note curs sintaxa, anul 3, 2015-2016

8/20/2019 Note Curs Sintaxa, Anul 3, 2015-2016

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FOREWORD

The present course aims at providing further knowledge and insight into thesyntax of contemporary English language by focusing on the second level ofsyntactic description namely the transformational level! The main envisagedob"ectives are#

a! to revise basic concepts used within the general framework ofTransformational $ %enerative %rammar!b! to revise knowledge concerning the constituent structure of the English

sentence!c! to introduce discuss and illustrate the concepts which are held

responsible for such syntactic phenomena as movement operationswithin transformations!

d! to analy&e the basic types of transformations undergone by theEnglish sentence!

These aims are to be achieved by both studying the theoretical part of eachand every chapter and by doing the practical applications as suggested by the

exercises!

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Contents

'hapter (# The Transformational )evel *(!(! +asic 'oncepts *(!,! Exercises -'hapter ,# +asic Elementary Operations .,!(! Deletions .,!(!(! 'onstant Deletion .,!(!,! /dentity Deletion 0,!(!1! %apping 0,!(!2! E3ui456Deletion! 'ontrol 'onstructions ((,!(!*! 7ubcategori&ation of 'ontrol 8erbs (1

,!(!9! Exercises (-,!,! /nsertions (-,!,!(! Exercises (0,!1! 7ubstitutions (0,!1!(! Exercises ,(,!2! :d"unctions ,(,!2!(! Exercises ,1'hapter 1# ;ovement Rules ,21!(! Raising ,21!(!(! 7ub"ect4to4 7ub"ect Raising ,21!(!,! Exercises ,9

1!,! 7ub"ect $to $Ob"ect Raising ,91!,!(! Exercises 1<1!1! 'left4 'onstructions 1<1!1!(! Exercises 1(%lossary of Terms 19References! Recommended +ibliography 1-



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Chapter 1: The Transformational Level


The first level of syntactic description is the 6hrase 7tructure =67> leveloperating with categories a lexicon and phrase structure rules based onconcatenation! The second level of syntactic description is thetransformational level whose primitives are 6hrase ;arkers =6;s> upon whichelementary operations are performed!

1.1. Basic ConceptsThe concept of transformation is understood as that formal linguistic

operation which enables the two levels of structural representation Deep(D)-

Structure and Surface(S)-Structure to be interrelated by a set of movementrules! =see Figure (!(!>

Figure (!(!

Technically considered a transformational rule (T-rule, transformation,transform) consists of a se3uence of symbols which is rewritten as another se3uence according to certain conventions!

Each T4rule consists of an input denominated Structural Description(SD), ‘structural analysis’ or ?structure index’ which defines the class of phrase4markers =6;s> to which the rule can apply@ and an outputdenominated Structural Change =7'> which refers to the operations involvedin applying a T4rule upon the input! :s an illustration consider the phrase4structure tree representations =the 6;s> in Figure(!, resulted after applying

T4passive to sentence =(> a #=(> a! They painted the house!b! The house was painted by them!

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Figure (! ,!

The passive transformation illustrated above can be formulated interms of Aspects-style as it is seen in Figure (!1!

T4passive56( :ux 8 56,

7D ( , 1 27' 2 ,Abe 1Aed B byA(

Figure(! 1!

The general property of transformations is that they are meaning- presering i!e! the deep structure and the surface structure of a sentence aresemantically e3uivalent irrespective of the operations performed! /n thisrespect the meaning of (!a an active sentence has not been changed byapplying the passive transformation identified in (!b! The difference is onlyformal involving the movement of the 56 occupying the place of the directob"ect in (b to that of sub"ect in (a! The empty place is symboli&ed by C in6;, and the agent is introduced by the preposition !y"

