1. Lecture Four
Syntax

2. Definition
It’s a kind of micro linguistics that studies how words are combined to form sentences and the rules that govern the formation of sentences. (Transformational syntax to be introduced in the book.)
Word-level categories
Category refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language. Traditionally, category is termed as “parts of speech”.

3. Major lexical categories and minor lexical categories
Examples of some lexical categories
Major lexical categories
Examples
Noun (N)
Verb (V)
Adjective (A)
Preposition (P)
book, boy, love, sheep
run, read, play
happy, tall, clear
about, over, on
Minor lexical categories
Determiner (Det)
Degree word (Deg)
Qualifier (Qual)
Auxiliary (Aux)
Conjunction (Con)
the, a, this, those
quite, very, more, so
often, always, seldom, almost
must, should, can, might
and, but, or

4. A word’s distributional facts together with information about its meaning and inflectional capability help identify its syntactic category.
Meaning: John, pen, book, pretty lady, left quietly
Inflection: plural affixes, tenses, degrees
Distribution: the girl, a card, should stay, will help

5. Definition: Categories which are built around a certain word category.
Phrase categories
Definition: Categories which are built around a certain word category.
Types:
Noun phrase (NP): the pretty girl
Verb phrase (VP): often dream
Adjective phrase (AP): very pessimistic
Prepositional phrase (PP): in the house
Adverbial phrase (ADVP): very quickly (Wen, p. 118)
Head, specifier and complement

6. Phrase structure rule Introduction:
NP (Det) N (PP) …
VP (Qual) V (NP) …
AP (Deg) A (PP) …
PP (Deg) P (NP) …
(Note: “ ” means “consist of”; ( ) means “can be omitted”; “…” means other complement options are available)

7. The XP rule: XP (specifier) X (complement) X ˉ Theory
a. XP (specifier) X ˉ
b. X ˉ X (complement)
Coordination rule
X X * Con X
Phrase elements
Specifier: specify the meaning of head, top level of phrase structures, syntactic category may be different
Complements: provide information about entities and locations, a word’s complement is included in the head
Revised XP rule: XP (specifier) X (complement *) (see p.50)

8. Examples of some As, Ns, and Ps permitting CP complements Items Heads
Adjectives
afraid, certain, aware
I was afraid that nobody would believe me.
Nouns
fact, claim, belief
She can’t believe the fact that she would fail in the exam.
Prepositions
over, about
They argued over whether she had come to class.
(Note: complementizier – that, whether, if; CP – complement phrase)

9. Modifiers Modifier position in English Modifier Position Example AP
precedes the head
A very careful girl PP
follows the head
open with care
AdvP
precedes or follows the head
read carefully; carefully read
The expanded XP rule:
XP (Spec) (Mod) X (Complement *) (Mod)
(Note: difference between complement and modifier)

10. Sentences (The S rule)
The S rule
S NP VP
InflP (=S) (following the XP rule, with an internal structure)

11. Transformations
Auxiliary movement
Inversion (revised):
Move Infl to C

12. One application
* The teacher wonders [CP if should his student _____ stay].
(Note: complementizers and auxiliaries are mutually exclusive)
Auxiliary unchanged, trace and head movement
Do insertion
Deep structure and surface structure
Deep structure: XP rule which determines the internal structure of the phrasal categories.

13. Further illustration The XP rule DEEP STRUCTURE
Transformations (Subcategorization restricts choice of complements)
SURFACE STRUCTURE
(Note: When transformations are not necessary, the representations of these two levels are the same)

14. An example in which wh occupies the subject position
Wh Movement
An example in which wh occupies the subject position
An example sentence with a relative clause
She has finally found the man whom she loves.
D-structure
S-structure

15. Move αand constrains on transformations
References
Dai, W. D & He, Z. X. (2002). A new concise course on linguistics for students of English. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

16. Task
Do the following as required in groups of four or five:
The following sentences all contain embedded clauses that function as complements of a verb, an adjective, a preposition or a noun. Draw a tree structure for each sentence.
You know that I hate war.
He said that Tom asked whether the class was over.
Gerry can’t believe the fact that Anna flunked the English exam.
Chris was happy that his father bought him a Rolls-Royce.
The children argued over whether bats had wings.

17. Each of the following sentences contains a relative clause
Each of the following sentences contains a relative clause. Draw the deep structure and the surface structure trees for each of these sentences.
The essay that he wrote was too long.
]The dog that he keeps bites
Herbert found the man she loved.
The girl whom he often quarrels with majors in linguistics.

18. The derivations of the following sentences involve the inversion transformation. Give the deep structure and the surface structure of each of these sentences.
Would you come tomorrow?
Can you pass me the newspaper?
Should the student report the incident?
What did you eat for lunch?
Who should this be reported to?
What was Helen bringing to the party?