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