/n order to both revise previously ac3uired knowledge and understandnew concepts and phenomena we have resorted to a synthesis made by'homsky in connection to the theory of transformational $ generativegrammar # # $%& a general theory of linguistic leels is deeloped in ana!stract and uniform 'ay , 'ith phrase structure and transformations eachconstituting a linguistic leel" n each leel ,marers are constructed that represent a sentence" *n particular, deried phrase-marers and T-marers fill this function on the phrase-structure and transformational leels,respectiely" +ach leel is a system of representation in terms of certain primes (elementary atomic sym!ols of this leel )" n the leel of phrase-structure, the primes are category and terminal sym!ols" n the leel of transformations, the primes are !ase phrase marers and transformations" Amarer is a string of primes or a set of such strings" oth phrase-marers and

transformation-marers can !e represented in this 'ay" eels are organi.ed in a hierarchy , and 'e may thin of the marers of each leel as !eing

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mapped into the marers of the next lo'est leel and as representing thelo'est leel marer ( that is, the phonetic representation $%& ),'hich isassociated directly 'ith an actual signal" $%&/ ( 0121 3 45 )"

:fter clarifying upon the two levels of syntactic description we againresort to 'homsky in order to underline the role played by the transformational

rules in relating the dualistic concepts deep structure and surface structure ## The general re6uirement on a syntactic theory is that it define the notions‘deep structure’ and ‘surface structure’, representing the inputs to thesemantic and phonological components of a grammar , respectiely $%&, and state precisely ho' a syntactic description consisting of a deep and surfacestructure is generated !y the syntactic rules" These re6uirements are met !y the theory outlined a!oe in the follo'ing 'ay" $%& 7e tae a T-marer to !ethe deep structure8 'e tae the deried phrase 9marer that is the final output of the operations represented in the T-marer to !e the surface structure"/ (0121 341 )"

The theoretical considerations outlined above are supported by a

series of exercises meant to increase students awareness of the mostimportant concepts used in transformational $generative grammar!

1.".E#ercises(! Explain what a 6; is and give examples of your own!

,! 7pecify if true or false #a! Deep 7tructure is the syntactic level upon which meaning is determined!b! 7urface 7tructure changes the form of the sentence!

1! Draw up the phrase4structure trees for the following sentences and discussupon the constituents structure!a! The bla&e of light on her heart was too beautiful and da&&ling!b! +ut the summer drifted in with the silence of a miracle she was almostalways alone!c! The +rangwens received a fair some of money from this trespass acrosstheir land!d! The house stood bare from the road approached by a straight gardenpath!e! is life was shifting its centre becoming more superficial!

2 !:pply T-passie to the following sentences by following the model given inFigure (!,!a! :nd he closed the door behind her!b! Wendy and ;ichael fitted their trees at the first try!c! 7he tied the unhappy dog up again!d! They "ust tweaked 6eters nose and passed on!e! The children had discovered the glittering hoard!

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Chapter ": Basic Elementary %perations


Transformational rules can effect basic elementary operations such asmovement deletion insertion and substitution! That is a T4rule can movedelete insert or substitute constituents as represented in basic and derived6;s # The function of the transformational rules is to map generali.ed phrase-marers into deried phrase-marers" *f the transformational rulesmap the generali.ed phrase-marer :D into the final deried phrase 9marer :S of the sentence ; , then :D is the deep structure of ; and :S is itssurface structure/ = 'homsky (090 # 90 >! :oement operations reorder or permute the elements of the input 6;!When this operation ad"oins one of the moving elements to another

constituent within the 6; it is called ad


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Figure ,!(!

/mperative construction is a coding property universally targetingsub"ects! /n this construction the second $person sub"ect is interpreted as the

addressee in a speech4act= 7: > indexing a declarative affirmative sentenceas represented in the 6;s in Figure ,!(! The element 6RO is omitted under constant deletion! ".1.". Identity &eletion

/n identity deletion recoverability is insured by the condition that thesurface structure must contain an element identical to the element deletedfrom the deep structure! For example there is the rule of 864deletion whichwill apply to derive sentence ,b from ,a as formali&ed in =,> in the labeled!bracketed representations following the sentences!

=,>77 a! 7usan drank "uice and Doris drank coffee! D7 b! 7usan drank "uice and Doris $ coffee!

