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BBN-ANG-253 Advanced Syntax Lecture Course Autumn , 2014/15 Course Description Topic 1 Starting out: Event Structure , Aspect and the Simplest Verb Types recapitulation : the UTAH, X-bar Theory tense vs. aspect ( lexical aspect vs. grammatical aspect )
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BBN-ANG-253 Advanced SyntaxLectureCourse Autumn, 2014/15 CourseDescription Topic 1 Starting out: EventStructure, Aspect and theSimplestVerbTypes recapitulation: the UTAH, X-barTheory tensevs. aspect (lexicalaspect vs. grammaticalaspect) simplevs. complexeventstructure unaccusativeverbs and constructionsinvolvinglightverbs Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 1 EventStructure and Aspect – 2.2 Lightverbs Topic2 More complexverbtypes 1 ergativeverbs transitiveverbs and multiplelightverbconstructions Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 2.3 Ergativeverbs – 2.4 Transitiveverbs Topic3 More complexverbtypes 2 intransitiveverbs verbswithmultiplecomplements phrasalverbs Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 2.5 Intransitiveverbs – 2.7 Phrasalverbs
Topic 4 More complexverbtypes 3 verbswithclausalcomplements extendingtheanalysis: aspectualauxiliaries Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 2.8 – Verbswithclausalcomplements – 3 Aspectualauxiliaryverbs Topic5 Modifiersinthe VP VP-adverbsvs. sententialadverbs PP-modifiers Clausalmodifiers verbsthatdonot fit in Reading: Newson et al. Ch 5: 4 Adverbs, PPs and clausalmodifiers Topic6 The Structure of IP tense, agreement, negation caseassignment Reading: Newson et al. Ch 6 InflectionPhrases
Topic 7 The Structure of CP 1 • clausetypes • interrogativeCPs: wh-movement, inversion Reading: Newson et al. Ch 7: 1 The structure of CP – 3.5 Subjectquestions Topic8 The Structure of CP 2 • wh-movementinrelativeclauses • furthertypes of fronting movement: topicalisation, focus- and negative fronting Reading: Newson et al. Ch 7: 4 Relativeclauses – 6 Conclusion Topic 9 The Structure of Non-finiteClauses 1 • exceptionalclauses and smallclauses • raising and control Reading: Newson et al. Ch 8 The syntax of non-finiteclauses
Topic 10 The Structure of Non-finiteClauses 2 • thegerund Topic 11 • Summary/Revision Set text: Newson, M. et al. 2006. Basic English SyntaxwithExercises. Bölcsész Konzorcium, ELTE. Ch 5-8
EventStructure, Aspect and theSimplestVerbTypes 1 EventStructure: simple versus complexevents Verbsin a sentenceexpress an eventwhichcan be an actionorstate. 1 a The shipsank. b The piratessanktheship. c e = e1 d e = e1 → e2 2 a Peter sent Mary flowers b e = e1 → e2 → e3 SimpleeventsarerepresentedbysimplerVPswhile more complexeventsbymorecomplexVPs. Tense: relates an eventat a particularpointintimetothetime of speaking. Aspect: describestime relations internalto an event.
2 Aspect: lexical and grammatical Lexicalaspect (Aktionsart): internaltothemeaning of theverb, whichexpresses an eventwith a naturalendpoint. Grammaticalaspect: encodedviasyntacticmeans. 3 a The boy is eating an apple b The boy is standing inthecorner Lexical and grammaticalaspectinHungarian: 4 a győz, dob, kap (morphologicallysimpleverbs) b főz-megfőz, olvas-elolvas, takarít-kitakarít c János ’ment ’át az utcán, amikor meglátta Marit. d János átment az utcán.
3 The simplestverbtypes 3.1 Unaccusatives • typicallyverbs of movementorlocation, takingone DP argumenttowhichtheyassign a themetheta-role (withsome of them a locationargument, oftenoptional, canalsooccur, expressedbya PP) 5 a atrainarrived (on platform 6) b a rabbit satinthecorner • theyaregrammaticalin a there-construction (cf. raisingverbs) 6 a therearrived a trainon platform 6 b theresat a rabbit inthecorner c *theresatthe rabbit inthecorner d a rabbit helplesslysatinthecorner e *therehelplesslysat a rabbit inthecorner 7 a Itseemsthattheyhave a problem. b Theyseemtohave a problem. c Thereseemsto be a problem. • they are grammatical in locative inversion constructions 8 a in the corner sat a rabbit b *on the cheek kissed Peter his mother c *in the fridge put the girl the ice cream
9 a inthecornertheresata rabbit b on platform 6 therearrived a train • theycannottakecognateobjects (cf. intransitives) 10 a *atrainarrived an arrival b he smiled a wickedsmile (11) VPVP DP V’ DP V’ theme V PP V
3.2 Lightverbconstructions • type (i) typicallyinvolvesverbslikehave, do, take, make, etc. and a nounwhichcarries most of thesemanticcontentoftheconstruction; type (ii) involvese.g. make, let, get, etc. and a VP containing a noun and a verb; 12 a he took a bath b they had an argument 13 a he made theengine start b he letthebottlefall (cf. he made thebottlefall)
(14) vPvP DP v’ DP v’ agent v DP v VP DP V’ V Note: withtypeonethestructure is notstraightforward. Asit is, thereis no thematic V headposition, alternatively, if a thematic VP is projected, itsheadpositionremainsempty.