Bare phrase structure Null subjects Null auxiliaries Sept. 17, 2010 – Day 9 Introduction to Syntax ANTH 3590/7590 Harry Howard Tulane University

C OURSE MANAGEMENT I changed the day numbering of the presentations and recordings to follow the syllabus. 9/17/10 2 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

§2.8 BARE PHRASE STRUCTURE 9/17/10 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane 3

SKIP IT This section explores reasons for eliminating the labels on the nodes of a tree. Read to get an idea for the kind of argumentation that Chomsky uses. But the book does not pursue it, so we won’t, either. 9/17/10 4 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

§3.2 NULL SUBJECTS 9/17/10 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane 5

R EVIEW We have already discussed null subjects: a. ¿Ha llamado María?[has called Mary] b. Sí, ha llamado.[yes, has called] English has null subjects in some imperatives Don’t lose your nerve! And in some truncated clauses Hope you have a good time. And in some nonfinite clauses We would like to stay. 9/17/10 6 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

TWO KINDS OF NULL SUBJECTS pro for Spanish finite clauses [ TP pro [ T’ ha [ VP llamado]]] PRO for English non-finite clauses We would like [ TP PRO [ T’ to [ VP stay]]] Some terminology for PRO PRO is controlled by the subject of the matrix clause. The subject of the matrix clause is the antecedent or controller of PRO. A verb that requires a nonfinite clause with PRO is known as a control verb. The clause containing PRO is called a control clause. 9/17/10 7 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

WHY POSIT PRO? The verb in a control clause has an understood subject. Some control clauses have an alternate version with a full subject a. Mary promised [PRO to come to my party] b. Mary promised [she would come to my party] Reflexive pronouns need a local antecedent a. They want Mary to help herself. b. *They want Mary to help themselves. c. They want to help themselves. … and sometimes the matrix doesn’t supply one It’s important to not take oneself too seriously. It’s important [PRO to not take oneself too seriously] this is arbitrary reference (PRO arb) 9/17/10 8 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

§3.3 NULL AUXILIARIES 9/17/10 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane 9

THE PROBLEM I have mentioned truncated clauses a few times. Some of them are missing both a subject and an auxiliary verb: Having a good time? Radford uses different data: ellipsis and gapping What do you make of example 15? He could have helped her, or she have helped him. British English difference May I have a look at your papers? You may (do). Contraction/cliticization ~ enclitics How do you pronounce the contracted versions of … should have > [ ʃʊ.dəv ] you have > [ juv ] Which gives example 18: *He could have helped her, or she’ve helped him. 9/17/10 10 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

CONCLUSION [ TP she [ T’ could [ VP have helped him]]] 9/17/10 11 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

NEXT TIME 3.5 Null complementizers 9/17/10 ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane 12