Syntax Lecture 10: Auxiliaries

Types of auxiliary verb Modal auxiliaries belong to the category of inflection – They are in complementary distribution with Tense morphemes – * he may went The infinitive marker (to) – * he may to go Other modal auxiliaries – * he may can go

Types of auxiliary verb Non-modal auxiliaries (have and be – aspectual auxiliaries) are not in complementary distribution with – Tense morphemes He had/has gone He is/was going – The infinitival marker... Him to have gone... Him to be going – Modal auxiliaries He may have gone He may be going We conclude that these auxiliaries do not belong to the category of Inflection

The place of aspectual auxiliaries The auxiliaries have and be precede the main verb but follow the inflection – He may V-en/-ing The inflection always takes a VP complement – He may [ VP --- ] It follows that the auxiliaries must be inside the VP have be

The place of aspectual auxiliaries There are 4 possible positions any element can be in a phrase – Head – Complement – Specifier – Adjunct We can immediately rule out complement as the auxiliary is in front of the verb

The place of aspectual auxiliaries For auxiliaries to be specifiers or adjuncts they must be analysed as phrases But there is no reason to consider have and be as phrases The only feasible analysis is therefore that auxiliaries are verbal heads

Evidence for the V analysis of auxiliaries The VP can undergo two specific operations in English – VP fronting Give in to blackmail, this government never will – VP deletion You might apologise to her but I certainly won’t If the auxiliary heads a VP which contains another VP headed by the lexical verb, we would expect either VP to be frontable and deletable

Evidence for the V analysis of auxiliaries VP fronting – I thought he might not have written the article but

Evidence for the V analysis of auxiliaries VP fronting – I thought he might not have written the article but [ VP Written the article], he might have

Evidence for the V analysis of auxiliaries VP fronting – I thought he might not have written the article but [ VP Written the article], he might have [ VP Have written the article], he might

Evidence for the V analysis of auxiliaries VP fronting – I thought he might not have written the article but [ VP Written the article], he might have [ VP Have written the article], he might VP deletion – He won’t have written the article but

Evidence for the V analysis of auxiliaries VP fronting – I thought he might not have written the article but [ VP Written the article], he might have [ VP Have written the article], he might VP deletion – He won’t have written the article but She will have [ VP  ]

Evidence for the V analysis of auxiliaries VP fronting – I thought he might not have written the article but [ VP Written the article], he might have [ VP Have written the article], he might VP deletion – He won’t have written the article but She will have [ VP  ] She will [ VP  ]

The nature of auxiliaries Have and be are used in different contexts – Be is used When there is no verbal predicate – He is tall In progressive constructions – He is running In passive constructions – He is beaten – Have is used In perfect constructions – He has read the book

The nature of auxiliaries In all these cases (except the copula) the auxiliary bears tense and is accompanied by a specific morpheme on the following verb – He is/was running – He is/was beaten – He has/had beaten the eggs The ‘double’ appearance of auxiliary + morpheme is rather puzzling – why are both things needed?

The nature of auxiliaries In situations where tense is not present (special clauses sometimes called Small Clauses), we get the morpheme, but not the auxiliary – I saw [him running away](he was running away) – I heard [the window broken] (the window was broken) – Him finished the exam already! (he had finished the exam already) This suggests that the auxiliary’s role is simply to support tense It is the inflection that carries the appropriate meaning

Do as a dummy Do only ever appears in the inflection position and is in complementary distribution with all free inflections – * He will do not leave – * for him to do not leave However, it cannot be analysed as an inflection as it always appears with an inflection – the bound tense morpheme – He did/does not know – * He do not know

Do as a dummy Do also only ever appears in certain types of construction – Negative He did not blink – Interrogatives Did he blink What did he say We can account for this behaviour if we assume that do is used to support tense in situations where the main verb cannot: – * he blinked not – * blinked he – * what said he The main verb never precedes the negative particle not or the subject So when there is a bound inflection and the verb cannot move to support it, something else must

Do as a dummy

Seen like this, do is a dummy auxiliary – It adds nothing to the semantics of the sentence, but performs a purely grammatical role But – have and be function to support tense – the aspectual meaning they are associated with are carried by the inflections – So have and be themselves contribute no meaning Therefore, have and be also appear to be dummies

Have and be as dummies Why do we need a dummy in progressive, passive and perfect constructions? – These constructions are associated with a bound morpheme Progressive = -ing Passive = -en (or irregular forms) Perfect = -en (or irregular forms) – Typically it is the main verb which supports these He is running He was seen He has gone – English is not an agglutinating language Each head can support only one overt inflection – * he runninged – * he seened – * he goned – If the main verb supports the progressive, passive or perfect morpheme, something else must support tense

Have and be as dummies progressivepassiveperfect

Have and be as dummies What determines which dummy to use? – When the following head is perfect use have

Have and be as dummies What determines which dummy to use? – When the following head is perfect use have – When the following head is a thematic verb use do

Have and be as dummies What determines which dummy to use? – When the following head is perfect use have – When the following head is a thematic verb use do – Use be in all other cases

Have and be as dummies What determines which dummy to use? – When the following head is perfect use have – When the following head is a thematic verb use do – Use be in all other cases

Combinations Because the aspectual heads select for VP complements and project VPs, they are not in complementary distribution When they appear together they have a strict order: – Perfect – progressive – passive He had been running(perf + prog) He was being followed(prog + pass) He had been followed(perf + pass) He had been being followed(perf + prog + pass)

The worst case

Conclusion The non-modal (aspectual) elements in English are verbal They are realised as bound morphemes Because English is not agglutinating, the main verb can only support one overt morpheme When an aspectual morpheme is present, tense and other bound morphemes therefore have to be bound by a dummy auxiliary Have, be and do are all dummy auxiliaries used to bind tense and other morphemes under various situations