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Phrases & clausesDay 6, Sept. 10, 2012Introduction to Syntax
ANTH 3590/7590
Harry Howard
Tulane University
Course management
http://www.tulane.edu/~howard/ANTH3590/
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§2.2 Phrases
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Phrases
Phrases are formed by merging two words together Every major category projects a phrase. The category that projects the phrase is called the head
of the phrase. They are represented with labelled tree diagrams or
labelled brackets. Minor categories can project a phrase, too.
Note how the infinitive that follows to looks like its noun complement.
Principles of organization Headedness: every non-terminal node is a projection
of a head. Binarity: every non-terminal node is binary branching.
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Binary branching
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A X B
XP
A
X B
XP
X?
Say we come across a phrase consisting of ‘AXB’, with ‘X’ as its head. How can the phrase be represented?
§2.3 Clauses
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Clauses
What is a clause? A subject and a predicate Something with a conjugated verb
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First try
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PRN T VP[S ]
S
Clauses have a special projection just for them, called ‘S’ for ‘sentence’:
What is wrong with this picture?No binary branching.
No head.
second try
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PRN T VP
T’
Clauses are a projection of Tense:
T ’ is called an intermediate projection, while TP is the maximal projection.
[TP [T’ ]]
TP
Subjects
English is strange in that it requires (tensed) clauses to have subjects. This is another way of saying that English is not
a null subject language. A tensed clause in English needs a subject even
if it has no meaning, such as in the following examples of expletive pronouns: It was raining. There has been an accident.
How to state the requirement for a subject? English Tense auxiliaries appear to carry a
feature (the EPP feature) which requires TP to have a subject.
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Linear word order
The binarity principle creates so many nodes arranged in a hierarchical structure that linear order can be ‘read off’ of it. Linear order is redundant with hierarchical
structure and so should be eliminated. Syntactic trees only contain hierarchical
relationships, e.g. containment and constituent structure.
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Modifiers
Usually are in intermediate projections. 20a) American intervention in Iraq 20b) quite independently of me 20c) straight to bed 20d) so dramatic an ending
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Spec
The position at the beginning of a phrase is called the Spec(ifier) of the head or phrase.
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Ex 2.1
Go over sentences 1-8, p. 70
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NEXT TIMETesting structure, c-command, bare phrase structure, summary
§2.5 - 2.9, Ex 2.2
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