Lecture 7: Syntax III

[Note: these are lightly edited versions of overheads and notes used in class. They are provided in order to help you study, but they are not a substitute for coming to class and being prepared. The notes are incomplete, and will often be hard to make sense of if you were not in class.]

Outline

 

1. Recursion & Ambiguity

More recursion: in addition to the arguments of a verb, there are other phrases that can be optionally included in a sentence. These optional phrases, like the PP in (9b) are often known as modifiers. The PP modifier in (9b) describes where the action described by the verb takes place.

1a. The cat sat
9b. The cat sat on the mat
 
2.
a. VP --> VP PP
 
can apply to itself
b. The cat sat on the mat in the morning
c. The cat sat on the mat in the morning during the summer
 
Goes with different kinds of VPs
d. The cat chased the dog in the morning (transitive VP)
e. The cat put the ball in the box in the morning (ditransitive VP)
f. The cat realized [that the dog takes naps in the afternoon] in the morning (sentential complement VP: note that the PP "in the morning" modifies the VP in the main clause, not the VP in the embedded clause).

Another way of generating infinitely many sentences

Evidence for recursive VP structure: VP-deletion

We can show evidence to confirm the claim that when a PP combines with a VP to modify the meaning of the VP, the VP and the PP together form another VP. Recall from the last class that in sentences like (11a), a VP may be replaced by the auxiliary verb do. Now look at the sentences in (11b-f) and see what 'do' is standing in for. As you see, 'do' can stand in for strings like 'chased the dog', but it can also stand in for longer sequences like 'chased the dog in the park in the morning'. If we're right in our assumption that 'do' substitutes for phrases that are VPs, then we can conclude that all of these strings are VPs.

3.
a. The cat chased the dog, and the ferret did too.
did = chased the dog
 
b. The cat chased the dog in the morning, and the ferret did too.
did = chased the dog in the morning
 
c. The cat chased the dog in the morning, and the ferret did in the afternoon
did = chased the dog
 
d. The cat chased the dog in the park in the morning, and the ferret did in the living-room in the afternoon
did = chased the dog
 
e. The cat chased the dog in the park in the morning, and the ferret did in the afternoon
did = chased the dog in the park
 
f. The cat chased the dog in the park in the morning, and the ferret did too.
did = chased the dog in the park in the morning.

 

3. Ambiguity

Modifiers for NP or VP: account of ambiguity

4.
a. The dog in the park chased the cat

The NP 'the dog in the park', in which the PP 'in the park' modifies the meaning of the NP 'the dog', can be generated if we add to our little grammar a rule which allows PPs to combine with NPs, much in the same way that we have already seen them combining with VPs. This can be expressed in a rule like (12b).

b. NP --> NP PP

This now allows us to give an explanation for ambiguous sentences like (12c). The PP 'in the park' could be in the structure as an NP-modifier or as a VP-modifier.

c. NP or VP modifiers
The cat chased the dog in the park

Another kind of ambiguity that

d. multiple VP modifiers
Wendolene realized that Wallace likes Cheddar in the bathtub
e. Wendolene realized that Wallace likes Cheddar in the bathtub on Thursday
 
For this sentence, which contains two PP modifiers, we can generate a number of different structures for the sequence of words. There are 3 ways in which the PPs can be interpreted, and one way in which the PPs cannot be interpreted:
 
(i) both PPs interpreted in embedded clause
(ii) both PPs interpreted in main clause
(iii) first PP interpreted in embedded clause, second in main clause
(iv) IMPOSSIBLE: first PP interpreted in main clause, second in embedded clause ... the structures available to us will not allow this.
 
 

5. Modifiers for N: recursion again

a. This big dog
b. N --> AdjP N
c. AdjP --> Adj
d. This big brown dog
e. This big brown ferocious dog

6. Replacing N with 'one': testing the recursive structure

a. This small white timid one
b. This small white one
c. This small one
d. This one

7. Fromkin & Rodman's treatment of NPs & VPs

a. NP --> Art (Adj)* N (PP)
b. VP --> V (NP) (PP)

8. Our treatment of NPs & VPs

a. NP --> Det N
b. NP --> NP PP
c. N --> Adj N
d. VP --> V
e. VP --> V NP
f. VP --> V NP PP
g. VP --> V NP NP
h. VP --> V S'
i. VP --> VP PP
j. VP --> Adv VP

Advantages:

 

2. Word-order differences

Different word-order patterns can be generated using:

(i) same rules/tree-fragments as English
(ii) changing order of rules/tree-fragments
NP --> N Det
PP --> NP P
VP --> NP V
S' --> S Comp
S --> VP NP

9. Japanese: A 'Head-final' language

tomodatini futari
friends two
 
Tokyo kara
'T. from'
 
Masaga ringoo tabeta
Masa apple ate
 
Daikoga Ayumiga Kazukoo hometa to itta
Daiko Ayumi Kazuko praised that said
'Daiko said that Ayumi praised Kazuko.'

