Textbook
Syntactic Analysis: The BasicsISBN: 978-1-4443-3507-1
Paperback
192 pages
January 2011, ©2010, Wiley-Blackwell
Other Available Formats: Hardcover
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Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introductory Notes and References 1
1 Doing Science with Language: Introductory Concepts
5
This chapter introduces hypothesis formation and testing in the
realm of human language and discusses the paradox of language
acquisition. It offers an initial sketch of the
Principles&Parameters approach and the innateness
hypothesis.
2 The Structure and Classification of Words 12
Words are analyzed into roots and affixes. A system of generative
word formation is introduced involving morphemes and word formation
rules. Also discussed are criteria for identifying the lexical
class of roots, stems, and words. Finally, a discussion of the
“meaning” of particular affixes leads to the conclusion
that affixes do not have “simple” meanings, but instead
participate with a constellation of other factors to determine
meaning, something referred to as “compositional”
semantics.
3 Determining the Structure of Sentences 29
Tests of phrasehood are introduced, indicating the presence of
hierarchic structure within sentences. Also presented is some of
the core terminology of syntactic relations among phrases.
4 Rules of Sentence Structure: A First Approximation
38
Phrase structure rules are introduced as a means of explaining the
presence of hierarchic structure within sentences. Beyond basic
phrasal structure, key concepts such as structural ambiguity and
recursion are presented as further evidence of the efficacy of the
phrase structure approach to the analysis of sentences. Recursion
is noted as the key to explaining “linguistic
creativity.”
5 Assigning Meaning in Sentences 53
Presented here is the system of determining grammatical function
(subject, object, or adjunct) based on structural position.
Building on this, theta roles and argument structure are
introduced, offering an explanation both of how arguments
(subjects, objects, etc.) get their explicit meanings, and how
verbs “choose” the correct complementation pattern.
6 Some Category-Neutral Processes 63
Here, the notion of “category-neutral” processes is
first introduced, paving the way for the generally category-neutral
system of X-bar syntax presented later. The processes discussed
here are coordination and proform insertion.
7 How Structure Affects Pronoun Reference 71
This chapter introduces c-command and some of the phenomena that
ccommand has been crucial for explaining, including the
distribution of negative polarity items, and the Binding
Principles, the distribution and semantics of anaphors and
pronominals, and referring expressions. The presence of such
mechanisms as the Binding Principles in the theory of syntax points
offers further support for the innateness hypothesis.
8 Complex Verb Forms 82
The case is made here that auxiliary verbs each head a VP, so that
sentences with multiple verbs involve a recursive VP architecture.
Also, the first transformation, Affix Hopping, is introduced,
opening the discussion of transformational grammar, and the levels
deep structure and surface structure.
9 Real vs. Apparent Sentence Structure 90
Tense affixes are argued here to originate in the same position as
modal verbs do, leading to the claim that deep structure is
“abstract,” that is, consistently different in its
alignment of elements from that seen in surface forms. Also
discussed is the position of negation and the head movement rule
V-to-T, which raises an auxiliary verb to the position of tense.
All of this expands the transformational view of syntax. Arguments
are presented for the presence of a “null” tense affix
in sentences like “They like beans,” making the system
of
affixation fully general.
10 Generalizing Syntactic Rules 104
Arguments are advanced that phrases headed by themajor lexical
categories NP, VP, AjP, and PP share the same internal
architecture, pointing toward the conclusion that the rules of the
syntactic system are category-neutral rather than category-specific
– instead of having separate rules for NP or VP, a single,
general rule set explains the internal architecture of all major
phrase types.
11 Functional Categories 116
The category-neutral analysis is extended here to functional
categories such as T and C, leading to the conclusion that the
system of syntax is completely category-neutral. The rules of
syntax are few and simple. The specific details of derivations are
largely driven by the features and argument structure of the
words/morphemes employed in the derivation. The concept of
parameter setting is developed further.
12 Questions, Relative Clauses, and WH Movement 127
A number of apparent anomalies raised in the detailed consideration
of
WH questions and relative clauses are resolved by addition of the
transformation “WHmovement.”WHmovement exemplifies
phrase movement to a non-argument position. Apparent
“long”WHmovement is shown to be
composed of series of “short” moves. The WH Island
Effect is introduced in connection with this discussion. The
syntactic system is argued to be “constructionless”,
since its rules apply broadly, across different construction
types.
13 NP Movement 144
Arguments are advanced for the VP-internal subject hypothesis, the
idea that the subject of a sentence originates low, in SpecVP,
rather than in its higher surface position, SpecTP. This indicates
the existence of a rule,NP movement, which searches for an NP low
in the structure to fill the SpecTP position. This leads easily
into the analysis of passive sentences, where no subject appears in
SpecVP (due to theta role suppression), so that Move NP must find
another (non-subject) argument to fill the SpecTP position. NP
movement is also central to explaining subject-to-subject-raising
constructions, where a higher clause may “steal” the
subject of a lower clause. Like WH movement, NP movement
participates in deriving a range of constructions, supporting
further the view that the syntactic system is both category-neutral
and construction-neutral.
14 Things to Come: Various Aspects of “Current
Theory” 160
Here, three further significant aspects of syntactic analysis are
sketched out, anticipating further studies in syntax. These include
the unaccusative hypothesis (the idea that the subject of certain
apparently intransitive verbs actually starts as an object), theVP
shell hypothesis (the idea thatmultiple complements are not
“flat” but involve asymmetrical c-command), and the DP
hypothesis (the theory that “traditional” NPs are in
fact DPs, phrases headed by the functional category D).
Appendix 1: Minor Grammatical Categories 167
Appendix 2: Argument Structures 171
Index 174