Phrase Structure and Grammatical Relations in Tagalog
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Phrase Structure and Grammatical Relations in Tagalog Paul R. Kroeger Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Linguistics Stanford University August, 1991 (Note: some corrections and other minor editorial changes are included in this version, but the list of references has unfortunately been lost.) Abstract This dissertation presents an analysis of Tagalog within the framework of Lexical-Functional Grammar. Tagalog is a non-configurational language in which the grammatical subject does not occupy a unique structural position. Nevertheless, the grammar of Tagalog makes crucial reference to the notion of grammatical subjecthood. This fact shows that grammatical subjecthood cannot be defined in terms of a specified position in surface phrase structure. More generally, the Tagalog data shows that grammatical relations must be defined independently of phrase structure, semantic structure and pragmatic functions, strongly supporting a conception of linguistic structure in which these various kinds of information are modeled as independent subsystems of the grammar. A large number of syntactic tests are presented which uniquely identify the nominative argument as the grammatical subject. It is argued that the apparent ambiguity of subjecthood properties in Tagalog is due to the Actor’s semantic and pragmatic prominence, together with the fact that non-subject Actors are always terms (non-oblique arguments) in Tagalog, unlike passive agents in English. Evidence is presented which shows that the nominative argument does not have the properties of a “topic”, as it is frequently analyzed, whether this concept is defined in terms of discourse continuity or pragmatic function. Crucial evidence for the non-configurationality of Tagalog comes from rules governing the co-reference of personal pronouns and the position of clitic elements. An analysis of Tagalog phrase structure is developed using a modified version of the X-bar theory of Chomsky (1986). The analysis is shown to provide an account for the structural properties of Clause Reduction, a construction similar in many ways to “restructuring” in Romance languages, in which two verbs appear in a single monoclausal structure. Finally, it is argued that long-distance dependencies (“Wh-movement”) in Tagalog are best described in terms of grammatical relations, rather than phrase structure configuration. Kroeger — Phrase Structure and Grammatical Relations in Tagalog Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves. (Psalm 127:1-2) Kroeger — Phrase Structure and Grammatical Relations in Tagalog Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1. Overview .................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................ 4 2.1 Phrase structure ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 Functional structure ............................................................................................................... 9 3. Some essential aspects of Tagalog morphology ...................................................................... 13 3.1 Modifiers, linkers etc........................................................................................................... 13 3.2 Voice and case-marking ...................................................................................................... 14 3.3 Aspect and mood ................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 2. Subjecthood .............................................................................................................. 19 1. The history of the problem ....................................................................................................... 19 2. Nominative properties .............................................................................................................. 22 2.1 Quantifier Float .................................................................................................................. 22 2.2 Relativization ..................................................................................................................... 23 2.3 Number agreement ............................................................................................................. 24 2.4 Raising ................................................................................................................................ 25 2.5 Control of secondary predicates ......................................................................................... 29 2.6 Subject obviation ................................................................................................................ 30 2.7 Possessor ascension ............................................................................................................ 31 2.8 Conjunction reduction ........................................................................................................ 32 3 Actor properties ......................................................................................................................... 35 3.1 Reflexive binding ............................................................................................................... 35 3.2 Equi .................................................................................................................................... 36 4. Termhood ................................................................................................................................. 38 4.1 Non-obliqueness of Actors ................................................................................................. 38 4.1.1 Participial complements .............................................................................................. 39 4.1.2 Participial adjuncts ...................................................................................................... 40 4.1.3 Adjunct Fronting ......................................................................................................... 41 4.2 On the termhood of genitive patients: evidence against the ergative analysis .................. 44 5. “Subjectless” sentences ............................................................................................................ 45 5.1 Subjectless sentence patterns ............................................................................................. 46 Kroeger — Phrase Structure and Grammatical Relations in Tagalog Existential: ............................................................................................................................. 46 Meteorological: ..................................................................................................................... 46 Exclamatory: ......................................................................................................................... 47 Recent-perfective aspect: ...................................................................................................... 47 Experiencer verbs with indefinite objects: ............................................................................ 48 5.2 Implications ........................................................................................................................ 48 6. Typological considerations ...................................................................................................... 52 Chapter 3. Topic and Focus ....................................................................................................... 55 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 55 2. Continuity of discourse topic .................................................................................................... 56 3. Pragmatic Topic and Focus ...................................................................................................... 59 3.1 WH- question-answer pairs ................................................................................................ 60 3.2 Selective contrast................................................................................................................ 65 3.3 The pragmatic functions of ay -Inversion ........................................................................... 66 4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 68 Chapter 4. Control ...................................................................................................................... 69 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 69 2. Semantic properties of Equi constructions ................................................................................ 70 2.1 Actions ...............................................................................................................................