Syntax Lecture 1: X-bar Theory

2 Basic rules X2  Y2 X1 X1  X0 Y2

2 Basic rules X2  Y2 X1 X1  X0 Y2

2 Basic rules X2  Y2 X1 X1  X0 Y2

The Meaning of X and Y X and Y are category variables They stand for any category: N, V, A, P, etc. The rules are therefore very general: They govern phrases of any category

The difference between X and Y In the rules, X appears on both sides of the arrow: Whatever category X stands for on one side, it will stand for the same category on the other This means that a phrase of category X will always contain a constituent (ultimately a word) of category X This word is called the head of the phrase The Y is a non-head constituent It can be of any category, but it doesn’t have to be the same as X

The difference between X and Y Head

An Important Consequence All phrases have heads There is only one place a head can go In the head position So:- For every phrase there is a head and for every head there is a phrase

What are the numbers all about? The head (X0) is at the bottom of the tree X0 is a word X2 is at the top So X2 = XP X1 is smaller than a phrase, but bigger than a word The numbers just mark the level: Word (0) – intermediate (1) – phrase (2) Every phrase has these three levels

How come there is not just one phrase? Words which head phrases have different properties – they have different categories for one thing. If a noun heads a phrase, it will be a noun phrase If a verb heads a phrase, it will be a verb phrase Etc.

How come there is not just one phrase?

How come there is not just one phrase?

How come there is not just one phrase?

How come there is not just one phrase?

Projection We say that the properties of the phrase are projected from the lexical head Each level is therefore called a projection level X0 is the zero level projection X1 is the intermediate projection X2 is the maximal projection

The Complement Position X1  X0 Y2 This rule introduces the head AND a phrase which follows it This phrase is called the complement Heads and complements have a very special relationship The head determines what the complement will be by placing restrictions on it If the head does not take a complement, the position does not appear

The Complement Position Head selects a complement Head does not select a complement

The Complement Position

The Specifier Position X2  Y2 X1 This rule introduces the intermediate projection AND a phrase that precedes it This phrase is called the Specifier The appearance of the specifier is not determined by the head, but specifiers are not always present

The Specifier Position Phrase with a specifier Phrase without a specifier

The Specifier Position

Four possible structures

A simple demonstration

A simple demonstration

A simple demonstration

A simple demonstration NP analysis DP analysis

A simple demonstration Which of these structures is correct? This has been a much debated question since the 1980s We will return to this issue in another lecture

Notational Variants There have been other ways used to represent these ideas: The bar notation: X0 = X X1 = X (pronounced ‘X-bar’) X2 = X (pronounced ‘X-double bar’) The prime notation: X X’ X’’

X-bar theory Because the bar notation was the first one to be used (Chomsky 1970), the general theory of phrase structure is known as ‘X-bar Theory’ Because the prime notation is easiest to type, it is the most common one used All three notations express exactly the same concepts

Summary Head Complement Specifier obligatory word in every phrase determines the category of the phrase selects for complements Complement optional phrase following the head (as determined by the head) restricted by the head sister to the head Specifier optional phrase preceding the head sister to the intermediate projection (X’)