Linguistics Lecture-12:

X-bar Theory; Adjuncts and Complements

Pushpak Bhattacharyya,CSE Department,

IIT BombayFebruary 28th, 2009

(main text: Syntax by Adrew Carnie, Blackwell Publication, 2002)

How deep should a tree be?

• Is there a principle in branching

• When should the constituent give rise to children?

• What is the hierarchy building principle?

Deeper trees needed for capturing sentence structure

NP

PPAP

big

The

of poems

with the blue cover

[The big book of poems with theBlue cover] is on the table.

book

This wont do! Flat structure!

PP

Other languages

NP

PPAP

big

The

of poems

with the blue cover

[niil jilda vaalii kavita kii kitaab]

book

English

NP

PPAP

niil jilda vaalii kavita kii

kitaab

PP

badii

Hindi

PP

Other languages: contd

NP

PPAP

big

The

of poems

with the blue cover

[niil malaat deovaa kavitar bai ti]

book

English

NP

PPAP

niil malaat deovaa kavitar

bai

PP

motaa

Bengali

PPti

PPs are at the same level: flat with respect to the head word “book”

NP

PPAP

big

The

of poems

with the blue cover

[The big book of poems with theBlue cover] is on the table.

book

No distinction in terms of dominance or c-command

PP

“Constituency test of Replacement” runs into problems

• One-replacement:– I bought the big [book of poems with the blue

cover] not the small [one]– One-replacement targets book of poems with

the blue cover

• Another one-replacement:– I bought the big [book of poems] with the blue

cover not the small [one] with the red cover– One-replacement targets book of poems

More deeply embedded structureNP

PP

AP

big

The

of poems

with the blue cover

N’1

Nbook

PP

N’2

N’3

To target N1’

• I want [NPthis [N’big book of poems with the red cover] and not [Nthat [None]]

Bar-level projections

• Add intermediate structures– NP (D) N’– N’ (AP) N’ | N’ (PP) | N (PP)

• () indicates optionality

New rules produce this treeNP

PP

AP

big

The

of poems

with the blue cover

N’1

Nbook

PP

N’2

N’3

N-bar

As opposed to this tree

NP

PPAP

big

The

of poems

with the blue coverbook

PP

V-bar

• What is the element in verbs corresponding to one-replacement for nouns

• do-so or did-so

As opposed to this tree

NP

PPAP

big

The

of poems

with the blue coverbook

PP

I [eat beans with a fork]

VP

NP

beans

eat

with a fork

PP

No constituent that groups together V and NP and excludesPP

Need for intermediate constituents

• I [eat beans] with a fork but Ram [does so] with a spoon

V2’

NP

beans

eat

with a fork

PP

VP

V1’

V

VPV’V’ V’ (PP)V’ V (NP)

How to target V1’

• I [eat beans with a fork], and Ram [does so] too.

V2’

NP

beans

eat

with a fork

PP

VP

V1’

V

VPV’V’ V’ (PP)V’ V (NP)

Case of conjunction

V3’

NP

beans

eat

In the afternoon

PP

VP

V1’

V

V4’

NP

coffee

drink

V

V2’

Conjand

A-bar: adjectives

A3’

A4’

blue

Very

AP

bright

A5’

A6’

green

A1’

AP

A2’

Conjand

AP AP

dull

AP A’A’ (AP) A’A’ A (PP)

So-replacement for adjectives

• Ram is very serious about studies , but less so than Shyam

P-bar: prepositions

P2’

NP

the table

right

AP

off

P3’

NP

the trash

A1’

AP

P1’

Conjand

P P

into

PP P’P’ P’ (PP)P’ P (NP)

PP

So-replacement for Prepositions

• Ram is utterly in debt, but Shyam is only partly so.

Complements and Adjuncts or

Arguments and Adjuncts

Rules in bar notation: Noun

• NP (D) N’

• N’ (AP) N’

• N’ N’ (PP)

• N’ N (PP)

Rules in bar notation: Verb

• VP V’

• V’ V’ (PP)

• V’ V (NP)

Rules in bar notation: Adjective

• AP A’

• A’ (AP) A’

• A’ A (PP)

Rules in bar notation: Preposition

• PP P’

• P’ P’ (PP)

• P’ P (NP)

Introducing the “X factor”

• Let X stand for any category N, V, A, P

• Let XP stand for NP, VP, AP and PP

• Let X’ stand for N’, V’, A’ and P’

XP to X’

• Collect the first level rules– NP (D) N’– VP V’– AP A’– PP P’

• And produce– XP (YP) X’

X’ to X’

• Collect the 2nd level rules– N’ (AP) N’ or N’ (PP)– V’ V’ (PP)– A’ (AP) A’– P’ P’ (PP)

• And produce– X’ (ZP) X’ or X (ZP)

X’ to X

• Collect the 3rd level rules– N’ N (PP)– V’ V (NP)– A’ A (PP)– P’ P (NP)

• And produce– X’ X (WP)

Basic observations about X and X’

• X’ X (WP)

• X’ X’ (ZP)

• X is called Head

• Phrases must have Heads: Headedness property

• Category of XP and X must match: Endocentricity

Basic observations about X and X’

• X’ X (WP)

• X’ X’ (ZP)

• Sisters of X are complements– Roughly correspond to objects

• Sisters of X’ are Adjuncts– PPs and Adjectives are typical adjuncts

• We have adjunct rules and complement rules

Structural difference between complements and adjuncts

X’

WP

Complement

X’

X

ZP

XP

Adjunct

Complements and Adjuncts in NPs

N’

PP

of poems

N’

N

ZP

NP

with red cover

book

Any number of Adjuncts

N’

PP

of poems

N’

N

ZP

N’

with red cover

book

NP

from Oxford Press