What word order patterns can we generate by reordering our basic rules?

S --> NP VP
VP --> V NP
yields SVO word order pattern

Which word orders can be generated by reordering elements of these two rules?

[accounts for rarity of OSV]

Two common word orders that we can't yet account for:

VSO (Irish, Hebrew, Tagalog)
verb-second (German, Dutch, Karitiana)

We will return to these word orders at the end of section 3.

 

3. Transformations

[THIS SECTION TO BE COVERED IN LECTURE 8 ON 10/2/97]

Question formation in English

10. yes/no questions

Does Gromit like cheese?

11. Wh-questions

a. What does Gromit like?
b. When did Wallace have breakfast?
c. Why did the chicken cross the road?
d. Who's on first?
e. Which side are you on?

Generating Wh-questions

12. What does Gromit like?
First try...
13. S --> NP Aux NP VP

But...

14. *What does Gromit like cheese?
 
15. S --> NP Aux NP VP(-arg)
 
16. What does Gromit like and Wallace hate?
 
17. S --> NP Aux S(-arg)
 
18a. Wallace thinks Gromit likes what?
18b. What does Wallace think Gromit likes?
 
19a. Wallace thinks what scared Gromit?
19b. What does Wallace think scared Gromit?
 
20a. Wendolene realized that Wallace thinks that Gromit likes what?
20b. What did Wendolene realize that Wallace thinks that Gromit likes?
 
21a. Preston pretended that Wendolene realized that Wallace thinks that Gromit likes what?
21b. What did Preston pretend that Wendolene realized that Wallace thinks that Gromit likes?

Procedure for forming wh-questions in English:

(i) Form a declarative sentence containing a wh-phrase, using the normal phrase structure rules.
(ii) Move the wh-phrase to the front of the sentence.
e.g.
Wallace thinks Gromit likes what?
-->
What does Wallace think Gromit likes?
(note: more needs to be said about the aux)

Transformational Grammar

[Ideas introduced and developed by Noam Chomsky from 1955-present.]

Auxiliary verb movement

Auxiliary verbs: will, can, have, be, must, should, do
 
22. S --> NP Aux VP
 
23a. Gromit will eat cheese.
23b. Will Gromit eat cheese?
 
24a. Gromit has hidden Wallace's trousers.
24b. Has Gromit hidden Wallace's trousers?
 
25a. Wendolene will think that Gromit has hidden Wallace's trousers.
25b. Will Wendolene think that Gromit has hidden Wallace's trousers?
25c. *Has Wendolene will think that Gromit hidden Wallace's trousers?

Structure-dependency

26a. The dog that is eating the cheese will hide Wallace's trousers.
26b. The boy who can sleep is dreaming.
 
27a. *Is the dog that eating the cheese will hide Wallace's trousers.
27b. *Can the boy who sleep is dreaming?
 
28a. Will the dog that is eating the cheese hide Wallace's trousers?
28b. Is the boy who can sleep dreaming?

yes/no-question formation:

move the auxiliary of the main clause to the front of the sentence.

Wh-questions again

"What has Gromit done?"
 
1. Deep-Str: "Gromit has done what?"
2. Aux-mvt: "has Gromit done what?"
3. Wh-mvt: "What has Gromit done?"

Cross-linguistic Word Order again...

Verb-initial: e.g. Irish, Hebrew, Arabic, Welsh

SVO followed by verb-mvt --> VSO

Verb-second: e.g. German, Dutch

Der Mann sah den Hund im Garten
the man saw the dog in-the garden
'The man saw the dog in the garden.'
 
Den Hund sah der Mann im Garten
the dog saw the man in-the garden
'The man saw the dog in the garden.'
 
Im Garten sah der Mann den Hund
in-the garden saw the man the dog
'The man saw the dog in the garden.'
 
VSO plus movement of NP or PP