UNIT 2: The Structure of Phrases and Clauses

1
UNIT 2 The Structure of Phrases and Clauses

• English Syntax
• Ricardo de Souza

2
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)

• Relational Concepts.
• Argument Structure.
• Predication

3
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)Verbs and their ?-grids

• VERB

• Constituent selection, or c-selection.
• Semantic selection, or s-selection.

4
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)Verbs and their ?-grids

• SLEEP

5
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)Verbs and their ?-grids

• SLEEP

• Our children slept.

• ?Our ideas slept.

6
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)Verbs and their ?-grids

• SEE

• Our children saw the concert.

• Our children saw that the band isnt that good.

• That the band isnt that good saw our children.

7
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)Verbs and their ?-grids

• SEE

8
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)Verbs and their ?-grids

• SEND

9
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)Verbs and their ?-grids

• SEND

• They sent their children to a boarding school.
• They sent flowers to their wives.

• They sent their wives flowers
• They sent a boarding school their children.

10
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)

• Arguments.
• Adjuncts.

11
Theta-Theory (?-Theory)

• They slept in a tent.
• They slept well.
• They saw that the band isnt that good yesterday.
• They sent their wives flowers on their wedding
  anniversaries.

12
The Theta Criterion

• Each argument must be associated with one and
  only one theta-role.
• Each theta-role must be associated with one
  and only one argument.
• p. 28

13
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion

• A predicators (e.g. a lexical verb) ?-grid must
  be saturated.

• A predicators (e.g. a lexical verb) ?-grid must
  not be either over-saturated or under-saturated.
  

14
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion

• She slept her bed.
• ?She slept her baby.
• They saw that the band isnt that good the
  singer.
• They saw.
• Robert sent flowers to his wife a box of candy.
• Robert sent to his wife.

15
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Locality and
Minimality in ?-marking

• NPMary showed NPher sister CPwhy NPLouise
  had destroyed NPthe painting.

• NP T AGT Mary showed NP T RECEIVER her
  sister CP T THM why Louise had destroyed the
  painting.

• NPMary showed NPher sister CPwhy NP T AGT
  Louise had destroyed NP T THM the painting.
  

16
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Locality and
Minimality in ?-marking

• NPMary showed NPher sister NPthe painting
  CPwhy NPLouise had destroyed.

• NP T AGT Mary showed NP T RECEIVER her
  sister NP T THM the painting CP T ?? why
  Louise had destroyed the painting.

• NPMary showed NPher sister NPthe painting
  CPwhy NP T AGT Louise had destroyed ?? T
  THM.

17
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to trace theory and movement

• Which painting did Mary say that Louise had
  destroyed?

• Which painting did NP T AGT Mary say CP T
  THM that Louise had destroyed?

18
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to trace theory and movement

• Which painting did Mary say CP T THM that NP
  T AGT Louise had destroyed ?? T THM t ?

• NP T THM Which painting did Mary say CP T
  THM that NP T AGT Louise had destroyed NP
  T THM t ?

• NP T THM Which painting did Mary say CP T
  THM that NP T AGT Louise had destroyed?

• NP T THM Which paintingi did Mary say CP T
  THM that NP T AGT Louise had destroyed NP
  T THM ti ?

19
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• PRO is a specialized NP.

• In English, PRO is only licensed if
  INFL-finite.

• PROs reference to an antecedent can be
  controlled by semantic properties of matrix
  clause verb.

20
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• NP I persuaded NP John CP NP PRO to buy
  NP a new bicycle.

21
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• NP I persuaded NP John CP NP PRO to buy
  NP a new bicycle.

22
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• NP I persuaded NP John CP NP PRO to buy
  NP a new bicycle.

23
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• NP I persuaded NP John CP NP PRO to buy
  NP a new bicycle.

24
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• NP I persuaded NP John CP NP PRO to buy
  NP a new bicycle.

25
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• NP I persuaded NP John CP NP PRO to buy
  NP a new bicycle.

26
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• Object controlled PRO

• I persuaded John PROi to buy a new bicycle.

• I persuaded Johni PROi to buy a new bicycle.

27
Corollaries of the Theta Criterion Introduction
to the empty category PRO

• Subject controlled PRO

• I promised John PROi to buy a new bicycle.

• Ii promised John PROi to buy a new bicycle.

28
Non-Verbal ?-Role Assigners

• Deverbal nouns.
• Adjectives
• Some prepositions.

29
Non ?-Role Assigners

• The copula.
• Other copular verbs.

30
Noun Phrases That Are Not ?-Marked

• Adjunct NPs.
• Expletive IT.
• Expletive THERE.

31
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax

• An endocentric (head centered) view of phrase
  structure.
• An architecture that predicts relationships
  between heads and other elements within a
  constituent.
• A recursive view of syntax.

32
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax

• Take X, any given lexical or functional head.

• X0 is a minimum projection.

• X X0 Compl(X). X is an intermediate
  projection.

• XP Spec(X) X. XP (or X) is a maximum
  projection.

