Linguistics

Complements

• Structural position: sisters to X, daughters to X’

  • Head + complement is smallest string that will pass “one” or “do so” test; head itself will not pass

• Meaning: complements are obligatory; are part of subcategorization frame of head

Adjuncts

• Structural position: sisters to X’, daughters to X’

  • Add a layer of X’ structure

• Meaning: adjuncts represent optional information; are not required to be there

  • location, time, manner, adv, adj, etc.

Specifier

daughter of XP, sister of X’

• ex. Det

syntax model

wh questions

start with a wh-phrase
– Questions that start with who, what, where, when, which, etc.
– Answer will be a content word or phrase

• involve TWO types of movement: wh movement (wh→ specifier of CP) and auxiliary movement (T→ C)

yes/no questions

– Answer will be yes or no

• involve one type of movement: auxiliary movement (T→C)

wh movement (in wh questions)

movement of wh-phrase from original (base) position to sentence-initial position, specifier of CP (keeps same phrase structure)

auxiliary movement (in wh questions)

movement of T to C
– subject-aux inversion; “head to head movement”

do-support in yes/no questions

But what happens when there is no auxiliary

• Deep structure: Taylor ate the cookies

  • We have to insert an auxiliary so we have something to move!

• do-support: insert dummy auxiliary (“do”) and move it to C

steps for yes/no question format

1. do-support: If there is no auxiliary, insert do.

2. Tense is generated in T, and attaches to auxiliary

3. Aux-movement: Move auxiliary in T to position
   before subject (C)

do-support in wh-

1. do-support: If there is no auxiliary, insert do.

2. Tense is generated in T, and attaches to auxiliary

3. Aux-movement: Move auxiliary to position before subject (C)

4. Wh-movement: Move wh-phrase to beginning of clause (specifier of CP)

embedded questions

Embedded questions only move the wh-phrase
– Auxiliary stays in deep structure position after subject):

I wonder [ who Leo will scare who ].

multiple auxiliaries? '

the highest auxiliary moves to the front of the sentence in yes/no questions

• ex. The child who is watching TV is singing

  • Is the child who is watching TV ___ singing?

  • *Is the child who ___ watching TV is singing?

transformations are…

structure dependent!!!

VP Deletion

Delete VP when it is identical to preceding VP

• Deep structure: Jo is wearing a sweater and Bob is wearing a sweater too.

• Surface structure after VP-deletion: Jo is wearing a sweater and Bob is too.

• Transformation description:

  • Delete VP constituent

Passive transformation

• Deep structure: Lynn ate the apple.

• Surface structure after passive transformation: The apple was eaten (by Lynn).

• Transformation description:

  • Subject is deleted (and optionally inserted into by-PP)

  • Direct object becomes subject

  • Auxiliary “be” inserted

  • Past participle morphology attached to verb

Passive deep structure vs surface structure

limits on what transformations can target

ONLY constituents

• this is what allows us to use transformations as constituency tests

passive test helps to…

make sentences less ambiguous!

Lee squashed the bug with the stick.
– Ambiguous
– Why?
Passive test disambiguates!

• The bug with the stick was squashed (by Lee).

  • PP “with the stick” is part of moved DP (adjunct in NP)

• The bug was squashed with the stick (by Lee)

  • PP “with the stick” is adjunct in VP

subcategorization requirements must be…

met at deep structure!!!

→ If violated, resulting structure will be ungrammatical!

subject

the DP daughter of TP, sister of T’

• The DP daughter of TP determines agreement marking on the verb (number, person)

• Depending on the person and number of the subject, the verb may take a different form
  1. The apple was eaten by the horse.
  2. The apples were eaten by the horse.

direct object

DP sister to V

→ complement

→ Sister to V, daughter to V’ (also a DP/noun)

→ ex. she ate the apple

indirect object

DP or PP sister to V, daughter of V’

→ 2nd complement of V

→ ex. you gave me (indirect object) the book (direct object)

oblique

PP sister to V’, daughter of V’
→ adjunct

→ ex. They arrived this morning

→ ex. Olivia baked cookies for Henry

grammatical roles in passive transformation

• The direct object becomes the subject

• Subject becomes oblique

  • Active: The dog bit the children

  • Passive: The children were bitten by the dog

→ agreement in passive determined by surface subject (not Deep Structure
subject)— it’s bitten (to match children as the subject in surface structure), not bit (which would match deep structure’s subject)

morphosyntax

bc of agreement, where we see morphological consequences to our syntactic relationship, it is hypothesized that…

we have a single system!!
morphosyntax
– Governs structures of words and sentences

arguments

Together, subject, direct object, indirect object are known as arguments
• Arguments are required by the verb (they must appear)
– Arguments = subject + complements

→ Defined with respect to verb

→ All arguments other than the subject appear in the verb’s subcategorization frame

