CAS LX 523 Syntax II More modern clauses tend to look more like this (at least): Spring 2002 January 14, 2002 Paul Hagstrom Week 1: Introduction, split-Infl, etc. (2) ForceP “CP” The enterprise (reminder): 3 • Language faculty, part of being human (genetically specific). TopP* • Comprises a system which highly restricts the range of possible human languages. 3 • This system underlies all human languages, we seek to discover its properties. FocP —Looking in depth at the syntactic properties of individual languages 3 —Comparing properties across languages to see what the options are TopP* • Once we see patterns, we 3 —state generalizations FinP —form a hypothesis (what causes the generalization?) 3 —check other predictions of the hypothesis AgrSP “IP” 3 —revise as needed TP • As the theoretical hypotheses develop, we see new things to check that we wouldn’t 3 have thought to check before. In the process, whether the hypotheses are right or NegP wrong, we have learned a lot about how language works. 3 • We assume there is a fact of the matter, that the Truth is Out There. AgrOP We are just trying to figure out what it is. 3 • Lots of proposals exist, some probably closer to the Truth than others. vP “VP” • To evaluate them, we must see what they predict: 3 —Do they predict that all of the possible languages/constructions exist? VP English sentences must be SVO. I left. Taxes I can deal with, it’s the forms that bother me. According to many, the road to (2) began in 1989… —Do they predict that all of the impossible languages/constructions don’t exist? English sentences may have any word order at all. Pollock, Jean-Yves (1989). Verb movement, universal grammar, and the structure *Like I pizza. *Bill thinks Mary that left. of IP. Linguistic Inquiry 20(3):365–424. • When two hypotheses both seem to predict the data, we get into aesthetics. —Which hypotheses are “simpler”, more “elegant”? Basic tasks: • Present data showing that there needs to be another position in the clause —Which hypotheses make the greatest range of predictions? structure between negation and adverbs (named: AgrP). • Explain the special behavior of have and be both in French and in English. (1) CP The clause structure of “the olden days” (say, 1986): • (The paper contains a couple of other points concerning NegP as well…) 3 IP CP: force (declarative, interrogative) 1. French: V moves to I; English: have/be move to I (I lowers to other verbs). 3 IP: functional morphology (tense, agreement) VP VP: lexical/thematic elements Assume: French and English share a common D-structure. Adverbs and not can’t move to the right. But this doesn’t seem to be quite good enough to describe/explain the data—progressively, they have been split up into further functional projections. (3) IP beaucoup ‘lots’ moves optionally. 3 subject I′ We use adverbs to see where (8) a. Pierre a lu beaucoup de livres. 3 the left edge of VP is. I’ll ‘Pierre has read lots of books.’ I (Neg) take them to be adjoined to 3 VP for now, like what b. Pierre a beaucoup lu de livres. not/pas VP happens to quantifiers c. Pierre lit beaucoup de livres. 3 undergoing QR. Cf. rien (adverb) VP below. # d. * Pierre beaucoup lit de livres. ... V ... Conclusion: All (finite) verbs move to I in French; English finite have and be do too. (4) a. * John likes not Mary. b. Jean (n’) aime pas Marie. 2. (Some) infinitives (can) move in French. (5) a. * John kisses often Mary. Assume: • Finite and non-finite sentences are the same except for [±finite] on I. b. Jean embrasse souvent Marie. • not and ne…pas stand in the same structural position in tensed clauses and c. John often kisses Mary. d. * Jean souvent embrasse Marie. infinitives. French negative object rien ‘nothing/anything’—must move, marks left edge of VP. (9) a. Ne pas être heureux est une condition pour écrire des romans. ‘Ne to not be happy is a prerequisite for writing novels.’ (6) VP b. N’être pas heureux est une condition pour écrire des romans. 3 ‘Ne to be not happy...’ rieni VP # c. Ne pas avoir eu d’enfance heureuse est une condition pour écrire des ... V ti romans. ‘Ne not to have had a happy childhood is a prerequisite for writing novels.’ (7) a. Pierre n’a rien mangé. d. N’avoir pas eu d’enfance heureuse est une condition pour écrire des Pierre ne has nothing eaten romans. ‘Pierre hasn’t eaten anything.’ ‘Ne to have not had a happy childhood...’ b. * Pierre n’a mangé rien. Conclude: Verb movement to I is optional for infinitives in French. c. Pierre ne mange rien. Pierre ne eats nothing But wait… ‘Pierre doesn’t eat anything.’ d. * Pierre ne rien mange. (10) a. Ne pas sembler heureux est une condition pour écrire des romans. ‘Ne not to seem happy is a prerequisite for writing novels.’ Ok, now infinitives can move, but only avoir and être, right? Predicts that lexical infinitives preceding adverbs should be ungrammatical b. * Ne sembler pas heureux est une condition pour écrire des romans. (‘Ne to sem not happy...’) But… c. Ne pas regarder la télévision consolide l’esprit critique. ‘Ne not to watch television strengthens one’s independence.’ (15) a. Paraître souvent triste pendant son voyage de noce, c’est rare. ‘To look often sad...’ d. * Ne regarder pas la télévision consolide l’esprit critique. (‘Ne to watch not television...’) b. Oublier presque son nom, ça n’arrive pas fréquemment. ‘To forget almost one’s name...’ So: Only infinitives of have (avoir) and be (être) can (optionally) move in French. Lexical infinitives cannot move in French. So: Any old infinitive verb seems to be able to move past adverbs. But: Remember from before, only avoir and être can get past negation. Quelle coïncidence! Both English and French have restrictions on moving lexical verbs, but not on moving have/avoir and be/être. (16) a. * Ne paraître pas triste pendant son voyage de noce, c’est normal. ‘Ne to look not sad...’ (11) a. Not to be happy is a prerequisite for writing novels. b. * N’oublier pas son nom, ce n’est pas un explot. b. ? To be not happy is a prerequisite for writing novels. ‘Ne to forget not one’s name isn’t worth writing home about.’ c. Not to have had a happy childhood is a prerequisite for writing novels. d. (?) To have not had a happy childhood is a prerequisite for writing novels. Summary of the puzzle. * (12) a. Not to seem happy is a prerequisite for writing novels. French: V[+fin] pas adverb _ English: V[+fin]i not adverb _ b. * To seem not happy is a prerequisite for writing novels. d. Not to get arrested under such circumstances is a miracle. not adverb V[+fin]‡ e. * To get not arrested under such circumstances is a miracle. V[–fin]* pas adverb _ pas V[–fin] adverb _ not V[–fin]* adverb _ 3. Verb movement to I isn’t really always verb movement to I. pas adverb V[–fin] not adverb V[–fin] Verb movement for French infinitives is never obligatory. *Only have/avoir and be/être. Predicts that we can see adverb verb NP sequences (never allowed with finite verbs). ‡Lexical verbs (verbs other that have/avoir and be/être). Et voilà. French: All finite verbs raise past pas. (13) a. Souvent paraître triste pendant son voyage de noce, c’est rare. All nonfinite verbs can raise past adverbs. often to.look sad during one’s honeymoon that’s rare. Only nonfinite avoir/être can raise past pas. ‘To often look sad during one’s honeymood is rare.’ English: Only finite have/be can raise past not. b. Preseque oublier son nom, ça n’arrive pas fréquemment. Only nonfinite have/be can raise past adverbs. (see below) almost to.forget one’s name that ne happens not frequently. ‘To almost forget one’s name doesn’t happy frequently.’ (14) * Pierre presque oublie son nom. Pierre almost forgets his name. 4. The Split-INFL hypothesis: Introducing AgrP. (20) IP 3 ′ Hypothesis: NP I There is a position between negation and the adverbs at the left edge of VP 3 I where French verbs move to. This is “short” verb movement. Not all the way to I. 3 (pas/not) AgrP 3 French: Short verb movement is not lexically restricted (to être and avoir)— Agr VP short movement any old nonfinite verb can undergo short verb movement. 3 (adv) V (17) a. To often look sad during one’s honeymoon is rare. b. To almost forget one’s name doesn’t happen frequently. (18) a. * To look often sad during one’s honeymoon is rare. *HMC b. * To forget almost one’s name doesn’t happen frequently. (19) a. I believe John to often be sarcastic. b. I believe John to often sound sarcastic. 5. Verb movement and θ-theory—what’s special about have and be? c. (?) I believe John to be often sarcastic. d. * I believe John to sound often sarcastic. What differentiates have and be from other verbs? Pollock speculates… Conclude: English short verb movement is lexically restricted to have and be. Back in 1989, people did not generally believe that the subject started in SpecVP—rather, So, we have a correlation: the assumption was that the subject started (and usually stayed) in SpecIP. The subject needs to get a θ-role, and the verb provides it with one, directly assigned to SpecIP.