33
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax
XP
X
Spec (X)

• X

Compl(X)
34
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax
NP
N
Spec
PP

• N

DET
book
P
NP
the
about
grammar
35
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax

• An endocentric (head centered) view of phrase
  structure.

36
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax

• That book of poems is fabulous.

• That book of poems are fabulous.

37
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax
NP
N
Spec
CP

• N

DET
that the teacher recommended
N
PP
the
P
NP
book
about
grammar
38
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax

• An architecture that predicts relationships
  between heads and other elements within a
  constituent.

• A complement is the heads sister.

• An adjunct is the sister of X-bar.

39
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax
NP
Spec
N

• N

PP
DET
P
NP
book
the
Spec
N
about
N
PP
DET
NP
P
the
grammar
semitic languages
of
40
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax

• A recursive view of syntax.

41
The Architecture of Clauses
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
Helen
study
grammar
42
The Architecture of Clauses
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
Helen
last term
V
NP
study
grammar
43
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax

• Helen studied grammar last term.

• Helen studied last term grammar.

44
The Architecture of Phrases X-Bar Syntax

• A complement is the heads sister.

• In VPs an argument (?-marked constituent) is
  normally the complement.

• In VPs, an adjunct is a sister of V.

45
The Complementizer Phrase
IP
Spec
I

• I

VP
DET
CP
V
past
C
IP
Helen
think
Spec
I
that
I
VP
NP
past
V
AdjP
syntax
be
easy
46
The Complementizer Phrase
IP
Spec
I

• I

VP
CP
NP
V
IP
C
past
I
Spec
shocked
PRN
that
VP
I
NP
V
past
us
John
resign
47
Clauses are CPs
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
grammar
48
Questions I-to-C Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
grammar
49
Questions I-to-C Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
grammar
50
Questions I-to-C Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
grammar
51
Questions I-to-C Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
did
VP

• I

NP
t
V
NP
Helen
study
grammar
52
Questions WH Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
grammar
53
Questions WH Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
grammar
54
Questions WH Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
?
55
Questions WH Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
?
56
Questions WH Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
What
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
t
57
Questions WH Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
What
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
t
58
Questions WH Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
What
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
study
t
59
Questions WH Movement
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
What
I
Spec
did
VP

• I

NP
V
t
NP
Helen
study
t
60
Agreement Setting the Problem
IP
I
Spec
VP
I
NP
the teacher
?
V
PP
after lunch
V
PP
talk
to his students
61
Agreement Setting the Problem

• The teacher talks to his students after lunch.

• The teacher talked to his student after lunch

• The teachers talk to their student after lunch

• The teacher talk to his student after lunch.

• The teacher ed talk to his student after lunch.

62
Agreement
IP
Spec
I
NP

• I

...
number
person
number
person
/-finite
63
Agreement
IP
Spec
I
NPthe teacher

• I

...
number -pl
person 3rd
number -pl
person 3rd
/-finite
64
Agreement Some Proposals

• Agreement takes place between SPEC(X) and X.

• Agreement involves specific features such as
  number, person, and gender.

• In contemporary theory, such features are called
  phi-features, or f-features.

• The relevant f-features in English are number
  and person.

65
Agreement Some Proposals

• Languages vary with respect to AGR feature
  strength.

• Languages can be considered strong AGR AGR,
  or weak AGR -AGR.

• English can be considered -AGR, whereas French,
  for example, is AGR.

• In English, morphologically relevant agreement is
  seen when there is a combination of the
  f-features number-pl person3rd, and the
  tense feature finite -past.

66
Just to recollect...

• The teacher talks to his students after lunch.

• The teachers talk to their student after lunch

• The teacher talk to his student after lunch.

67
The Ban on Stray Affixes...

• The teacher s talk to his student after lunch.

• The teacher ed talk to his student after lunch.

68
...And Agreement Related Movement

• Affix lowering.

• Verb raising.

69
Agreement and Affix Lowering
IP
I
Spec
AdvP

• I

NP
VP
-past
Adv
Louise
number -pl
number -pl
V
NP
often
person 3rd
person 3rd
this book
read
70
Agreement and Affix Lowering
IP
I
Spec
AdvP

• I

NP
VP
-past
Adv
Louise
number -pl
V
NP
often
person 3rd
this book
read
s
71
Agreement and Affix Lowering
IP
I
Spec
AdvP

• I

NP
VP
-past
Adv
Louise
t
V
NP
often
this book
read
s
72
Affix Lowering Verb Raising Some Proposals

• In -AGR languages, affixes lower to V.

• In AGR languages, Vs raise to I.
• Check French data on p. 90, sentence 162(a).

• In English, a -AGR language, verbal morphemes
  which are not VP heads also raise to I.

73
Agreement and Auxiliary Verb Raising
IP
I
Spec
AdvP

• I

NP
Perf P
-past
Adv
Louise
number -pl
number -pl
Perf
VP
often
person 3rd
person 3rd
V
NP
HAVE en
this book
read
74
Agreement and Auxiliary Verb Raising
IP
I
Spec
AdvP

• I

NP
Perf P
-past
Adv
Louise
number -pl
Perf
VP
often
person 3rd
V
NP
s
HAVE en
this book
read
75
Agreement and Auxiliary Verb Raising
IP
I
Spec
AdvP

• I

NP
Perf P
-past
Adv
Louise
number -pl
Perf
VP
often
person 3rd
V
NP
HA
s
t
this book
read
76
Just to recollect

• Louise will often read this book.

