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Long Distance Dependencies (Filler-Gap Constructions) and Relative Clauses. October 10, 2007 11-721: Grammars and Lexicons Lori Levin (Examples from Kroeger and Van Valin). Outline. What is a filler-gap construction? What is a long-distance dependency? What is a relative clause?
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Long Distance Dependencies(Filler-Gap Constructions)and Relative Clauses October 10, 2007 11-721: Grammars and Lexicons Lori Levin (Examples from Kroeger and Van Valin)
Outline • What is a filler-gap construction? • What is a long-distance dependency? • What is a relative clause? • Relative clauses in various languages • Long distance dependencies in Malagasy • Where can the gap be? • What do you do if you need to put a gap where it is not allowed? • Where can’t the gap be in English
Filler-Gap Constructions • Ann, I think he likes ___. • Gap is ungrammatical without filler: • *I think he likes___. • Filler without gap: • Ann, I think he likes the girl in my class. • Ann, I think he likes her. • If you write a grammar for a filler-gap dependency, an interesting exercise is to make the parse fail when there is a gap without a filler or a filler without a gap.
S NP VP V S NP VP NP S V NP VP V IP I VP NP V Long Distance Dependencies S-bar Distance is measured by the number of nodes – the number of S, NP, CP, and IP nodes in particular – on the path from the parent of the filler, down the tree to the gap. NP Ann, I think he told me he tried to like ___
Long Distance Dependencies S-bar Distance is not measured by the number of words between the filler and the gap. S NP VP NP the guy I met on the bus yesterday in Oakland Ann NP V likes
Filler Gap Constructions: English • Topicalization • Ann, I think he likes. • It-Cleft • It’s Ann that I think he likes. • Wh-question • Who do you think he likes? • Embedded Wh-question • I wonder who you think he likes? • Relative Clause • I saw the woman who I think he likes.
Filler Gap Constructions: English • Tough-movement • Ann is easy to talk to __ . • Correlative construction • The more I think I like Ann ___ the more she ignores me. • The more people I talk to ___ the more I learn. • Comparative clauses • Ann has seen more movies than I think I have seen ___.
Historical Note • Chomsky (1977) On Wh Movement • Proposed a single rule, Move-wh, to account for all long-distance dependencies. • Old approach: • Write rules for each construction. • New approach: • Look for what the rules have in common.
What are relative clauses? Sometimes people use the term “relative clause” to refer to the S-bar. Sometimes they use it (sloppily) to refer to the whole NP. NP Det N-bar The N-bar S-bar student RP S Head noun that/who/which/Ø I saw ___ Let’s say that the filler is the relative pronoun, not the head noun. S containing a gap Relative pronoun, etc.
But there are relative clauses • Without head nouns • Without relative pronouns • Without gaps
What makes it a relative clause? • A noun that plays a role in two clauses • I like the student who won the contest. • I like the student. • The student won the contest. • One clause is part of a noun phrase in the other clause.
Which sentences contain relative clauses? • I am annoyed by the fact that linguistics is fun. • You met the the man who I saw. • I wonder who you saw. • The book that bothered me is on the shelf. • I think that linguistics is fun. • That linguistics is fun bothers me. • I like [who you like]. • Headless relative clause
“Relativized” • The child who __ saw me smiled. • Subject of “see” is relativized. • The child who I saw __ smiled. • Object of “saw” is relativized. • The child who I talked to ___ smiled. • The child to whom I talked ___ smiled. • Oblique is reltativized. • The child who I thought you liked __ smiled. • What is relativized?
Order of relative clause and head noun • English: • The relative clause is after the head noun • Turkish • The relative clause is before the head noun.
Combination of strategies Gap for subject, gap or pronoun for object, pronoun for everything else.
Wh-questions: English • Gap in subject position: • Who ___ likes Ann? • Gap in object position: • Who does Ann like __? • Gap in oblique position: • Who did you talk to __? • To whom did you talk __? • Gap in embedded clause (long distance): • Who do you think that he saw __?
Constraints on Long-Distance Dependencies • Where can the gap be? • John Robert (Haj) Ross (1967) Ph.D. Thesis, MIT
Constraints on Long Distance Dependencies • The gap cannot be inside a coordinate structure. • I saw [the boy and the girl]. • *Who did you see the boy and ___. • Except in “across the board” extraction: • Who did you [ [talk to___] and [hear rumors about __] ]
Constraints on Long Distance Dependencies • The gap cannot be inside a sentence that is inside a noun phrase: • I like [the fact that he reads books every day]. • *What do you like the fact that he reads ___ every day?
Constraints on Long Distance Dependencies • The gap cannot be inside the subject: • [ Pictures of Sam ] were available. • *Who were [ pictures of ___ ] available? • [ Books about linguistics ] were on sale. • *What were [ books about ___ ] on sale? • But the gap can be inside the direct object: • You saw [ pictures of Sam]. • Who did you see [ pictures of ___ ] ? • You read [ books about linguistics]. • ?What did you read books about?
Constraints on Long Distance Dependencies • The gap cannot be inside an embedded question: • They wondered [ who __ talked to Sam]. • *Who did they wonder [ who __ talked to __]? • But the gap can be inside of a plain embedded clause: • They thought [ (that) we talked to Sam ]. • Who did they think [(that) we talked to ___ ] ?
Constraints on Long Distance Dependencies • The gap cannot be inside a relative clause or any another long distance dependency: • I like [ the boy that Sam plays with ___.] • *Who do you like [the boy that __ plays with __]. • Except for this: • Which violins are [ these sonatas easy to play ___ on ___]?