chapter 4: head, complements, modifiers, and argument...

Chapter 4: Head, Complements, Modifiers, andArgument Structures

Syntactic Constructions in EnglishKim and Michaelis (2020)

Syntactic Constructions Chapter 4 1 / 73

1 Building a Phrase from a HeadInternal vs. External SyntaxThe Notion of Head, Complements, and Modifiers

2 Differences between Complements and Modifiers

3 PS Rules, X′-Rules, and FeaturesProblems of the PS RulesIntermediate Phrases and SpecifiersIntermediate Phrases for Non-NPs

4 Lexicon and Feature StructuresFeature Structures and Basic OperationsFeature Structures for Linguistic Entities

5 Arguments and Argument-Structure ConstructionsBasic Properties of Argument StructureTypes of Argument-Structure ConstructionsArgument Structure as Constructions: Form and Meaning Relations

6 Conclusion

Internal vs. external syntax

The combinatory properties of word and phrasal constructions involvetwo aspects of syntax: internal and external syntax.

Internal syntax deals with what a well-formed phrase consists of,whereas external syntax is concerned with how the phrase can beused in a larger construction.

Internal syntax

Why the difference in grammaticality of the examples in (1)?

(1) a. *He [put his hand].b. *He [put under the comforter].c. *He [put his hand warm].d. *He [put his hand to be under the comforter].e. He [put his hand under the comforter].

This combinatory requirement can be traced back to the internal (orlexical) properties of the verb put, and is not related to any externalproperties of the VP.

External syntax

By contrast, external syntax is concerned with the syntacticenvironment in which a phrase occurs.

(2) a. This is the comforter under which he [put his hand]. (cf.(1a))

b. This is his hand that he [put under the comforter]. (cf.(1b))

(3) a. *He kept [put his hand under the comforter].b. He kept [putting his hand under the comforter].

Each phrase has one essential, obligatory element, called “head”.

(4) a. NP

. . . N

V . . .

A . . .

The head of each phrase determines the syntactic category of thephrase from which it is built, a phenomenon called ‘lexical projection’.

Head (cont’d)

The property of headedness plays an important role in grammar.

The head dictates what it must combine with. That is, it determinesits complements.

(5) a. Clark denied the plagiarism charges.b. *Clark denied.

(6) a. Hill handed the students an ambitious assignment.b. *Hill handed the students.

English declarative sentence construction

The properties of the head become properties of the whole phrase.

(7) a. Lopez [wants to leave the United States].b. *Lopez [eager to leave the United States].

(8) a. They [know that the president is running for re-election].b. *They [certain that the president is running for re-election].

(9) English Declarative Sentence Construction:Each declarative sentence must contain a finite VP as itshead.

(10) a. *Lopez [(to) be eager to leave the United States].b. *They [(to) be certain that the president is running for

re-election].

Modifiers and minimal/maximal phrases

In addition to the complements of a head, a phrase may also containmodifiers (also called adjuncts).

(11) a. Tom [VP [VP offered advice to his students] in his office].b. Tom [VP [VP offered advice to his students] with love].

The VP which includes this kind of modifier forms a maximal phrase.

The inner VP here forms a ‘minimal’ VP which includes all the‘minimally’ required complements, and the outer VP is the ‘maximal’VP which includes optional modifiers.

Head, complement, modifier, minimal/maximal phrase

(12) a. Head: A lexical or phrasal element that is essential indetermining the category and internal structure of a largerphrase.

b. Complement: A phrasal element that a head must combinewith – that is, one that is selected by the head. Complementsinclude direct object, indirect object, predicative complement,and oblique complement.

c. Modifier: A phrasal element that is not selected by the headfunctions but which functions as a modifier of the head phrase,e.g., indicating the time, place, manner, or purpose of theaction expressed by a verb and its complements.

d. Minimal Phrase: the phrase including a head and all of itscomplements.

e. Maximal Phrase: the phrase that includes all complements aswell as any modifiers.

Complements vs. modifiers: obligatoriness

Obligatoriness: Complements are required phrases while modifiersare not.

(13) a. Eli placed the cushion behind him.b. Eli kept the cushion behind him.c. *Eli stayed the cushion behind him.

(14) a. *These ladies and gentlemen placed him busy.b. These ladies and gentlemen kept him busy.c. *These ladies and gentlemen stayed him busy.

(15) a. *He placed behind the bodyguard.b. *He kept behind the bodyguard.c. He stayed behind the bodyguard.

Complements vs. modifiers: obligatoriness (cont’d)

Modifiers are optional. Their presence is not required by the grammar.

(16) a. John deposited some money in the bank.b. John deposited some money in the bank on Friday.

However, this ‘obligatoriness’ test is not always sufficient, for someverbs allow optional complements.

