Lecture 16: Syntax IV

[These notes are just lightly edited versions of the examples used on transparencies in class. As usual, they are posted here as a supplement to class attendance, and are not intended as a substitute for coming to class. In fact, they are likely to seem quite opaque to somebody who did not attend class.]

Transformational Grammar

What we know about Constructing Sentences (so far)

a. Words constructed from simple templates

b. Sentences have complex structure, built out of many simple pieces

c. With rules of English, grammatical sentences can be built, ungrammatical ones cannot

d. Accounts for important aspects of human linguistic creativity

e. Ambiguity can be explained

f. Languages with different word order can be described using same syntactic rules as English (with elements reversed)

Other Word Order Patterns

S --> NP VP

VP -> V NP

yields "SVO" word order pattern

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

SVO, SOV, VOS, OVS

[accounts for rarity of OSV]

Two common word orders that we can't yet account for: VSO, verb-second

In order to explain how to generate these word orders, we need to take a diversion into an area of English syntax that we also can't account for with our current set of rules.

Question formation in English

1. yes/no questions

Does Gromit like cheese?

2. 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

3.

a. What does Gromit like?

First try...

b. S --> NP Aux NP VP

But...

c. *What does Gromit like cheese?

d. S --> NP Aux NP VP(-arg)

4a. Wallace thinks Gromit likes what?

4b. What does Wallace think Gromit likes?

 

5a. Wallace thinks what scared Gromit?

5b. What does Wallace think scared Gromit?

 

6a. Wendolene realized that Wallace thinks that Gromit likes what?

6b. What did Wendolene realize that Wallace thinks that Gromit likes?

 

7a. Preston pretended that Wendolene realized that Wallace thinks that Gromit likes what?

7b. 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

"Deep Structure"

Structures built using phrase-structure rules

Encode verb-argument relations, modifier relations

 

"Surface Structure"

"Transformational Rules" turn deep structures into "Surface Structures"

Transformations involve operations such as movement or deletion, or substitution

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

Auxiliary verb movement

Auxiliary verbs: will, can, have, be, must, should, do

 

8. S --> NP Aux VP

 

9a. Gromit will eat cheese.

9b. Will Gromit eat cheese?

 

10a. Gromit has hidden Wallace's trousers.

10b. Has Gromit hidden Wallace's trousers?

 

11a. Wendolene will think that Gromit has hidden Wallace's trousers.

11b. Will Wendolene think that Gromit has hidden Wallace's trousers?

11c. *Has Wendolene will think that Gromit hidden Wallace's trousers?

 

(Incorrect) Generalization: Form a yes/no question by moving the first auxiliary to the front of the sentence.

"Structure-dependency"

Declarative sentences

12a. The dog that is eating the cheese will hide Wallace's trousers.

12b. The boy who can sleep is dreaming.

Ungrammatical yes/no questions

13a. *Is the dog that eating the cheese will hide Wallace's trousers.

13b. *Can the boy who sleep is dreaming?

Grammatical yes/no questions

14a. Will the dog that is eating the cheese hide Wallace's trousers?

14b. Is the boy who can sleep dreaming?

Yes/no-question formation rule:

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

Wh-questions again

"What has Gromit done?"

1. Deep-Structure: Gromit has done what

2. Aux-movement: has Gromit done what

3. Wh-movement: what has Gromit done

Cross-linguistic Word Order again

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

15.

a. D'imriodis na paisti anseo.

play the children here

"The children play here." (Irish)

 

b.Gwelais i bysgodyn

saw I fish

"I saw a fish." (Welsh)

 

c. ntaqada iisaa muusaa

criticized Iisa Muusa

"Iisa criticized Muusa." (Arabic)

SVO followed by verb-mvt --> VSO

Verb-Second Languages e.g. German, Dutch

16.

a. Der Mann sah den Hund im Garten

the man saw the dog in-the garden

'The man saw the dog in the garden.'

 

b. Den Hund sah der Mann im Garten

the dog saw the man in-the garden

'The man saw the dog in the garden.'

 

c. 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 to beginning of sentence, as in wh-questions in English.

Conclusions

a. Despite its complexity, syntactic structures are built out of many simple pieces and operations

b. When broken down into simple pieces and operations, different languages seem more similar

c. Everybody masters the descriptive syntactic rules of his/her native language with ease