1 LIN 1310B Introduction to Linguistics Prof: Nikolay Slavkov TA: Qinghua Tang CLASS 14, Feb 27, 2007

2 Today Announcements and Reminders: -Continue reading chapter 5. -Unmarked homework due today. Today’s Lecture: -Continue with Syntax -Assignment 2 will be made available to you

3 Review from before the break X’ schema: every phrase has an obligatory head and an optional, specifier and/or complement; this is A blueprint that should be able to account for any language of the world. Constituency tests (tests determining phrase structure): substitution, movement, co-ordination and deletion. Phrases combine with other phrases in a manner consistent with X’ theory. The largest phrase that we have encountered so far is IP (Inflection Phrase) which is equal to a sentence. IP: tense goes under the head I. In English tense is only past and non-past or +past / -past. (the future in ENG is express by modals) In English, modals go under I because they contain inherent tense.

4 Review from before the break… Merge: this syntactic operation combines words in a manner compatible with the X’ schema; it can apply recursively; it accounts for the formation of phrases and sentences of unlimited complexity. Move: this is another operation in the computational system (will have not discussed it in detail yet).

5 We already know how to draw trees for basic sentences Let’s draw a tree for the following sentence: The destruction of the city angered Peter. Now let’s add a modal (we already know modals go under I): The destruction of the city may anger Peter. What about an auxiliary? The destruction of the city may have angered Peter. The destruction of the city is angering Peter.

6 Non-modal Auxiliaries (progressive be and perfective have) The destruction of the city may have angered Peter. From the linear word order, we know that the auxiliary occurs between the modal and the main verb. So there must be a phrasal category that occurs between IP and VP. For our purposes we will assume that non-modal auxiliaries are special type of verbs that take VP as a complement. From now on we will draw a separate VP whenever there is an auxiliary. This applies for both non-modal auxiliaries have and be.

7 Auxiliary or main verb Note that have and be are not always auxiliaries: 1.I have seen this film. 2.I have fifteen apples. 3.I had visited my grandparents. 4.I had several different options.  in 1 and 3 have is the perfect auxiliary.  In 2 and 4 have is a main verb.

8 Auxiliary or main verb 1.He is walking very fast. 2.He is a nice young gentleman. 3.They were at the restaurant yesterday. 4.They have been doing homework for two weeks.  In 1 and 4 be is an auxiliary.  In 2 and 3 be is used as a main verb. This is also called copula be.

9 Complement Options (Subcategorization) Now that we have covered modals and auxiliaries, let’s look at main verbs and some of their properties. Consider the following data: The child hit his friend. *The child hit. The man died. *The man died the bird. We ate lunch. We ate. =>It seems that verbs have specific complement requirements (a complement can be required, banned or optional). =>This property of verbs is called subcategorization.

10 Complement Options (Subcategorization) Information about the complements permitted by a particular head is stored in the lexicon. E.g. of a lexical entry: devour: category V phonological representation: /dəvawər/ meaning: eat hungrily complement: NP  Since devour belongs to the subcategory of verbs that require an NP complement, we can predict that it will be ungrammatical without a complement. This prediction is borne out: *The student devoured. vs. The student devoured the food.

11 Complement Options (Subcategorization) table 5.5, p. 143

12 Complement Options (Subcategorization) Note that a word can belong to more than one subcategory. For example the verb eat can occur either with or without an NP complement. E.g. We ate lunch. We ate.

13 Complement Options (Subcategorization) Consider the following data. What can you say about the verb put ? 1.John put the book on the table. 2.*John put. 3.*John put the book. 4.*John put on the table.  put is ungrammatical without a compliment  put is ungrammatical with only an NP compliment.  put is ungrammatical with only a PP complement. Therefore put requires both an NP and a PP complement to be merged.

14 John put the book on the table. Let’s try to draw a tree for…

15 XP (Specifier)X’ X(Complement) Head We know from X’ schema that the complement is merged at the X’ level, as a sister to the head. How to analyse verbs with two complements X’ so far has allowed us a slot for only one complement. However, we will assume that for verbs like put we can have tertiary branching in order to accommodate for the two complements.

16 How to analyse verbs with two complements: tertiary branching

17 Complement options for other categories: Nouns

18 Complement options for other categories: Adjectives

19 Complement options for other categories: Prepositions

20 What we know so far… We know how to analyse (draw trees) for simple sentences which may or may not include modals and auxiliaries. We know what subcategorization is and we know that some verbs may require more than one object. Now let’s go over a basic inventory of some types of syntactic structure that we may or may not know how to analyse. Before we learn how to draw trees for these structures, we should be able to identify them and understand some of their properties.

21 Types of Syntactic structure active: The student solved the problem. (agent/subject) (theme/object) passive: The problem was solved by the student. (theme/object)(agent/subject)

22 Types of Syntactic structure declarative: Everyone should go. negation: Everyone should not go. Mary does not like chocolate. yes/no question: Should everyone go? Do you know Peter? (called do support because of the do)

23 Types of Syntactic structure Wh- question (questions using what, who, when, where, and how) I think John bought a car. What do you think John bought?

24 Types of Syntactic structure It is possible for sentences to be embedded inside other sentences. (The property of grammar which permits such embedding is called recursiveness.) We use the term clause for sentence. Hence – embedded clause. 1.I know [ that Mary has left ]. 2.I know the answer to the problem.  1 contains an embedded clause, but 2 does not.  1 has two main verbs but 2 has only one.

25 Assignment 2 due next Tuesday Draw trees for the following sentences. (1)The students in the park may have missed the train to Kingston. (2)The Bank of Canada is considering cuts in the interest rates. (3)The properties of verbs in isolation puzzled the class. (4)Susan knew that Mark could have placed the cookies in the kitchen. (5)Bill reported that a student asked whether the eclipse would occur. Note: For (4) and (5) you may want to wait until after Friday’s class (Feb 2). Alternatively, consult chapter 5 in the text.