• Louise often reads this book

• Louise has often read this book

• Louise reads often this book.

• Louise often has read this book.

77
Agreement and The Copula

• The Copula (Verb to BE) is an exceptional verb.

• As we have seen, it does not assign ?-roles.

• Also, it is a head of VP that raises to I in
  English.

78
Agreement and The Copula

• Louise is often interested in this sort of book.

• Louise often is interested in this sort of book.

79
Cyclic Copula Movement in Questions
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
a good student
be
80
Cyclic Copula Movement in Questions
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
number -pl
number -pl
a good student
be
person 3rd
person 3rd
81
Cyclic Copula Movement in Questions
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
a good student
be
82
Cyclic Copula Movement in Questions
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
past
NP
Helen
a good student
83
Cyclic Copula Movement in Questions
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
was
NP
Helen
a good student
t
84
Cyclic Copula Movement in Questions
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
V
NP
Helen
a good student
t
85
Cyclic Copula Movement in Questions
CP
C
Spec
IP
C
I
Spec
was
VP

• I

NP
V
NP
Helen
t
a good student
t
86
Case Theory Brief Overview

• Case is a morphosyntactic operation that relates
  to grammatical relations such as Subject, Object
  and Oblique.
• Pronouns are morphologically marked for case in
  English.
• All NPs are abstractly marked for case.

87
The Case Filter in English

• All overt NPs must be case-assigned.

• PRO must not be case-assigned.

88
Case Theory Brief Overview

• Case is an essential operation for NP licensing.

• NPs must be licensed to become interpretable.

• NPs must abide by case assignment principles to
  generate grammatical clauses.

89
Case Assignment in English

• A finite Inflection assigns NOMINATIVE case to
  SPEC(IP).
• Most transitive verbs assign ACCUSATIVE case to
  their complements.
• Prepositions assign ACCUSATIVE case to their
  complements.
• NPs in DET position inherit GENITIVE case.

90
Case Theory Some Facts

• I want to succeed in this task.
• I want Mary to succeed in this task.
• I want her to succeed in this task.
• To succeed in this task is nearly impossible.
• For us to succeed in this task is nearly
  impossible.

91
Case Theory Some Facts

• Me want to succeed in this task.
• I want she to succeed in this task.
• We to succeed in this task is nearly impossible.
• For we to succeed in this task is nearly
  impossible.

92
Case Assignment
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
Helen
see
Bill
93
Case Assignment
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
Helen
see
Bill
ACC
94
Case Assignment
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
Helen
see
Bill
ACC
NOM
95
Case Assignment
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
Helen
see
Bill
ACC
NOM
96
Case Assignment
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
She
see
Bill
ACC
NOM
97
Case Assignment
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
She
see
him
ACC
NOM
98
Case Assignment
IP
I
Spec
VP

• I

NP
past
V
NP
Her
see
he
ACC
NOM
99
Case Assignment
IP
Spec
I

• I

VP
CP
AdjP
V
IP
C
past
I
Spec
be
be
impossible
Ø
VP
VP
I
NP
- finite
V
PP
NP
P
succed
in
this task
100
Case Assignment
IP
Spec
I

• I

VP
CP
AdjP
V
IP
C
past
I
Spec
be
be
impossible
Ø
VP
VP
I
NP
- finite
V
PP
PRO
NP
P
succed
in
this task
101
Case Assignment
IP
Spec
I

• I

VP
CP
AdjP
V
IP
C
past
I
Spec
be
be
impossible
Ø
VP
VP
I
NP
- finite
V
PP
PRO
NP
P
succed
in
this task
ACC
102
Case Assignment
IP
Spec
I

• I

VP
CP
AdjP
V
IP
C
past
I
Spec
be
be
impossible
Ø
VP
VP
I
NP
- finite
V
PP
PRO
NP
P
succed
in
it
ACC
103
Case Assignment
IP
Spec
I

• I

VP
CP
AdjP
V
IP
C
past
I
Spec
be
be
impossible
for
VP
VP
I
NP
- finite
V
PP
PRO
NP
P
succed
in
it
ACC
ACC
104
Case Assignment
IP
Spec
I

• I

VP
CP
AdjP
V
IP
C
past
I
Spec
be
be
impossible
for
VP
VP
I
NP
- finite
V
PP
us
NP
P
succed
in
it
ACC
ACC
105
Inherent Genitive Case

• The rich schools teachers went on a strike.

• The rich school teachers went on a strike.

106
Inherent Genitive Case
NP
Spec
N
DET
N
NP
teachers
VP
DET
N
AdjP

• the

N
rich
school
107
Inherent Genitive Case
NP
Spec
N
DET
N
NP
teachers
VP
DET
N
AdjP

• the

N
rich
school
108
The rich school teachers
NP
AdjP
Spec
N
Adj
DET
N
rich
the
N
N
school
teacher