Syntax IV

November 23, 2012

Weekday Update

• Syntax homework will be posted after class today • …due on Wednesday (November 28th) • Next week, we will start working on the analysis of meaning: • Pragmatics + Semantics • Also note that the final exam for this course has been scheduled: • Monday, December 17th, 3:30-5:30 pm • EEEL 161

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.”

NP Marge I IP [-past] I’ matrix clause VP V’ V CP C’ thinks C that

CP Example

embedded clause IP NP I’ Homer I [+past] V’ V NP ate the cake VP

Infinite Recursion, part 2

• It is possible to create infinitely long sentences by embedding complementizer clauses within complementizer clauses… • John said [that Mary thought [that Robin knew [that Angela hoped [that Quinton wished [that Bronwen believed that…]]]]] • VP  V CP V CP • CP  C IP • IP  NP VP • VP  V CP V C IP V C NP VP V C NP V CP • etc.

Infinite Recursion, part 3

• There is one other (very boring) way to produce inifinitely long sentences in language: • I like baseball and basketball and hockey and football and soccer and rugby and cricket and ultimate and polo and lacrosse….

• Sentences like this take advantage of the syntactic phenomenon of

coordination

.

• Coordination combines phrases or words of the same type with a conjunction (and, but, or…) • to create a phrase or word of the same type.

• General coordination rule: X n  X n Con X n • Where X n = {XP, X’, or X}

Coordination Examples

• NP  NP and NP NP  The fat man and the little boy • VP  VP or VP VP  fish or cut bait • IP  IP but IP IP  Ringo plays drums but Paul plays bass.

• Coordination of individual words works the same way: • P  P and P • She went [[above] P and [beyond] P ] P the call of duty.

Ambiguity

• Coordination can lead to a very simple kind of structural ambiguity.

•  I like green eggs and ham.

• Interpretation #1: just the eggs are green.

• I like [[green eggs] NP and [ham] NP ] NP .

• Interpretation #2: both the eggs and ham are green.

• I like [green [[eggs] N’ and [ham] N’ ] NP .

• Let’s check out the trees…

Interpretation #1

• Only the eggs are green: IP NP I’ Pro I I [-past] VP V’ V like AP NP N’ green N eggs NP Con and NP ham

Interpretation #2

• Both the eggs and ham are green: IP NP I’ Pro I I [-past] VP V’ V like NP AP green N’ N eggs N’ Con and N’ N ham

Further Ambiguity

• Let’s try another one: • The police shot the terrorists with rifles.

• Why is this sentence ambiguous?

• (How can you describe the ambiguity, structurally?) • Interpretation #1: the terrorists have rifles.

• [with rifles] is a PP embedded in the object NP.

• Interpretation #2: the police have rifles.

• [with rifles] is a PP that

modifies

the main VP.

• Let’s check out some more trees…

NP the police

Interpretation #1

IP I [+past] I’ V shot In this one, the terrorists have the rifles.

VP V’ Det the NP N’ N terrorists P with PP P’ NP rifles

Interpretation #2

NP the police I IP [+past] I’ V shot VP V’ Det NP N’ P PP P’ NP In this one, the police are using the rifles to shoot the terrorists.

the N with rifles terrorists The PP is a

modifier

of the VP here, not a complement.

= it’s not required by the verb.

Quick Write Greatest Hits

Quick Write Greatest Hits

More Modifiers

• From the Quick Write: NP She IP I’ I VP [-past] V’ In this interpretation, “really badly” modifies “wants”.

AdvP V CP Deg Adv’ wants (I’m glossing over some of the structure here) I IP to VP V play really Adv badly NP tennis

NP She IP I’ I VP [-past] V’ V wants (I’m glossing over some of the structure here)

More Modifiers

In this interpretation, “really badly” modifies “play”.

CP I IP to VP V play NP tennis AdvP really badly