Syntax

1. Syntax Lecture 7: Verb Positions

2. The mobile verb • The verb is, of course, the head of the VP and so has a position inside the VP • He could [VPbe a doctor] • The negative appears before the VP • He might not [VP be a doctor] • Sometimes the verb appears before the negative: • He is not [VP a doctor] • Therefore, in the last case, the verb is not inside the VP

3. The mobile verb • Moreover, sometimes the verb appears in front of the subject • is he a doctor • As the subject is the first element of the IP, in these cases the verb does not even appear to be inside the IP! • is [IP he a doctor]

4. VP external verb positions • When the verb is not inside the VP, what positions does it occupy? • There is a big difference between the verb inside and outside the VP: • He might not [VPbe a doctor] • He is/was not [VP a doctor] • Inside the VP, the verb is in its non-finite form • Outside the VP, it is in a finite form (tensed)

5. VP external verb positions • As tense is in the inflection position, this suggests that in this case the verb is in the inflection position

6. A question • How can there be a VP with no V in it?

7. Some answers • According to X-bar theory, there cannot be a VP that lacks a verb: • All phrases have heads • So the verb must be in the VP • But the verb is in the I position which is not inside the VP • So the verb is in two positions: • The verb position inside the VP • The inflection position outside the VP

8. Some answers • The only way that something can be in two positions is by movement • So the verb moves from the V position to the I position

9. Why would the verb move? • The verb only moves to I when the inflection is a tense: • he might not [VPbe a doctor] • ... him to not [VPbe a doctor] • he is not [VP -- a doctor] • We know that tense is different from other inflections in that it is a bound morpheme • Clearly the verb moves to I to ‘bind’ the tense inflection

10. V to I movement in detail • At D-structure the verb is in V and the tense is in I • As the I position is already filled, V cannot move into the same place • it must attach itself to the I • The structure we get is an adjunction of one head to another

11. Head Adjunction • Head adjuncts are not unheard of • E.g. Compound nouns • headed by nouns • have a noun or an adjective adjoined to them: • The adjunct rule • Xn Xn, Ym • Where m = 2 if n > 0, otherwise m = 0

12. V to I movement and negation • Most verbs cannot move to I when there is a negative: • Auxiliary verbs (be and have) can: • He might not [VP be reading] • He is not [VP -- reading] • He should not [VP have gone] • He has not [VP -- gone] • Main verb be can • He will not [VP be rich] • He is not [VP -- rich] • Possessive have can in some dialects • He might not [VP have any money] • He has n’t [VP -- any money]

13. V to I movement and negation • The majority of verbs cannot move in the presence of negation: • * he read not [VP -- the book] • * he loved not [VP -- Mary] • * he thought not [ -- about the problem] • Instead, there is a do in the inflection position: • He did not [VP read the book] • He did not [VP love Mary] • He did not [VP think about the problem]

14. Do insertion as a rescue remedy • What appears to be going on is: • The tense in I is a bound morpheme needing binding • The verb cannot move past the negation (for some reason) • So if the verb moves it is ungrammatical and if the verb does not move it is ungrammatical • Therefore a meaningless do is used to support the inflection

16. Movement Outside IP • When the verb precedes the subject it is in a head position outside the IP • We know that the first head position before the IP is the complementiser • We might suppose that the verb is in C in this case: • [CP is [IP he – [VP -- a doctor]] • Note: • The verb is finite (tensed) • The I position is empty and cannot be filled • * be he will [ -- a doctor]

17. Evidence that the verb is in C • The phenomena we are looking at is usually termed Inversion • There is one construction which either involves inversion or an overt complementiser: • if he had been a doctor, he would have cured himself • had he been a doctor, he would have cured himself • The overt complementiser and the inverted auxiliary are in complementary distribution • * if had he been a doctor ...

18. I to C movement • Given what we have said so far, it seems reasonable to assume that the verb moves to the C position after it has moved to the I position

19. I to C movement • Of course, the other thing that can move to C is an inflection

20. Why do verbs move to C? • There are two explanations for why the verb moves to C: • Similarly to V to I movement, there is a bound morpheme in C • This morpheme appears in interrogatives, so it seems to be a question particle • [CPQ [IP he is a doctor]]  [CP is-Q [IP he a doctor]] • Obviously this morpheme is phonologically empty • Some languages have overt question particles

21. Why do verbs move to C? • There are two explanations for why the verb moves to C: • Similarly to Wh-movement, I to C movement is semantically motivated • Moving I to C plays a role in interpreting a clause as interrogative • In these lectures, we will not attempt to choose between these • The main point is that there is obviously a reason why I to C movement happens

22. No main verb inversion? • At first, it appears that main verbs (apart from copular be and possessive have) cannot invert: • is he a doctor • have you any money • * read you a book • * believe you in fairies • In these cases, we use do-insertion again: • did you read a book • do you believe in fairies • Note: do is finite, so it is inserted into I and then moved to C

23. No main verb inversion? • We also get inversion with Wh-movement and in most cases main verbs cannot move to C: • * what read you • what did you read • * where met you Mary • where did you meet Mary • But there is one case where we do not get do-insertion: • who read the book • * who did read the book

24. No main verb inversion? • The obvious question is why • Three possible answers • In this case, the complementiser position is left empty: • [CP who – [IP – read-s [VP -- books]]] • In this case, the wh-phrase stays in subject position and nothing is in the CP: • [CP -- [IP who read-s [VP -- books]]] • In this case, the verb moves to the C position: • [CP who read-s [IP -- [VP -- books]]]

25. An empty complementiser? • But there doesn’t seem to be much difference between this interrogative and others? • So why should the complementiser be different?

26. No Wh-movement • Again, why is the complementiser different in this clause than others? • How is this clause interrogative if no wh-element moves to specifier of CP?

27. Main verb in C • In this case the C and CP are no different to other interrogatives • But we need to explain why the main verb can move to C here but not in other cases

28. Why can V move to C sometimes? • The big difference between the cases when V can and cannot move to C concerns the subject: • * read you the book • * what read you • * when read you the book • who read the book • In all the ungrammatical cases the subject follows the main verb

29. Why can V move to C sometimes? • General Principle • The English subject must precede the verb • Only when the subject moves to the specifier of CP can the verb be in C and still follow it • In all other cases the verb must stay behind the subject and C must be filled by an auxiliary

30. Conclusion • There are 3 positions we find verbs in • The verb originates in V • It moves to I • If I is filled with a bound morpheme • It moves to C • If the clause is interrogative • Main verbs cannot move to I when there is a negation (do-insertion) • Main verbs cannot move to C • If they are not in I • If moving to C puts them in front of the subject