(17) a. He read (the book) for at least one hour every day.b. It seems inappropriate (to me) to turn a simple wedding

into a grand social occasion.

Complements vs. modifiers: iterability

Iterability: In general two or more instances of the same modifiertype can occur with the same head, but this is impossible forcomplements.

(18) a. *The UN blamed global warming [on humans] [on naturalcauses].

b. The two had met [in Los Angeles] one night [at a bar] inJune of that year.

Complements vs. modifiers: the do-so test

The Do-so Test: We can use do so or do the same thing to avoidrepetition of an identical VP expression.

(19) a. Leslie deposited some money in the checking account andMary did the same thing.

b. Lesllie deposited some money in the checking account onFriday and Mary did the same thing.

This VP can also replace only the minimal phrase, excluding themodifier.

(20) John deposited some money into the checking account onFriday and Mary did the same thing on Monday.

Complements vs. modifiers: the do-so test (cont’d)

If something can be replaced by do so or do the same thing , then it iseither a minimal or a maximal phrase.

This in turn means that this ‘replacement’ VP cannot be understoodto exclude any complement(s).

(21) a. *John [deposited some money into the checking account]and Mary did the same thing into the savings account.

b. *John [gave a present to the student] and Mary did thesame thing to the teacher.

Do-so replacement condition

(22) Do-so Replacement Condition:The phrase do so or do the same thing can replace a verbphrase that includes at least all of the complements of the verb.

(23) a. *John locked Fido in the garage and Mary did so in the room.

b. *John ate a carrot and Mary did so a radish.

Complements vs. modifiers: combinatory freedom

Combinatory freedom: An adjunct can cooccur with a relativelybroad range of heads whereas a complement is typically limited in itsdistribution.

(24) a. They sat/danced//walked/meditated on the hill.b. They walked on/over/under the hill.

(25) The world relies on/*at/*for Occam’s Razor.

Complements vs. modifiers: structural differences

Structural Differences: In tree structures, complements combinewith a lexical head (not a phrase) to form a minimal phrase whereasmodifiers combine with a phrase to form a maximal phrase.

(26) XP

XP Modifier

X Complement(s)

Complements vs. modifiers: structural differences (cont’d)

(27) a. VP

V NP in the room

ate some food

V NP PP

put the money in the room

Complements vs. modifiers: ordering differences

Ordering Differences: As a complement needs to combine with alexical head first, complements typically precede modifiers.

(28) a. He met [a woman] [in the lobby of the Four Seasons].b. *He met [in the lobby of the Four Seasons] [a woman].

(29) a. the student [of linguistics] [with long hair]b. *the student [with long hair] [of linguistics]

Two issues with PS rules: endocentricity

Two main issues arise with respect to the content of PS rules.

The first is related to the headedness of each phrase, often calledthe ‘endocentricity’ of the phrase.

(30) a. S → NP VPb. NP → Det AdjP∗ Nc. VP → V (NP) (VP)d. VP → V NP APe. VP → V NP NPf. VP → V Sg. AP → A VPh. PP → P NPi. VP → Adv VP

Here, each phrase is the projection of a head, and is therebyendocentric.

Two issues with PS rules: endocentricity (cont’d)

However, this raises the question of whether we can have rules likethe following, in which the phrase has no head at all:

(31) a. VP → P NPb. NP → PP S

Nothing in the grammar makes such PS rules unusual, or different inany way from the set in (30).

Two issues with PS rules: redundancy

Another limitation of the simple PS rules concerns the issue ofredundancy.

(32) a. *The problem disappeared the accusation.b. The problem disappeared.

(33) a. *Clarke denied.b. Clarke denied the plagiarism charges.

(34) a. *Hill handed the student.b. Hill handed the students an ambitious assignment.

These examples show that each verb has its own restrictions on itscomplement(s).

Two issues with PS rules: redundancy (cont’d)

Each specific pattern is known as the ‘subcategorization’ requirementof each verb.

(35) a. disappear: IV,b. deny: TV, NPc. give: DTV, NP NP

(36) a. VP → IVb. VP → TV NPc. VP → DTV NP NP

Each VP rule thus also needs to specify the kind of verb that canserve as its head.

Two issues with PS rules: redundancy (cont’d)

A similar issue of redundancy arises in accounting for subject-verbagreement.

(37) a. The insect devours the soft flesh.b. The insects devour the soft flesh.

(38) a. S → NPsing VPsing (for (37a))b. S → NPpl VPpl (for (37b)

Two issues with PS rules

The grammar described above may be a perfectly adequatedescriptive tool.

From a theoretical perspective, however, we must address theendocentricity and redundancy issues. A more specific, relatedquestion is: how many PS rules does English have?

