Bare phrase structureNull subjectsNull auxiliariesSept. 17, 2010 – Day 9Introduction to Syntax
ANTH 3590/7590
Harry Howard
Tulane University
Course management
http://www.tulane.edu/~howard/ANTH3590/ I changed the day numbering of the
presentations and recordings to follow the syllabus.
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§2.8 BARE PHRASE STRUCTURE
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SKIP IT
This section explores reasons for eliminating the labels on the nodes of a tree.
Read to get an idea for the kind of argumentation that Chomsky uses.
But the book does not pursue it, so we won’t, either.
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§3.2 NULL SUBJECTS
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Review
We have already discussed null subjects:a. ¿Ha llamado María? [has called Mary]b. Sí, ha llamado. [yes, has called]
English has null subjects in some imperatives Don’t lose your nerve!
And in some truncated clauses Hope you have a good time.
And in some nonfinite clauses We would like to stay.
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TWO KINDS OF NULL SUBJECTS
pro for Spanish finite clauses [TP pro [T ’ ha [VP llamado]]]
PRO for English non-finite clauses We would like [TP PRO [T ’ to [VP stay]]]
Some terminology for PRO PRO is controlled by the subject of the matrix
clause. The subject of the matrix clause is the
antecedent or controller of PRO. A verb that requires a nonfinite clause with PRO
is known as a control verb. The clause containing PRO is called a control
clause.
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WHY POSIT PRO?
The verb in a control clause has an understood subject.
Some control clauses have an alternate version with a full subjecta. Mary promised [PRO to come to my party]b. Mary promised [she would come to my party]
Reflexive pronouns need a local antecedenta. They want Mary to help herself. b. *They want Mary to help themselves.c. They want to help themselves.
… and sometimes the matrix doesn’t supply one It’s important to not take oneself too seriously. It’s important [PRO to not take oneself too
seriously] this is arbitrary reference (PRO arb)
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§3.3 NULL AUXILIARIES
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THE PROBLEM I have mentioned truncated clauses a few times.
Some of them are missing both a subject and an auxiliary verb: Having a good time?
Radford uses different data: ellipsis and gapping What do you make of example 15?
He could have helped her, or she have helped him. British English difference
May I have a look at your papers? You may (do). Contraction/cliticization ~ enclitics
How do you pronounce the contracted versions of … should have > [ʃʊ.dəv] you have > [juv]
Which gives example 18: *He could have helped her, or she’ve helped him.
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CONCLUSION
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NEXT TIME3.5 Null complementizers
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