Syntax

1. Syntax Thestructureofsentences

2. Learningobjectives Explainthenotions “language organ” and “UniversalGrammar” Explainthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenlanguages (principlesandparameters) Explain how sentences are constructed

3. Evidence for anindependentlanguagefaculty: Peopledisplay a knowledgeofgrammarthat is deeperthanwhattheycouldgetfromthelinguisticinputtheyreceive – thepoverty-of-thestimulus argument Languageimpairment (aphasia/Downsyndrome): languageindependentfromintelligence

4. UniversalGrammar: Principles & parameters People – “pre-programmed” withprinciplesofgrammar – UniversalGrammar (UG) Universalgrammarhas a biologicalbasis– alanguage organ Principlesof UG are commonacross all languages One oftheseprinciples, which is considered as anessentialpropertyof human language, is recursion: allowsindividuals to understandanunlimitednumberofsentenceswithoutmemorizingeach one ofthem (cf. povertyofstimulus)

5. Principleofrecursion Grammars are finite but theynonethelessenableindividuals to produceandunderstandaninfinitenumberofsentences This is madepossiblethroughtheprincipleofrecursion Recursionmeansthatgrammaticalprocessescanapply more thanonce, whichenablesspeakers to producesentencesofindefinitelengthandcomplexity

6. Mechanismsofrecursion Embedding: One canalwaysaddadditionalsubordinateclauseswithin a frameofthe sentence e.g. This is thehousethatJackbuilt<ThisisthecheesethatlayinthehousethatJackbuilt< Thisisthe mouse thatnibbledthecheesethatlayinthehousethatJackbuiltetc. Coordination: Wecan use coordinatingconjunctions (and, but, oretc.) to link anindefinitenumberofsentences e.g. Marywent to theairportandJohnwenttothe bus station but Joannacancelled her tripandwent to themall.

7. Parametersof UG Some oftheprinciplesof UG are underspecified, whichmeansthattheycanberealizedthroughdifferentparametersindifferentlanguages Once all theparametershavebeencorrectly set for a particularlanguage, thenwehaveagrammar for thislanguage Example: everylanguage must have a subject – principle (underspecified); subjectcanbeexpressedindifferentways – parametervalues (pronounsinEnglishandItalian)

8. Modularityoflanguage Principlesandparameters – partof a syntacticcomputationalmechanism Thismechanismfeedsboththearticulatory (phonetic) componentandtheinterpretative (semantic) component Eachofthesecomponentsfunctionsindependently - modularity Variousmodulescanfeedeachotherthroughinterfaces Phoneticform (PF) interfacewitharticulatory module; Logicalform (LF) – interfacewiththeinterpretative module

9. Y-model: centralityofsyntax Syntaxdrawsinformationfromthelexiconand “feeds” both PF and LF PF LF Lexicon Syntax

10. Table ofgrammaticalcategories

11. Lexical vs. Functionalcategories Wordsthatbelong to lexicalcategories are semanticallyrichandcontributeprimarily to themeaningofthe sentence (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions) – opencategory Wordsinfunctionalcategories – semanticallyweak, andcontribute more to thegrammarofsentencesthan to themeaning (e.g. determiners) – closedcategory

12. Compositionality Grammarofeverylanguage – compositionalandhierarchical Sentences are madeofsmallerconstituents (phrases), whichinturn are madeupofevensmallerconstituents (words)

13. Compositionality: Constituencytests 1) nounreplacement (A girlwith a golden earring ate anapple > Sheateanapple vs. *Shewith a golden earring ate anapple)- onlyanentirenominalconstituentcanbereplacedwith a pronoun 2) verbreplacement (She ate anappleandsodid I vs. *She ate anappleandsodid I a pear)- onlyanentireverbalconstituentcanbereplacedwithdo Certain groups ofwordsform close units: constituents, e.g. Nominalconstituent (1) (NP=nounphrase), (2) verbalconstituent (VP=verbphrase)

14. Hierarchy Eventhoughsentences are linear on thesurface, theirconstituents are organizedin a hierarchicalway

15. Projection Composingthestructureof a sentence beginswithwordsthatbelong to categoriessuch as noun, verb, preposition, adjective, or determiner Thesewords – heads ofphrases Phrases are constructedbottom-up: wordsaredrawnfrom a lexicon – amentaldictionarystoredinpeople’s brain - andmergedintostructures Oncethey are insertedintostructuresthey project phrases (XPs) ofthe same category (e.g. NP, VP, DP) whichformlargerconstituentsthatcompose a sentence

16. Complementizerphrase (CP) Thebasicfunctionofcomplementizers is to turnanindependent sentence into a complement Thereforeeachsubordinateclause is headedbyanadditionalphraseprojectedbythecomplementizer (CP) Differenttypesofcomplementizersdepending on thetypeofsubordinateclause: indeclaratives, complementizers like that (I heardthatthosechildrenwant a puppy); ininterrogatives, complementizers like if (He wonderedif it wouldrain) A CP selects a TP inthiscontext

17. CP insimplesentences Matrixclausescanalsobedividedindifferenttypes (e.g. declarative, interrogative, exclamative) Insubordinatecontexts, differenttypesofclauses are associatedwithdifferentcomplementizers,

18. Adjunction Heads, complements, andspecifiersmakeupthecoremeaningof a phrase, whileadjunctsaddextradescription (Thoselittlechildreninthe park want a puppybadly)

19. Movement Besides building phrasestructures, syntaxcanalsomovepartsofphrasestructuresaround, bydetachingthemfromthepositioninwhichtheywereoriginallyinsertedinthestructure, andmovingthemsomewhereelse

20. Movementanddeletion Movementfunctionsbycopyinganiteminto a new location, leaving a copyinthe original position (sometimesdescribed as a trace (t). Thiscopy must laterbedeleted, becausebothcopiescannotbepronounced at the same time Syntaxdistinguishesbetweentwotypesofmovements: headmovement (e.g. auxiliarymovementinquestions) andphrasalmovement (e.g. wh-movementinquestions)

21. Summary Muchofgrammaticalstructuredoesnothave to be “learned” People “know” a lotaboutwhat is or isn’t a possiblegrammaticalstructurewithouthavingbeentaught, or evenhaving had therightkindofexperience to havelearned it: theyknowitbecauseprinciplesof UG are innate Theprincipleofrecursionenablesindividuals to produceandunderstandaninfinitenumberofsentencesbased on a limitedinput (cf. Povertyofstimulus)

22. Summary One principleofthestructureofsentences – compositionality: sentences are composedofclausesandphrases, whichinturnaremadeupofsmallerclausesandphrases or words Compositionality - achievedbyprojectionofsimplephrasesfromwordsfromthementallexicon Thephrasesprojectedtake on thelexicalandfunctionalcategoriesofthewordsthat project them

23. Summary Some phraseshavecomplementand/or specifierbrancheswhichmergewithphrasesthathavebeenprojectedfromotherwords A specialkindofmerge – adjunction, whichallowsmodifiers (e.g. adjectivesandadverbs) to beincludedin a phrase Oncephrases are constructedbyprojectionandmerge, theycanbefurthermodifiedbyvarioustypesofmovement (e.g. headmovementandphrasalmovement)

24. Summary Formalsyntax - based on deducingabstractgrammaticalprinciplesfromobservingwhatsentences are possibleandnotpossible, withoutregard to how they are used Formalapproachesinsist on thecentralityofsyntaxwhithinthe human languagefaculty; othertypesofapproaches (e.g. functionalperspectives) put greateremphasis on semantics or languageusage