Chapter 5: Combinatorial Construction Rules and Principles Syntactic Constructions in English Kim and Michaelis (2020) Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 1 / 83
1 From Lexemes to Words 2 Head Features and Head Feature Principle Parts of Speech Value as a Head Feature VFORM as a Head Feature Mapping between Argument-Structure and Valence Features 3 Combinatory Construction Rules Non-phrasal, lexical constructions 4 Feature Specifications on the Syntactic Complement 5 Complements of Verbs Complements of Adjectives Complements of Common Nouns Feature Specifications on the Subject 6 Clausal Complement and Subject 7 Verbs Selecting a Clausal Complement Verbs Selecting a Clausal Subject Adjectives Selecting a Clausal Complement Nouns Selecting a Clausal Complement Prepositions Selecting a Clausal Complement Conclusion 8 Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 2 / 83
Realizations of lexemes A lexeme is the basic lexical unit, or the headword (citation form) in the dictionary. Each verb lexeme is realized in different inflected forms. (1) a. The dog chased the cat. b. The dog chases a shadow. c. The dog is chasing the cat. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 3 / 83
Realizations of lexemes (cont’d) (2) v-lxm form � chase � arg-st � NP[ agt ], NP[ th ] � (3) v-wd form � chased � � � verb pos head ed vform syn � � � 1 NP � spr val � 2 NP � comps arg-st � 1 NP, 2 NP � Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 4 / 83
� POS value as a head feature In order to guarantee that the head’s pos (part of speech) value is identical to that of its mother, we need to introduce the category variable X and the feature pos . The pos feature is thus a head feature that is shared between the ‘mother’ phrase and its head ‘daughter’. (4) VP[ pos verb ] V[ pos verb ] PP Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 5 / 83
Head feature principle This sharing between head and mother is ensured by the Head Feature Principle. (5) The Head Feature Principle (HFP): A phrase’s head feature (e.g., pos , vform , etc.) is identical to that of its head. (6) *VP[ pos verb ] A[ pos adj ] PP Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 6 / 83
Verb forms A verb lexeme can have one of several inflectional markings, chosen according to the verb’s tense and agreement properties. Intuitively, English verbs have seven grammatical forms. (7) Types of English Verb Forms: Finiteness Verb forms Example He drives a car. es He drove a car. fin ed They drive a car. pln He wants to drive a car. bse Driving a car, he sang a song. He was driving . ing He is proud of driving a car. nonfin Driven by the mentor, he worked. The car was driven by him. en He has driven the car. He has to drive . inf Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 7 / 83
Possible mismatches between finite verb forms and their functions The fin forms have three subtypes es , ed , and pln ( plain ), but there might be mismatch between form and function. (8) a. My daughter called me yesterday. b. She usually smiles a lot and she is usually pretty articulate. c. Your plane leaves Seoul early tomorrow morning. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 8 / 83
Plain vs. base verb forms The nonfin forms have the forms bse (base), ing (present participle), and en (past participle), and inf (infinitive). The plain and base forms are identical to the lexical base (or citation form) of the lexeme. How can we distinguish between them? (9) a. They write/wrote to her. b. They want to write/*wrote to her. (10) a. They are/*be kind to her. b. They want to be/*are kind to her. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 9 / 83
Verb form value hierarchy VFORM hierachy: (11) vform fin nonfin es ed pln bse ing en inf Sometimes we want to be able to refer to a particular form. (12) a. [ vform fin ] b. [ vform ing ] Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 10 / 83
Distinction between fin vs. nonfin The need to distinguish between fin and nonfin is easily determined. Every declarative sentence in English needs to have a finite verb with tense information. (13) a. The student [knows the answers]. b. The student [knew the answers]. c. The students [know the answers]. (14) a. *The student [knowing the answers]. b. *The student [known the answers]. (15) English Declarative Sentence Construction: For an English declarative sentence to be well-formed, its verb form value ( vform ) must be finite. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 11 / 83
