1. BBN-ANG-253
Advanced Syntax Lecture Course
Autumn, 2014/15
Course Description
Topic 1
Starting out: Event Structure, Aspect and the Simplest Verb Types
recapitulation: the UTAH, X-bar Theory
tense vs. aspect (lexical aspect vs. grammatical aspect)
simple vs. complex event structure
unaccusative verbs and constructions involving light verbs
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 1 Event Structure and Aspect – 2.2 Light verbs
Topic 2
More complex verb types 1
ergative verbs
transitive verbs and multiple light verb constructions
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 2.3 Ergative verbs – 2.4 Transitive verbs
Topic 3
More complex verb types 2
intransitive verbs
verbs with multiple complements
phrasal verbs
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 2.5 Intransitive verbs – 2.7 Phrasal verbs

2. Topic 4
More complex verb types 3
verbs with clausal complements
extending the analysis: aspectual auxiliaries
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 2.8 – Verbs with clausal complements – 3 Aspectual auxiliary verbs
Topic 5
Modifiers in the VP
VP-adverbs vs. sentential adverbs
PP-modifiers
Clausal modifiers
verbs that do not fit in
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 4 Adverbs, PPs and clausal modifiers
Topic 6
The Structure of IP
tense, agreement, negation
case assignment
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 6 Inflection Phrases

3. Topic 7
The Structure of CP 1
clause types
interrogative CPs: wh-movement, inversion
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 7: 1 The structure of CP – 3.5 Subject questions
Topic 8
The Structure of CP 2
wh-movement in relative clauses
further types of fronting movement: topicalisation, focus- and negative fronting
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 7: 4 Relative clauses – 6 Conclusion
Topic 9
The Structure of Non-finite Clauses 1
exceptional clauses and small clauses
raising and control
Reading: Newson et al. Ch 8 The syntax of non-finite clauses

4. Topic 10
The Structure of Non-finite Clauses 2
the gerund
Topic 11
Summary/Revision
Set text: Newson, M. et al Basic English Syntax with Exercises. Bölcsész Konzorcium, ELTE. Ch 5-8

5. Event Structure, Aspect and the Simplest Verb Types 1 Event Structure: simple versus complex events Verbs in a sentence express an event which can be an action or state. 1 a The ship sank. b The pirates sank the ship. c e = e1 d e = e1 → e2 2 a Peter sent Mary flowers b e = e1 → e2 → e3 Simple events are represented by simpler VPs while more complex events by more complex VPs. Tense: relates an event at a particular point in time to the time of speaking. Aspect: describes time relations internal to an event.

6. 2 Aspect: lexical and grammatical Lexical aspect (Aktionsart): internal to the meaning of the verb, which expresses an event with a natural endpoint. Grammatical aspect: encoded via syntactic means. 3 a The boy is eating an apple b The boy is standing in the corner Lexical and grammatical aspect in Hungarian: 4 a győz, dob, kap (morphologically simple verbs) b főz-megfőz, olvas-elolvas, takarít-kitakarít c János ’ment ’át az utcán, amikor meglátta Marit. d János átment az utcán.

7. 3 The simplest verb types
3.1 Unaccusatives
typically verbs of movement or location, taking one DP argument to which they assign a theme theta-role (with some of them a location argument, often optional, can also occur, expressed by a PP)
5 a a train arrived (on platform 6)
b a rabbit sat in the corner
they are grammatical in a there-construction (cf. raising verbs)
6 a there arrived a train on platform 6
b there sat a rabbit in the corner
c *there sat the rabbit in the corner
d a rabbit helplessly sat in the corner
e *there helplessly sat a rabbit in the corner
7 a It seems that they have a problem.
b They seem to have a problem.
c There seems to be a problem.
they are grammatical in locative inversion constructions
8 a in the corner sat a rabbit
b *on the cheek kissed Peter his mother
c *in the fridge put the girl the ice cream

8. 9 a in the corner there sat a rabbit
b on platform 6 there arrived a train
they cannot take cognate objects (cf. intransitives)
10 a *a train arrived an arrival
b he smiled a wicked smile
(11) VP VP
DP V’ DP V’
theme
V PP V

9. 3.2 Light verb constructions
type (i) typically involves verbs like have, do, take, make, etc. and a noun which carries most of the semantic content of the construction; type (ii) involves e.g. make, let, get, etc. and a VP containing a noun and a verb;
12 a he took a bath
b they had an argument
13 a he made the engine start
b he let the bottle fall (cf. he made the bottle fall)

10. (14) vP vP
DP v’ DP v’
agent
v DP v VP
DP V’ V
Note: with type one the structure is not straightforward. As it is, there is no thematic V head position, alternatively, if a thematic VP is projected, its head position remains empty.