J7J56J57usanKKJ86J8drankKJ56J5 "uiceKKKKandJ7J56J5DorisKKJ86J8drankKJ56J5coffeeKKKK J7J56J57usanKK J86J8drankKJ56J5 "uiceKKKK and J7J56J5DorisKKJ86J8BKJ56J5coffeeKKKK

Every native speaker of English knows that the sentence Susan dran


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b! ;ary watered the flowers and Mohn the drinks!The simple reading of sentence 1a proves the violation of the recoverabilitycondition by a disregard of selectional restrictions rules! The meaning of'ater in the second clause to dilute is different from its meaning in the firstclause which is to nourish and the deletion operated in 1b brings about a

humorous effect! This type of deletion has been called gapping ! 7uchcontexts as provided by the sentences under =1> and =2> can first elude thelistener into a perfect understanding of the message followed by animmediate non4understanding transposed into ama&ement and laughter #

=2> a! ;r +rown took his hat and his leave! b! :ll the girls were in tears and in muslin! c! e was in high feather and spirits! d! The young lady went straight home in a roar of laughter and asedan chair!

%apping is a sentence4bound ellipsis and its functional province is theinterface between the syntax semantics and the information structure of

ellipsis! :s a syntactic phenomenon ?gapping was first proposed by Ross =(09-b> with reference to the 'omplex 56 4 'onstraint and 'oordinate 7tructure'onstraint and it has been succeedingly treated under various headings # 86 $ :naphora = Mackendoff (0-, >@ Derived 'on"unction = 7tockwell 7chachter6artee (0-1 >@ Deletion = 7ag (0--@ Tancredi (00,>@ 'oreference and the'omplement 7ystem = Mackendoff (0-, Reinhart (0.1 >@ 'oordination='ornilescu (0.9>@ the 6honological Deletion :ccount = 'homsky (00*>@Ellipsis = Radford (00,@ ardt (001@ )obeck (00*@ Mohnson , thus creating puns! :s a semantic phenomenon gapping focuses on selectional restrictionsimposed upon by the semantics of the verb in the first con"unct of theexamples under =2># a! tae b! !e c! !e d! go! The verbs 3uoted operate at thelevel of the sentence both as single word forms and as multi4word forms as

represented under =9>#=9> 4 single verb form A D!O! N denotative meaninga! first con"unct # too his hat

4 single verb form A :d"unct N denotative meaningb! second con"unct # B ('ere) in 'hite muslin!

c! B ('ent straight home in ) a sedan chair 4 multi4word form N figurative meaning

b! first con"unct # were in tears N saddepressed c! first con"unct # was in high feather N elegantly dressed second con"unct # B =was in high> spirits N ery energetic

and


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8iolation of the selectional restrictions concerning the matching of thesemantic features J P abstract K J P concrete K of the verb and its modifiersleads to obtaining humorous effects as previously demonstrated!

".1.4. E+ui, -,&eletion. Control Constructions.E3ui4564deletion is another example of identity deletion! /t is an

obligatory rule in classical T% which deletes an 56 from a complementclause in a sentence when it is identical in meaning =Nco4referential> withanother 56 in the main clause of the same sentence! =(> a! D7# the children J86 tried Jthe children to solve the exerciseKK 77# the children J86 tried Jto solve the exerciseKK b! D7# the guide J86 persuaded the tourists Jthe tourists to greet thewelcomersKK 77# the guide J86 persuaded the tourists Jto greet the welcomersKK

/n the examples the sub"ect of the embedded infinitival complement is pairedwith an e3uivalent sub"ect 56 =(>a or ob"ect 56 =(>b in the matrix clausefollowed by the deletion of the lower rank =i!e! infinitival> sub"ect at 77 under identity with its higher rank counterpart! Rosenbaum (09- argues that sentential complementation is achieved bycommon transformations such as complementi.er specification or deletion of su!#

/n what concerns infinitival complementation he distinguishes betweenintransitive and transitive 864'O;6 as shown by the derivational trees in =1>ab as reproduced from 7tockwell 7chachter 6artee =(0-1#*2>#=1> a! /ntransitive 864'omplementation e!g! The doctor condescended to examine Mohn!

b> Transitive 864'omplementation e!g! They commanded the doctor to examine Mohn!