Selectional Restrictions

specify semantic criteria for what an argument can be/ what can appear in certain positions with particular verbs
– ex. ?Shelves fear mice → “fear” requires an animate subject
•These restrictions are encoded in syntax as thematic relations

thematic relations

semantic criteria for which arguments can appear in certain positions with certain verbs

agent

initiator, causer, do-er of an action

• Ryan hit Andrew

• Michael accidentally broke the glass

• John sent the letter to Mary

experiencers

arguments that feel or perceive events (can appear in a range of positions, including subject and object)

• Leah likes cookies

• Lorenzo saw the eclipse

• Syntax frightens Kenny

→ normally found only in verbs that involve a psychological component or express a notion that can be felt by a living being

• ex. subjects of verbs of perception (see, perceive, hear, taste, feel, smell)

• subjects and objects of verbs of emotion (frighten, fear, dishearten, motivate, etc.)

• verbs of cognition (know, understand, etc.)

themes

entities that undergo actions, or are moved, experienced, or perceived

• Alyssa kept her syntax book

• the arrow hit Ming

• the syntactician hates phonology

Goal

entity towards which a motion/action takes place (can involve abstract motion)

• Krista went to Chicago

• Dave was given the popsicle stick

• An evil thought struck Nancy

recipient

type of goal; only occurs with verbs that indicate a change of possession

• Mikaela gave Jessica the book

• Daniel received a scolding from Hannah

source

the opposite of a goal; entity from which a motion originates

• Maggie gave Stacy the syntax assignment

• Steve came directly from Linguistics 260 class

Location

the place where the action occurs

• Andrew is in Tucson’s finest apartment

• we’re all at school

instrument

the object with which an action is performed

• Chris hacked the computer apart with an axe

• This key will open the door to the apartment

beneficiary

the one for whose benefit an event took place

• he bought these flowers for Aaron

• she cooked Harriet dinner

acquisition

• Learning a language clearly involves
exposure to a language (you learn the language you are surrounded with)
• But it likely takes place because of structures in our brain that are designed for language
– Universal Grammar

t-

Subcategorization Frames

Subcategory information (which types of phrases, if any, it requires to go with it)Lexical entry:
scare  V [ ___ NP ]

(word   lexical category [ ___ subcategory info)

• why do we need this? overgeneralization. our model says that *The tigers scare is grammatical (it’s not)
  

One Substitution

a type of replacement test
I saw the member of Parliament with the green hat, and John saw the one with the red hat.
- We can replace “member of Parliament” with “one”, which suggests it is a constituent

X Bar Theory

XP → (YP) X’ SPECIFIER
X’ → X’ (ZP) or (ZP) X’ ADJUNCT
X’ → X (WP) COMPLEMENT

One Replacement Test

• To see if an item is an N’, conjoin a phrase of the same type to the target NP, and replace the item in the second conjunct with “one”

  • See if you understand “one” to mean the item it has replaced

• If result grammatical and meaning retained, then it is N’; otherwise, not

  • The large purple hippo

  • The large purple hippo and the small one

  • Grammatical and meaning retained! So “purple hippo” = N’
    

“Do so” Test 

• To see if an item is a V’, conjoin a sentence to the original one, introduce a new subject, and replace the item you are testing with “do so”

  • See if the meaning of the replaced phrase is retained

• If result grammatical and meaning retained, then it is V’; otherwise, not

  • John slept until 9.

  • John slept until 9 and Mary did so (too).

    • Grammatical and meaning retained! “slept until 9” is a V’

Complements

Obligatory/selected by head

• They are in subcategorization frame of head

Complements are sisters to the head X, daughters to X’

• The shortest string that will pass a do so test is V + complement(s)!

• the shortest string that will pass a one-test is N + complement (s)

  • head itself doesn’t pass
    

Adjuncts

Semantically optional/optional information (not required by the head/to be there)

• Can occur with almost any head

  • ex. Adj, Adv, PP

• Adjuncts add a layer of X’ structure

• They are sisters to X’, daughters to X

  • Adjuncts in VP often give information about location, time, or manner
    (5) The cat slept in the kitchen/under the sofa.
    (6) Mary ate the cake in the afternoon / yesterday/on Thursday.
    (7) Mary eats cake quickly/often.

Specifiers

daughters to XP, sisters to X’

→ ex. DP

Complements v. Adjuncts

Parametrization

• Limited number of things can vary from language to language

• Many cross-linguistic universals

what DOES vary between languages

One thing that varies across languages is the order of elements within each rule
– Head-initial vs. head-final
– Only two possibilities!

• Parameter setting involves figuring out which possibility is operating in your language

  • English is head initial

X bar structure

‘s genetives

possessives indicated with with ‘s
- ex. the man’s coat

• ‘s and determiners being in complementary distribution suggests both are determiners

  • ‘s + NP being possessed = D’

lowering

Inflectional suffixes are generated in T, but they must be attached to the verb, so they move by lowering and attaching to the verb

syntax model