CP