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! /n both cases the 56 sub"ect of the infinitival complement has been deletedon co4referentiality condition =2>#=2>a!J7J56(ThedoctorKJ86J8 condescendedKJ7 J56( the doctorKJ86 to examine MohnKKKK

N J7J56(The doctorKJ86J8 condescendedKJ7 J56(OKJ86 to examine MohnKKKKb! J7 J56(TheyKJ86J8commandedKJ56,the doctorKJ7 J56, the doctorK J86 to examineMohnKKKK

N J7 J56( TheyKJ86 J8 commandedKJ7 J56,the doctorKJsJ 56,BJ 86 to examineMohnKKKK

7tockwell 7chachter 6artee emphasi&e the role played by therecoverability principle in the case of 56 deletion in sentential complementsas one way of avoiding sentence ambiguity# *t is a general principle of transformational theory that deletions in the course of a deriation must !erecoera!le" ther'ise an am!iguous sentence 'hose deriation included adeletion could hae an infinite num!er of different sources" The ind of deletion that commonly occurs in complement structures is erasure under an

identity condition3 e"g" for a 'hole host of reasons the deep structure of asentence lie e tried to leae is assumed to contain t'o occurrences of thesu!; leae" The su!#=*> a! the childreni tried J6ROi to solve the exerciseK

b! the guide persuaded the touristsi J6ROi to greet the welcomersK

Contemporary English Language. Introducing Transformations

S

NP AUX PRED

VP ADV

V S

They commanded the doctor to examine John.

NP

NP1

T-Deletion

NP2T-Deletion

1"


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The 56 7ub"ect in =*>a or the 56 Direct Ob"ect in =*>b is said to controlthe 6ROi in the infinitival clause thus establishing a causal relationshipbetween controller and controlled in performing the action type of relationshipmuch discussed in the literature both along syntactic and semanticcoordinates !

".1.. /u0categoriation of Control 2er0s?'ontrol propensity of verbs has been at the core of the ma"ority of

studies elaborated within various syntactic approaches including %overnmentand +inding Theory =%+> )exical Functional %rammar =)F%> ead4driven6hrase 7tructure %rammar =67%> nification 'onstruction %rammar ='%> as Dubinsky and Davies rightly acknowledge# The F analysis of control 'as strengthened and extended to all cases of control in @ and iscurrently the most 'idely accepted analysis in deriational approaches tosyntax/ =,


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8erb'ontroller 'ontrol

'ontextuali&ation7ub"ect Ob"ect Obligatory Optional

wait A 4 4 A e!g! /m 'aiting to use thephone L for Mohn to come!

pray A 4 4 A e!g! The old man prayed toleave L for Mohn to come!

hope A 4 4 A e!g! / hope to come L for ;aryto come!

decide A 4 4 A e!g! They decided to moveout L we should stay!

try A 4 A 4 e!g! ;ary tried to open thedoor =but she couldnt>!

learn A 4 A 4 e!g! The little girl learnt to skivery 3uickly!

condescend A 4 A 4 e!g! The lawyer condescended to listen to his client!

permit 4 A A 4 e!g! Mohn permitted +ill tocome!

persuade 4 A A 4 e!g! ;other persuaded her child to have some rest!

force 4 A A 4 e!g! The commander forced histroops to march on!

promise A 4 A 4 e!g! They promised to fetch thecar back!

agree =with56>

A 4 A 4 e!g! ;ary agreed to writeback L with Mohn to write back!

learn =from56>

A 4 A 4 e!g! They learnt to skate L from+ill to skate!

get AL4 AL4 A 4 e!g! The teacher got to leave Lthe students to leave!

bother 4 A 4 A e!g! =For +ill> To leave so early

would !other everybody!/n the table optional control is assigned to such verbs as 'ait , pray,hope, decide and !other indicating non4obligatory co4reference between 56matrix controller and the infinitival 6RO phenomenon reali&ed at the syntacticlevel by the use of the for-to construction or the sub"unctive with that 4deletion!Obligatory control is assigned to such verbs as try, condescend, permit, persuade, force, and get emphasi&ing the matrix 56 controllers full authorityover the infinitival 6RO =i!e! absolute co4reference>!

".1.!. E#ercises(!Define deletion and exemplify cases of deletion!

