Constituency Tests for Syntax: Preposing, Postposing, and Questions - Prof. Rajesh Bhatt, Exams of Linguistics

Download Constituency Tests for Syntax: Preposing, Postposing, and Questions - Prof. Rajesh Bhatt and more Exams Linguistics in PDF only on Docsity! Introduction to Syntax, LINGUIST 401 March 3, 2005 Tools for discovering structure: Constituency Tests 1 Movement If a group of words can undergo movement i.e. preposing, postposing, or fronting for question formation, they constitute a phrase of some sort.1 1.1 Preposing Constituents can often be preposed. Non-constituents can never be preposed. Noun Phrase (NP) preposing: (1) a. I can’t stand your younger brother. b. [Your younger brother], I can’t stand [ ] (though your elder brother’s OK). c. * Your younger, I can’t stand [ brother]. d. * Younger brother, I can’t stand [ your ]. e. * Brother, I can’t stand [your younger ]. f. * Your, I can’t stand [ younger brother]. g. * Your brother, I can’t stand [ younger ]. Prepositional Phrase preposing: (2) a. Peter gave a book to your brother. b. [To your brother], Peter gave a book [ ] (but not to mine). c. * To your , Peter gave a book [ brother]. d. * To, Peter gave a book [ your brother]. e. [Your brother], Peter gave a book [to ] (but not to mine). f. * Your, Peter gave a book [to brother]. g. * To brother, Peter gave a book [ your ]. Why is (2e) ok? Preposing of Adjective Phrases and Verb Phrases is more restricted but still possible. (3) a. Bill said that the new Almodovar was exciting and [very exciting], it was [AP ]. (Adjective Phrase) b. [Give in to blackmail], I never will [V P ]. (Verb Phrase) c. Patrick said that he would win the prize, and [win the prize], he did [V P ]. (Verb Phrase) (4) a. They said that Bill would read the book somewhere, and [read the book] he did in the library. 1Remember that the reverse is not always true i.e. if something cannot be moved around, it does not mean that it is not a constituent. There could be independent reasons for why it cannot move around. b. They said that Bill would read the book in the library, and read the book in the library he did. Tensed VPs (and VPs + modals) cannot be preposed. (5) a. John ate the apple. b. * [Ate the apple], John. c. Kelly must visit the doctor. d. * Must visit the doctor, Kelly. Adverbial phrases can be preposed much more freely. (6) a. She’s going to be leaving for Poughkeepsie [very shortly]. b. [Very shortly], she’s going to be leaving for Poughkeepsie [AdvP ]. 1.2 Postposing Only constituents can be postposed. Typically this test is only applicable to NP objects. (7) a. He explained [all of the terrible problems that he had encountered] to her. b. He explained [NP ] to her [all of the terrible problems that he had encountered]. c. * He explained [NP all of ] to her the terrible problems that he had encountered. d. * He explained [NP all ] to her of the terrible problems that he had encountered. 1.3 Questions If it is possible to ask a question about a set of consecutive words in a sentence, they form a constituent. (8) a. He gave a book to Michael hurriedly. b. Who gave a book to Michael hurriedly? c. Who did he give a book [PP to [NP ]] hurriedly? d. How did he give a book to Michael [AdvP ]? e. To whom did he give a book [PP ] hurriedly? f. What did he give [NP ] to Michael hurriedly? g. What did he do [V P ] ? 2 Adverbs If adverbs can be positioned inside a constituent, it is either an S or a VP, and not an NP or a PP. If S-adverbs such as certainly, obviously etc. can be positioned inside a constituent, it is an S. If VP-adverbs such as completely can be positioned inside a constituent, it is a VP. (9) a. Possible positions for S-adverbs like certainly [S * The team * can * [V P rely on my support]V P * ]S b. Possible positions for VP-adverbs like completely [S The team can * [V P rely * [PP on my support]PP *]V P ]S 2 (19) a. A: What do you think of the woman who wrote that incredibly pretentious book on shamanistic chants? B: I can’t stand her. b. * What do you think of the her who wrote that incredibly pretentious it on shamanistic it? there functions as pro-PP. (20) A: Have you ever been to Paris? B: No, I have never been there. so, as, which function as pro-VPs. (21) a. John might [V P go home], and so might Bill. b. John might [V P resign his post], as might Bill. c. If John can [V P speak French fluently] - which we all know he can - why is he so shy with the French? do so is another pro-VP. (22) a. Bill [read the book] in the library, and Mary did so (in the museum). b. Bill [fixed the faucet] with a screwdriver in fifteen minutes with great difficulty, and Mary did so (with a hammer) (in twenty minutes) (with no problem at all). (23) the boldfaced sequence is the (intended) antecedent for do so. a. Maia [gave a present to me] yesterday and Sally did so the day before yesterday. b. *Maia [gave a present to me], and Mary did so to my brother. c. Maia [put some money on the table] yesterday and Sally did so the day before yester- day. d. *Maia [put some money on the table], and Mary did so on the shelf. e. Maia [gave Mary a book] yesterday, and Sally did so the day before yesterday. f. *Maia [gave Mary a book], and Sally did so a magazine. so can also replace APs i.e. it is a pro-AP also. (24) Many people consider John [AP extremely rude], but I’ve never found him so. Similarly it can be a pro-S also. However it can only occur in NP positions. (25) a. A: Mary has finished her assignment. B: I don’t believe it. (I don’t believe that Mary has finished her assignment) b. A: I believe that John will won. B: * I hope it. (I hope that John will win) Note that all the proforms that we have discussed so far replace phrases and not word-level constituent. 5 6.2 Words used as phrases Consider the following sentence: (26) Cats can be useful. Is Cats in (26) an NP or an N or both? We know that cats is a Noun. Is it also an NP? Similarly is useful just an A or is it an AP also? We can show that cats is also an NP and that useful is also an AP. For one thing, they can be replaced by the relevant proforms. (27) a. Cats can be useful, but they can also be dangerous. b. Cats can be useful, but I have never found them so. Also cats can be replaced by phrases which we are sure are noun phrases. (28) Those brown cats can be very useful. cats can be coordinated with NPs. (29) Cats and other mice hunting animals can be very useful. These facts suggest that words can function as phrases. The absence of extra words should not lead us to conclude that something is just a word-level category. 6