Syntactic Processes Introduction to syntax Overview The

Syntactic Processes Introduction to syntax

Overview The passive construction n The causative construction n WH-question n

n Syntactic processes that might change the grammatical relations between a verb and its arguments Promotion of NPs n Demotion of NPs n

The passive construction in English n Active n n John took the old lady to the shop. Passive n The old lady was taken to the shop by John.

The typical process of the passive construction n Subject of the active sentence n n Object of the active sentence n n DEMOTED to a PP (by-phrase) or deleted. PROMOTED to subject of the passive Auxiliary BE + past participle in passive

How do we know the NP is the subject of the passive sentence? Subject-verb agreement n Pronominal case n Subject-nominative n Object-accusative n

The cross-linguistic properties of the typical passive construction n The core arguments of the transitive verb change the grammatical relations. The promotion of object NP to S. n The demotion of subject NP to oblique NP or be deleted. n n The transitive verb changes its form. n V-> past participle

Where do we find passive constructions? n Typically in syntactically and morphologically accusative languages.

The passive construction and intransitive verbs n n n The use of a ‘dummy’ subject n An impersonal passive No NPs are promoted. German n n n Die Kinder schliefen The children sleep: PAST ‘the children slept. ’ Es wurde (von den Kindern) geschlafen. It became by the children sleep: PP ‘it was slept by the children’

The applicative construction n John sold his i. Pod to Mary. n n John sold Mary his i. Pod. John bought a cup of coffee for me. n John bought me a cup of coffee.

The cross-linguistic properties of the typical applicative construction n Oblique NP/indirect object n n Former object n n Promoted to object Demoted to oblique NP The form of the verb may change to indicate the applicative construction

Oblique arguments Non-core arguments n Can be omitted without any grammatical adjustment n

Not all languages have an applicative construction Marie a donné un cadeau à Pierre. Marie has give: PP a gift to Pierre “Mary has given a gift to Pierre. ” n *Marie a donne Pierre un cadeau. n

The causative construction n The students read the book. n n The professor made the students read the book. The students leave. n The professor let the students leave.

The cross-linguistic properties of the typical causative construction A new subject is introduced. n Former subject is demoted to be n the object n The oblique NP n deleted n n Causation is introduced by A causative verb n The causative morphology on the main verb n

The fronting construction n Move the constituent to the leftward position to focus on a particular phrase. n WH-questions

WH-questions n Move the wh-word to the left of the subject (in English) WH-words: what, where, who n The gap leaves a trace of the wh-word. n

Example John bought a cup of coffee at Starbucks. n What did John buy ______ at Starbucks? n Where did John bought a cup of coffee ____? n

in other languages n French n Qu’est-ce que + S… ‘what…’ n Qu’est-ce n que vous faites? ‘What do you do? ’ Pied-piping Which book does he like ______? n *Which does he like _____ book? n

The role of constituents The promoted, demoted, and fronted phrases have to be a constituent. n Structure dependency n