, !/dentify the type of deletion in the following sentences#a! ;ary planted roses and Messica forget4me4nots!b! The children wrote letters and their parents invitations!c! / have read all morning!d! 7he said she would come later!e! They tried to open the door!

1!Describe the changes in meaning due to gapping#a! Disco was working in all his shore dignity and a pair of beautiful carpet

slippers!



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b! The fat boy went into the next room@ and having been absent about aminute returned with the snuff4box and the palest face that ever a fat boywore!c! : young girl who had a yellow smock and a cold in the head that did not goon too well together was helping an old lady!

d! ;r! 7mangle was still engaged in relating a long story the chief point of which appeared that on some occasion particularly stated and set forth hehad doneG a bill and a gentleman at the same time!e! 7ophia lay between blankets in the room overhead with a feverish cold!This cold and her new dress were ;rs! +aines sole consolation at themoment!

2! Define 6RO and the phenomenon of control by resorting to the informationcontained within the course!

*! 'omment upon control typology in the following contextuali&ations#

a! 7hes 'aiting to take a cab L for the cab to come!b! The commander condescended to listen to his troops demands!c! The little child tried to climb up the tree =but he couldnt>!d! The old woman prayed to be healthy L for her relatives to take care of her! te! The committee agreed to change the regulations L with the president tochange the regulations !

".". Insertions/nsertions are syntactic operations which introduce a new structural

element to the input 6; without any change in meaning since

transformations are meaning4preserving! /t follows that the only type of element that can be inserted by a T4rule is a meaningless one! 7pecific typesof insertion are# do-insertion, negatie-insertion, there-insertion, lexical insertion =which inserts lexical items at particular places in grammaticalstructures> as exemplified in paired4sentences under=(>!

=(>! a! They go skiing every winter! a! Do they go skiing every winter b! 7he will come early tonight! b! 7he will not come early tonight!

c! : cat was in the box!

c There was a cat in the box!d! +ill grows carrots! d! +ill grows tired !

The paired$sentence (c is an example of there-insertion and it isdescribed in Figure ,!,!



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T4There4insertion

Figure ,!,!

/n order to get there insertion 56 movement has become obligatory bymoving the 56 a cat from its initial position to a lower position under the 86!There -insertion has been applied by filling up the empty place under the initial56 in 6;,!/nsertion rules are ordinarily obligatory rules!

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".".1. E#ercises(! Define insertion and illustrate its typology!

,! /dentify cases of insertion in the following sentences! Represent them byusing derivational 6;s!

a! There was a turkey in the courtyard!b! Uou are not proud of yourself!c! Do you like sending postcards d! That / had lost the ticket offended Messica!

".3. /u0stitutions7ince no T4rule is allowed to change meaning substitution rules can

only replace an element with one having an identical meaning # Su!stitutionis a structure-presering operation 'hich replaces one category( phrasal pro a! Mohni said that Mohni was sick! b! Mohn said that he was sick!

Remark## Ji "K are called subscripts# when two instances of Gohn in somesentence are marked Gohni and Gohn


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Figure ,!1!

The rule of 6RO5O;/5:)/V:T/O5 operates in English under strictconstraints! From a practical point of view the rules must operate from left toright so that the derivation shown in sentence =1> is allowed but that in =2> isforbidden! 7entence =2> b cannot be derived from =2> a!

=1> a! ;aryi reported that ;aryi had lost the ball b! ;ary reported that she had lost the ball!=2> a! ;aryi reported that ;ary " has lost the ball! b! X7he reported that ;ary had lost the ball!

/n another example e!g! She said that :ary 'as sic the words she and :ary have to refer to different individuals! /n :ary said that she 'as sic, on theother hand :ary and she may be the same individual although they do nothave to be!

7ome substitution rules are special cases of 6RO5O;/5:)/V:T/O5!We here mention the REF)EY/8E rule which introduces reflexive pronounsinto sentences by changing the syntactic feature on the ob"ect personalpronoun from J 4 reflexive K to JAreflexiveK when it is co4referential with thesub"ect! :s an illustration consider the derivation under =*> and its tree4representation in Figure ,!2!

