Transcript 27-SyntaxIV

Syntax III
November 21, 2012
Just So You Know
• Phonology homeworks have been graded!
• Syntax homework will be posted on Friday…
• And will be due on Wednesday of next week
• (the 28th of November)
• Let’s check out the remaining practice sentences for
syntax…
There is no “I” in “verb”
•
In English, the I slot may be explicitly filled with
auxiliary verbs:
•
be {am, are, is, was, were}
•
have {has, had}
•
Verbs following auxiliaries bear affixes marking them
for tense {am going, has gone} or voice {is gone}.
•
Modals are a special kind of auxiliary verb:
•
•
will, would, can, could, shall, should, may, might,
must, (do/did)
Verbs following modals are always in their root
(infinitive) form. {I must go; I could go; etc.}
Potential Problems
• There are some limitations on the extent to which the
syntactic rules can ignore the specific words that fit into
each phrase.
• Example (from last week’s Quick Write):
• Is it possible to “swim a carcass”?
Sub-categorization
• It turns out that it is necessary to break lexical categories
down further, into sub-categories.
• For instance, some verbs must be followed by a noun
phrase:
I devoured the sandwich.
*I devoured.
I invited the teacher.
*I invited.
• Other verbs must not be followed by a noun phrase:
I sprinted.
*I sprinted the ball.
I slept.
*I slept the dog.
I danced.
*I danced the horse.
Verb Sub-Category #1
• Intransitive Verbs (Vi): must not be followed by an NP
• = they do not take an object NP as a complement.
• VP  Vi
•  *VP  Vi NP
• Examples: sneeze, fall, elapse, snorkel
• Good: The boy slept.
• Bad: *The boy slept the dog.
• Good: The girl fell.
• Bad: *The girl fell the dog.
Verb Sub-Category #2
• Transitive Verbs (Vt): must be followed by an NP
• = they must take an object NP as a complement.
• VP  Vt NP
•  *VP  Vt
• Examples: devour, defy, harm, invite
• Good: The children harmed the dog.
• Bad: *The children harmed.
• Good: The zombies devoured the vampires.
• Bad: *The zombies devoured.
Verb Sub-Category #3
• Ditransitive Verbs (Vdt): can be followed by two objects
• = either two NPs or a combination of {NP, PP}.
• VP  Vdt NP NP
•  *VP  Vdt
• Examples: give, sell, send, put
• Good: The boy gave the dog a bone.
• Bad: *?The boy gave the dog.
• Alternative: The students sold a chew toy to the professor.
A + N Sub-categories
• Adjectives and nouns can have complement requirements,
too--often for particular PPs:
Mary is fond of John.
*Mary is fond.
*Mary is fond by John.
• Some nouns require specific prepositional phrases:
George talked about our reliance on oil.
*George talked about our reliance.
*George talked about our reliance for oil.
• This information has to be included in the lexicon for each
word.
Verb Sub-Category #4
• Sentential Verbs (Vs):
• = include a sentence in their complement.
• Examples: know, believe, wonder, think…
• Marge thinks that [Homer ate the cake]IP.
• Don wondered whether [Sidney scored a goal]IP.
• Phoebe believed that [Chandler married Monika]IP.
• Gandalf knew if [Frodo had the ring]IP.
• Notice that the sentence in the VP complement is always
preceded by a funny kind of word:
• that, whether, if…
Complementizer Phrases
• New lexical category: complementizers (C).
• Ex: if, that, whether
• Complementizers function as the heads of
complementizer phrases. (CPs)
• The complement of the CP is another IP (sentence).
• Ex: Marge thinks [that [Homer ate the cake]IP]CP.
• Matrix clause = highest-level sentence
• “Marge thinks…”
• Complement, or embedded clause = within the CP
• “Homer ate the cake.”
matrix clause
IP
NP
I’
Marge I
[-past]
VP
V’
CP
V
C’
thinks C
that
embedded clause
IP
NP
I’
Homer
I
VP
[+past] V’
CP Example
V
NP
ate
the cake