� � VFORM value as a head feature What is the head of a sentence, then? (16) S[ vform fin ] VP[ vform fin ] � NP V[ vform fin ] � Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 12 / 83
Mapping between arg-st and valence features The arg-st of the verb puts includes three arguments (agent, theme, and location) that are linked to the participants in the ‘putting’ event. � � (17) arg-st � NP[ agt ], NP[ th ], PP[ loc ] � These three elements in the arg-st (argument-structure) list are realized as the grammatical functions spr (specifier/subject) and comps (complements), respectively. (18) a. [The doctor] put [his hand] [on my elbow]. b. [Clinton] has also put [more emphasis] [on women’s issues]. c. [Democrats] put [their hopes] [in key swing areas]. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 13 / 83
Mapping between arg-st and valence features (cont’d) Each of the three arguments selected by the verb needs to be realized as a syntactic expression bearing its own grammatical function. (19) a. *The doctor put his hand. b. *The doctor put on my elbow. c. *The doctor put. The first element of the arg-st list must be the subject, with the other expression(s) linked to the complements in order. (20) a. *In my elbow put his arm the doctor. b. #His arm put the doctor in my elbow. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 14 / 83
Argument realization constraint (21) Argument Realization Constraint ( arc , first approximation): The first element on the arg-st list is realized as spr (or subject), the rest as comps in syntax. (22) Argument Realization Constraint (ARC): � spr � A syn | val v-wd ⇒ B comps arg-st A ⊕ B Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 15 / 83
Argument realization constraint: examples (23) form � puts � � � � 1 NP � spr syn | val � 2 NP, 3 PP � comps � 1 NP, 2 NP, 3 PP � arg-st � � (24) * spr � 3 PP � syn | val comps � 1 NP, 2 NP � � 1 NP, 2 NP, 3 PP � arg-st Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 16 / 83
ARG-ST and syntactic realizations Each lexical head (verb, adjective, noun, preposition) can have its own argument structure ( arg-st ), and the arguments in arg-st are realized as the syntactic elements spr (subject of a verb and determiner of a noun) and comps in accordance with the arc . (25) a. Sam remained quiet. b. Everyone supported the idea immediately. c. His teammates passed him the ball more. (26) a. *Sam remained. b. *Everyone supported. c. *His teammates passed him. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 17 / 83
X ′ construction rules (27) a. Head-Specifier Rule: XP → ZP, X ′ (Specifier, Head) b. Head-Complement Rule: XP → X, YP* (Head, Complement(s)) c. Head-Modifier Rule: XP → ModP, XP (Modifier, Head) Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 18 / 83
Combinatory construction rules (to be revised) (28) Combinatory Construction Rules (to be revised): a. head-spr construction (XP → Specifier, Head): XP[ pos 1 ] → Specifier, XP[ pos 1 ] b. head-comp construction (XP → Head, Complement(s)): XP[ pos 1 ] → X[ pos 1 ], Complement(s) c. head-mod construction (XP → Modifier, Head): XP[ pos 1 ] → Modifier, XP[ pos 1 ] Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 19 / 83
head-spr construction : tree example (29) S hd-spr-cxt � � pos verb head 3 vform fin � � � � spr val � � comps Head Specifier VP � � pos verb head 3 1 NP vform fin � � � 1 NP � spr val � � comps Christine smiled softly. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 20 / 83
head-comp construction : tree example (30) VP hd-comp-cxt head 5 � 1 NP � spr � � comps Head Complement V � � vform fin head 5 pos verb 2 NP � 1 NP � spr � 2 NP � comps � 1 NP, 2 NP � arg-st denied the allegations Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 21 / 83
Valence principle (31) Valence Principle (VALP): For each valence feature F (e.g., spr and comps ), the F value of a headed phrase is the head-daughter’s F value minus the realized non-head-daughters. Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 22 / 83
head-mod construction : tree example (32) VP Mod Head Adv(P) � � 1 VP head | pos adv � 1 VP � mod (quite) strongly denied the allegations Syntactic Constructions Chapter 5 23 / 83
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