=*> a! Mohn shaved him! b! Mohn shaved himself"

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Figure ,!2!

:nother substitution rule is that of do-so pronominalisation whichderives example =-> from =9>!

=9> Mohn picked up the ball and ;ary picked up the ball too! =-> Mohn picked up the ball and ;ary did so too!!

/n %O8ER5;E5T4+/5D/5% theory 564 traces 6RO and reflexives are base4generated anaphors a class of 56s !

".3.1. E#ercises(! Define substitution! %ive examples!

,! Explain why pronominali&ation can be described as a feature4matchingoperation!

1! ;ake changes so that the following sentences should contain cases of substitution!a! ;ary claimed that 7usan had fooled her!b! Tom saw )ily in the mirror!c! )eslie talked about her mother!d! +renda said that she was in the blues!e! 6aul read a book and his daughter read a book too!

".4. dunctions :d"unctions are basic syntactic operations referring to a rule which

places certain elements of structure in ad"acent positions with the aim of specifying how these structures fit together in larger units ='rystal (00*>! /nother words ad"unction involves the moved category replacing an emptycategory of the same kind in accordance with the 7TR'TRE46RE7ER8/5% 'O57TR:/5T imposing the condition that a constituent canbe moved only into another category of the same structural type which hasbeen independently generated! :ccording to Freidin# Ad


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:d"unctions have several sub4directives indicating the placement of thead"oined term! /n classical T% several types of ad"unctions were recogni&ed#sister-ad!

'homskys ad"unction is a special type of ad"unction which involves acopying of the node to which another node is being ad"oined i!e! 'homsky4ad"oin + as right daughter of : =see Figure ,!*!>

Figure ,!*!

The Aspects4rule which we have used to represent the passive transformationin 'hapter ( is now useful in formali&ing ad"unction#=(> 7D # 56( $ Aux $ 8 $ 56, 7' # 56, $ AuxE !e Een $ 84 !y A 56(The relative positions of the two 56s are interchanged the morpheme !y isad"oined to the left of 56( in its new position and the morphemes !e and enare ad"oined to the right of Aux # !y is linked to the agent complement 56=theformer sub"ect> by a copy of the 56 being made on the level above theoriginal 56 which copy dominates both !y and the agent and is sister4ad"oined to the 86!

:nother illustration of 'homskys ad"unction is provided by the contextsunder =,> and the representation of the derivation in Figure ,!9!=,> a! +oys come with flowers! b! +oys with flowers come with flowers

:d"unction is responsible for such transformational rules asextraposition which ad"oins a 66 or '6 = 74bar > to the minimal Y6 containing

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the 6hrase out of which it moves ! Freidin is of the opinion that *n terms of ;-!ar structure, ad


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Chapter 3: 5ovement 6ules


3.1. 6aisingRaising rules operate on infinitive clause sub"ects or ob"ects! :ccording

to 6ostal =(0-2> raising is a rule that moves the sub"ect of an embeddedclause into the ;' where it becomes the sub"ect of the ;' =for intransitiveverbs> or the DO or the ;' =for transitive verbs>! The former case is studiedunder the heading Su! such as # appear, seem, chance, happen, turn out8 liely,unliely, sure, certain! 'ontextuali&ations are provided in =2>!=2>a! /t seems that ;elvin speaks fluent Mapanese = see Figure 1!(> a! ;elvin seems to speak fluent Mapanese! b! /t turns out that nobody has experienced that dilemma! b! 5obody turns out to have experienced that dilemma! c! /t is sure that ;ary will win the competition =see Figure 1!,>

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c! ;ary is sure to win the competition!

b! The second category of 77R triggers is provided by aspectual verbs# !egin,continue, commence, start, stop, etc! 'ontextuali&ations are provided in =*>!=*> a! The noise !egan to annoy Mohn = see Figure 1!1!> a! Mohn !egan to be annoyed by the noise! b! They stopped to greet their neighbors! b! Their neighbors stopped to be greeted by them!

c! The third category of 77R includes the constructions had !etter had !est =A short infinitive>!=9> There had !etter be no flows in your argument!

