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Syntax 3

Syntax 3. Ling400. Long-distance relations. WH “movement” A wh -expression (what, who, etc.) is often found in the “wrong place” and is related to another position within the same sentence. Our theory explains this fact in terms of a “movement transformation.”. WH movement. S. NP Mary.

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Syntax 3

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  1. Syntax 3 Ling400

  2. Long-distance relations • WH “movement” • A wh-expression (what, who, etc.) is often found in the “wrong place” and is related to another position within the same sentence. • Our theory explains this fact in terms of a “movement transformation.”

  3. WH movement S NP Mary VP Aux has NP what Vt eaten

  4. WH movement S What Aux has NP Mary Aux [has] VP NP [what] Vt eaten

  5. Subj.-Aux. inversion John can eat fish. John can eat what? *John can eat fish what ? *John will disappear what? John will disappear. • auxiliary verbs are generated between the subject NP and the main verb. • subj and aux then switch positions in wh-questions.

  6. Wh-movement+Subj-Aux inversion S WH What Aux has VP NP Mary Aux [has] NP [what] V eaten

  7. Subj-Aux inversion in yes-no questions John can come to the party. Can John come to the party? Bill will get married next month. Will Bill get married next month? John studies mathematics. *Studies John mathematics? Does John study mathematics? [Don’t worry about this one.]

  8. Embedded questions • What happens in embedded questions? John knows what Bill can eat. *John knows whatcan Bill eat. *John knows Bill can eat what. • Wh-movement occurs • Subj.-Aux. Inversion does not occur.

  9. WH questions in other languages • Not all languages move wh-words in wh-questions. • Examples: Chinese, Japanese, and many others.

  10. WH questions in Chinese • Ni shenme shihou qu yinyue hui? • you what time go to music meeting • ‘When will you go to the concert?’ • Ni cong nali lai? • you from where come • ‘Where do you come from?’

  11. WH questions in Chinese • Tamen zuotian wanshang chi shenme le? • they yesterday night eat what asp-mk • ‘What did they eat last night? • Women zenme zuo jiaozi? • we how make dumpling • ‘How do we make dumplings?’

  12. WH questions in Chinese • Ta wei shenme ku le? • she for what cry asp-mk • ‘Why did she cry?’ • Ni shi shei? • you are who • ‘Who are you?’

  13. The Organization of Grammar • Lexicon (finite) • Phrase structure rules (finite) • Transformations (finite — very, very small in number) • This system is capable of generating an infinite number of sentences.

  14. Word Order Typology English: They ate an apple (SVO) Russian: Oni yabloko syeli (SOV)they apple ate Turkish: Onlar elma yediler (SOV)they apple ate

  15. Word Order Typology SOV - Russian, Turkish, Basque, Burmese, Japanese, Hindi, Korean, Quechua, Guugu Ymidhirr, Aleut, German (?) SVO - English, Spanish, Italian, French, Latin, Chinese VSO - Irish, Welsh, Berber, Hebrew, Maori, Maasai VOS - Malagasy OVS - Amazon Basin OSV - ???

  16. Case Marking Typology SOV - Russian, Turkish, Basque, Burmese, Japanese, Hindi, Korean, Quechua, Guugu Ymidhirr, Aleut, German (?) SVO - English, Spanish, Italian, French, Latin, Chinese VSO - Irish, Welsh, Berber, Hebrew, Maori, Maasai VOS - Malagasy OVS - Amazon Basin OSV - ???

  17. Typology re Case-Marking • Nominative-accusative languages (e.g. English, Japanese) The subject of a transitive verb and the subject of an intransitive verb receive the same case marker (nominative). • Ergative-absolutive languages (e.g. Basque) The object of a transitive verb and the subject of an intransitive verb receive the same case (absolutive).

  18. Typology re Case-Marking • She hit him. He arrived. [nom] [acc] [nom] • Basque Aita ethorri du. father came ‘My father came.’ [absolutive] Ni-k aita maite du. I father love [ergative] [absolutive] ‘I love my father’

  19. WH questions [advanced] • WH words ask questions in simple sentences, but can also ask questions in complex sentences — implying “long distance relations/dependencies”. • What did Bill say that Mary saw ___? • Where did Bill say that Tom took Mary __? • Who did Bill say that Tom claimed that Helen spoke to ___?

  20. WH and syntactic mysteries • The boy that I spoke to at noon said he bought a book yesterday at the bookstore. • When did the boy say he bought the book? • --At noon • --Yesterday • The question word when can be extracted from the main or embedded sentence

  21. WH and syntactic mysteries • When did the boy say where he bought the book? • --At noon • --*Yesterday • The question word when can only be associated with the main clause (= sentence), not the embedded sentence

  22. WH and syntactic mysteries • What is the difference between the two questions? • When did the boy say ___ he bought the book ___? • When did the boy say ___ where he bought the book ___? • The second sentence has a WH word at the left edge of the embedded S

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