1. :
2018

2. Syntax: A First Encounter
Marcel den Dikken
Department of English Linguistics
ELTE

3. SAFE Savings → our main savings from this course are these:
• a generative syntax is a formal system that is capable of
deriving (or ‘generating’) all and only those sentences of
human natural language that are grammatical
• sentences are formed by combining heads and phrases
into X-bar projections in accordance with
(a) the Projection Principle (all lexical information,
for category, subcategorisation, and thematic (or
θ-) roles, must be syntactically represented)
(b) the θ-Criterion (θ-role↔argument biuniqueness)
(c) the UTAH (correspondence between thematic and
structural relationships)

4. SAFE Savings → our main savings from this course are these:
• verbs project their internal arguments within VP but need
a ‘little v’ to get their external θ-role and accusative Case
assigned (cf. Burzio’s Generalisation)
• finite I, which projects outside the v–VP core, entertains
a Spec-Head relationship with its specifier under which
(a) person/number agreement between the finite verb
and the structural subject is checked
(b) nominative Case is assigned to the subject
• on top of IP a projection of the functional head C can be
included in the structure of the sentence
(a) C serves as the locus for lexical complementisers
and as the landing-site for Subject–Aux Inversion
(b) SpecCP serves as the host for wh-operators (incl.
whether) and the null operator

5. SAFE Savings → our main savings from this course are these:
• heads and phrases can undergo movement; all occur-
rences of movement leave a trace behind

6. SAFE Savings → our main savings from this course are these: vP DP she
V-to-v head movement DP
she v′ v VP Vi
put v Ø DP
them V′ V PP
on the floor ti

7. phrasal movement to SpecIP
SAFE 13
SAFE Savings
→ our main savings from this course are these: IP
phrasal movement to SpecIP
DPj
she I′ I vP do I
-ed DP tj v′
put them on the floor

8. phrasal movement to SpecCP phrasal movement to SpecIP
SAFE 13
SAFE Savings
→ our main savings from this course are these:
phrasal movement to SpecCP CP
I-to-C head movement
whatk C′ C
phrasal movement to SpecIP IP In C
DPj I′
did
[Q]
she I vP tn
tj put tk on the floor

9. SAFE Savings → our main savings from this course are these:
• heads and phrases can undergo movement; all occur-
rences of movement leave a trace behind
• the nominal phrase has a structure broadly similar to
that of the clause, featuring the functional categories
Q (for quantifiers) and D (for determiners)
• the D-head of possessive nominal phrases is occupied in
English by the genitival marker ’s, which, like person/
number marking in finite I, entertains a Spec-Head agree-
ment relation with its specifier

10. SAFE Savings DP DP D′ D QP D′ ’s Q′ D NP the library Q NP many/few
books

11. SAFE Savings IP DP I′ I vP D′ -s hold many/few books D NP the library

12. SAFE Savings → our main savings from this course are these:
• heads and phrases can undergo movement; all occur-
rences of movement leave a trace behind
• the nominal phrase has a structure broadly similar to
that of the clause, featuring the functional categories
Q (for quantifiers) and D (for determiners)
• the D-head of possessive nominal phrases is occupied in
English by the genitival marker ’s, which, like person/
number marking in finite I, entertains a Spec-Head agree-
ment relation with its specifier
• the structural parallelism between clauses and nominal
phrases is further enhanced by the binding asymmetries
(involving reflexives, pronouns, and names) found
between subjects/possessors, on the one hand, and
hierarchically lower constituents, on the other

13. Syntax: A First Encounter
Marcel den Dikken
Department of English Linguistics
ELTE

14. :
2018