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d! The fourth category of 77R triggers includes !e E ad a! 7he is a!out to cry!= Figure 1!2! > b! /t is going to rain! c! )ittle headway is apt to be made on that problem!

e! The fifth category of 77R triggers are dicendi verbs# say, rumour, estimate,certify, deduce, discern etc!=1> a! They say that she is the apple of his eyes! a! 7he is said to be the apple of his eyes!= Figure 1!-!> b! They certified that he was the best in the team!

b! e 'as certified to be the best in the team!

3.1.". E#ercises(! /dentify the concept of sub"ect 4to4 sub"ect raising and provide examplesentences in which it occurs!

,! 6rovide examples of 77R triggers in sentences of your own!1! Draw the trees for the base forms of the following sentences! 7how howsurface structures are produced!

a! /t happened that ;ary had won the competition!b! /t appears that the weather is changing!c! /t is unlikely that the bridge will be built!d! The rain began to annoy everybody!e! 7he is bound to deliver the goods earlier!f! /t looks like our car is going to break down!

3.". /u0ect,to,%0ect 6aising7ub"ect4to4ob"ect raising is a behavioral property of direct ob"ects in

complex sentences in English! The subcategori&ation presented belowincludes various classes of verbs triggers of 7OR! 'ontextuali&ations andgraphical representations follow the listing of the verbs! The input 6;( ispaired with the output 6;, after applying the transformation!a! 8erbs of propositional attitude with a human 7ub"ect and a propositionalDO in the D7!=i> account, assert, admit, assume, !eliee, consider, imagine, understand,thin, guess, suppose etc !=(> a! e asserted that the charge was incorrect!

a!e asserted the charge to be incorrect = see Figure 1!*!> b! e imagined himself that he was sought after by the English!

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b e imagined himself =to> be sought after by the English = see Figure1!*!c! They admitted that the task was difficult!

c! They admitted the task to be difficult! d ! / no' that he is a fool!

d! / no' him to be a fool!

=ii> acno'ledge, affirm, attest, conclude, deny, pronounce=,> a! e concluded that she was a witch! a e concluded her to be a witch! =Figure1! 9> b! e attested that this was the same which had been taken from him! b e attested this to be the same which had been taken from him!

b! 'ausative 8erbs=i> cause, set, occasion, necessitate, get,hae(ii) mae, let, hae (E short infinitie>=iii> verbs of negative causation# preent, stop =2>! / had my tooth extracted !

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Figure 1! .!

c! /llocutionary 8erbs of 6ermission and 'ommandallo', !id, !eg, as, comment, dictate, direct, for!id, instruct, order, permit, prescri!e! 'ontextuali&ations and the transformational cycle are taken from'ornilescu (0.9 # ,.*!=*> a! / allo'ed Mohn to interrogate the witness!

a! / allo'ed the witness to be interrogated by Mohn!= Figure 1! 0!>

b! / for!id Mohn to visit you! b! / for!id you to be visited by Mohn!

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d! 8erbs of liking and dislikinglie, loe, prefer, 'ant, 'ish, desire, need, expect, mean, intend, prefer,choose=9> a! /d lie you to come earlier! b! / didnt expect that to happen! c! / want someone to redecorate the house! =Figure =1!(

e! 8erbs of physical perceptionsee, hear, listen to, 'atch, feel, find, perceie, note, notice, o!sere=-> a! We sa' Mohn cross the street!= see Figure 1!((!> b! / noticed them walk across the lane!

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3.".1. E#ercises(! /dentify the concept of raising 4 to4 ob"ect and provide example sentences inwhich it occurs!

,! %ive examples of 7OR triggers in sentences of your own!1! Draw trees for the base forms of the following sentences and showhow surface structures are produced#a! The captain ordered the soldiers to march on!b! The old man believed the street to be empty!c! 7he denied his behavior to be of a good common sense!d! The bear is said to have left the circus!e! Dark caused them to stumble and fall down!f! /d prefer you to play 'inderellas part!g! The girls watched the swans fly over the river!h! The teacher didnt mean the pupils to read the whole story!

i! / have never expected her to run away from home! " ! /d like you to get yourself a "ob! 3.3. Cleft 7 Constructions

'left sentences are specific constructions which give certainprominence or focus to a particular element of a sentence@ they are calledcleftG because they seem to divide a single clause into two separate partseach with its verb! There are at least two basic types of cleft4constructions inEnglish# 'h-clefts and it-clefts!

