Syntax VI

1. Syntax VI November 29, 2010

2. Announcements! • The time and place of the final exam will be: • Craigie Hall C 105 • Wednesday, December 15th • 8-10 am • Also note: USRIs will take place at the end of class on Wednesday, December 8th.

3. Quick Write Greatest Hits

4. Quick Write Greatest Hits

5. An Earlier Quick Write • We looked at the grammaticality of the following sentences: • Jack and Jill ran up the hill. • 0 out of 68 disapproved. • Jack and Jill ran the hill up. • 64 out of 68 disapproved. • Up the hill ran Jack and Jill. • 2 out of 68 disapproved. • Jack and Jill ran up the bill. • 15 out of 68 disapproved.

6. An Earlier Quick Write 5. Jack and Jill ran the bill up. • 24 out of 68 disapproved. • Up the bill ran Jack and Jill. • 45 out of 68 disapproved. • Note the following combination: • Jack and Jill ran the bill up. • *Jack and Jill ran the hill up. • And also this combination: • Up the hill ran Jack and Jill. • *Up the bill ran Jack and Jill.

7. An Earlier Quick Write • It’s okay to move a PP to the front of the sentence: • Up the hill ran Jack and Jill. • But you can’t move just the P to the end of the sentence: • *Jack and Jill ran the hill up. • Note that “up” behaves differently in the other sentences: • *Up the bill ran Jack and Jill. • Jack and Jill ran the bill up. • In the “bill” sentences, “up” is not a preposition, it’s a particle. • …and it’s okay to end a sentence with a particle.

8. Back to Inversion CP C’ C IP NP I’ Det N’ I VP the N is V’ boy V sleeping • Note: the auxiliary verb moves from one head slot to another. • Rule: move the I head to the C node. • This “inversion” rule creates a yes/no question.

9. Inversion Results CP C’ C IP is NP I’ [+Q] Det N’ I VP the N t V’ boy V sleeping The movement leaves a “trace” (t) behind in the I slot. • The C slot has to be marked with a [+Q] (for “question”) to make this movement happen. • …like the I slot being marked for tense.

10. Wh-Movement The Wh- particle moves from a non-head position to another non-head position. (so it doesn’t cross paths with move #1) CP NP C’ What C IP did NP I’ Bart I VP t V’ V NP kick t

11. Questions around the World • In other languages, questions can be formed by moving any verb (not just an auxiliary) to the front of the sentence. • Dutch: • Femke leest veel boeken. • “Femke reads many books.” • Q: Leest Femke veel boeken? • reads Femke many books • “Does Femke read many books?”

12. Wh non-movement • Some languages form Wh questions without moving anything. • Japanese: • Taro-ga nani-o mitsuketa-no? • Taro-subject what found-question marker • “What did Taro find?” • Swahili: • Ulipatia nani kitabu • you gave who a book • “Who did you give a book?”

13. Principles and Parameters • Language has universal features = principles • Nouns, verbs, etc. • Phrases with heads and complements. • Individual languages have options = parameters • Head-first or head-last? • Wh-movement or no Wh-movement? • Kids acquiring language get the universal principles for free; • it’s part of Universal Grammar (UG) • …but they have to figure out the “parameters” from what they hear in the world around them, as they grow up.