'left analysis assumes that the focus constituent is initially in a non4cleft sentence from where it is extracted by means of the cleft transformation='ornilescu (0.9>! 7entences b4c under =(> are cleft sentences#=(> a! ;ary fed her dog!= Figure 1! (,!> b! 7hat ;ary fed was her dog!

c! *t was her dog that ;ary fed!

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3.3.1. E#ercises(! Define cleft4constructions and provide examples of your own! ,! 'omment upon the focused constituent in the following sentences!

a! /ts in the library that / prefer studying!

b! /ts happiness that ;ary wants!c! What she said was that we shouldnt leave the house!d! Where we lost the key was in the cupboard!e! /t might be +en who stole the car!

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Contemporary English Language. Introducing Transformations 3*


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(lossary of Terms

am0iguity the condition whereby any linguistic form has two or moreinterpretationsanomalous sentence a meaningless se3uence of words which deviates fromthe rules for sentence formationco,inde#ation in %% the process of marking the identity of constituents =e!g!in the deep structure of a sentence> by using subscript letters or numberscomplement a functional label which denotes a constituent whose presenceis re3uired by a verb noun ad"ective or prepositionconunct a con"oined element =e!g! in T% con"oining transformation>constituent a string of words which syntactically behaves as a unit part of alarger linguistic constructiondeep structure in T% the abstract underlying representation of a sentence

specifying the syntactic facts upon which meaning interpretation is appliedderived structure in %% an output phrase4marker resulting after theapplication of a transformational ruleellipsis omission of a part of a sentence structureem0ed 8,ing 9,ed in %% a process or construction where one sentence isincluded =? embedded> into another i!e! traditionally in syntactic subordinatione#traposition a movement rule or transformation involving ad"unction e !g! a66 moved out of a 56 and attached to the end of the clausegapping the omission of an identical part in coordinate clausesle#icon the lexical component of a generative grammar containingmorphological syntactic and semantic specifications

movement in T% a basic type of transformation which moves a constituentfrom one part of a phrase4marker to another@ a constituency testphrase, structure 8/ level the level of sentence constituency structureprimitive a concept which refers to axiomatic terms =i!e! true ?givenbasic> used in the description of various linguistic theories = e!g! grammars>recovera0ility a term which takes into account the retrieving of elementswhich have been deleted by means of the linguistic contextselectional restriction a semantic feature specifying a restriction on thecollocations of lexical items e!g! learn generally has a human sub"ectsurface structure in T% the stage in the derivation of a sentence that occursafter applying transformational rules and which constitutes the input for the

phonological component!



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6eferences. 6ecommended Bi0liography


(! +resnan M! (0-. A ealistic Transformational @rammar in inguistic

*n6uiry and Fsychological eality edited by ;orris alle et al!'ambridge ;/T 6ress,! +rown Z and M ;iller ,

+ncyclopedia of anguage and inguistics 7econd Edition Editor4in4'hief , Zeith +rown 8olume 1 Elsevier!

(9!Farkas D! (0.- n !ligatory Control inguistics and Fhilosophy (-!Freidin R! ,

'ambridge niversity 6ress,2!Reinhart T!(0.1Coreference and !ound anaphora3 a restatement of

anaphora 6uestions in inguistics and Fhilosophy 9

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,*!Rosenbaum 6eters 7! (09-a The @rammar of +nglish FredicateComplement Constructions Research ;onograph 5o 2- The ;/T6ress 'ambridge

,9!Ross M!R! (09- Constraints on aria!les in syntax 6h!D ;/T,-!7ag /! (0-- Deletion and logical form +loomington /5 # /ndiana

niversity )inguistic 'lub 6ublications,.!7tockwell R!6! 6aul 7chachter +arbara all 6artee (0-1 The :a

and inguistics! 7econd Edition Elsevier

note curs sintaxa, anul 3, 2015-2016

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