For example, how many PS rules do we need to characterize EnglishVPs? Presumably there are as many rules as there are subcategoriesof verbs.

We need to investigate the properties shared by all PS rules, in orderto develop a theory of PS rules.

For example, it seems to be the case that each PS rule must have a‘head’. This will prevent many PS rules that we could write using therule format, from being actual rules of any language.

Intermediate phrases and specifiers

In order to understand the structures that rules describe, we need twoadditional notions: ‘intermediate category/phrase’ and ‘specifier(SPR)’.

(39) a. Every photo of Max and sketch by his students appearedin the magazine.

b. No photo of Max and sketch by his students appeared inthe magazine.

(40) *Sketch by his students appeared in the magazine.

The phrase N′ is intuitively bigger than a noun, but smaller than afull NP, in the sense that it still requires a determiner from the classthe, every, no, some, and the like.

(41) a. [Every [[photo of Max] and [sketch by his students]]]appeared in the magazine.

b. [No [[photo of Max] and [sketch by his students]]]appeared in the magazine.

Specifier

The complementary notion that we introduce at this point is‘specifier’ (spr), which can include the words just mentioned, as wellas phrases.

(42) a. [the enemy’s] [N′ destruction of the city]b. [The enemy] [VP destroyed the city].

These phrases are treated as the specifiers of N′ and of VP,respectively.

Possible specifiers of N′

Some specifiers of N′ are simple words, but others are phrases.

(43) a. a little dog, the little dogs (indefinite or definite article)b. this little dog, those little dogs (demonstrative)c. my little dogs, their little dog (possessive adjective)d. every little dog, each little dog, some little dog, either

dog, no dog (quantifying)e. my friend’s little dog, the Queen of England’s little dog

(possessive phrase)

(44) a. DP

DP N′

NP Det friend

DP N′ ’s

Det brother

Sample trees

(45) NP

DP N′

the enemy’s N PP

destruction of the city

(46) S

The enemy V NP

destroyed the city

Generalization

Given these similarities between NP and S structures, we cangeneralize over them.

(47) XP

Specifier X′

X Complement(s)

Head-specifier, Head-complement rules

(48) a. XP → Specifier, X′ (head-spr construction)

b. XP → X, YP∗ (head-comp construction)

Head-modifier rule

In addition to these two, we need the head-modifier rule.

(49) XP → Modifier, X′ (head-mod construction)

Representation with head, complement, modifier, andspecifier all together

(50) XP

Specifier X′

X′ Modifier

X Complement(s)

Constraint on the HEAD-COMP CONSTRUCTION

One important constraint on the head-comp construction isthat the head must be a lexical element.

This in turn means that we cannot apply the head-modconstruction first and then the head-comp construction.

(51) a. the king [of Rock and Roll] [with a hat]b. *the king [with a hat] [of Rock and Roll]

Constraint on the HEAD-COMP CONSTRUCTION(cont’d)

(52) a. NP

DP N′

the N′ PP

N PP with a hat

king of Rock and Roll

DP *N′

the N′ PP

N PP of Rock and Roll

king with a hat

One-substitution test for N′

The pronoun one replaces an N′ but not an N or an NP.

(53) a. The present king of country music is more popular thanthe last one.

b. *The king of Rock and Roll is more popular than the oneof country music.

(54) A: Which student were you talking about?B: The one with long hair.

B′: *The one of linguistics with long hair.

Merits of these three grammar rules

There are several more welcoming consequences of these three X′

rules.

These grammar rules can account for the same structures describedby all of the PS rules that we have seen so far: with these rules wecan identify phrases whose daughters are a head and itscomplement(s), or a head and its specifier, or a head and its modifier.

The three X′ rules thereby greatly minimize the number of PS rulesneeded to characterize well-formed English sentences.

Merits of these three grammar rules (cont’d)

In addition, these X′ rules directly address the endocentricity issue,because they refer to ‘Head’.

(55) XP[pos 1 ]

Specifier X′[pos 1 ]

X′[pos 1 ] Modifier

X[pos 1 ] Complement(s)

Merits of these three grammar rules (cont’d)

Using the new feature number, whose values are singular and plural ,we can add a crucial detail to the head-spr construction.

(56) XP → Specifier[number 1 ], X′[number 1 ]

The rule states that the subject’s number value is identical to thatof the predicate VP’s number value.

Intermediate phrases for non-NPs

The traditional notion of X′-rules, in particular the specifier of an X′

intermediate phrase, may be extended to phrases other than NPs.

(57) a. [NP that [N′ boy [of hers]]]b. [AP much [A′ smaller [than Tom]]]c. [PP right [P′ down [the slope]]]

With the assumption that the specifier is a non-head phrase directlydominated by a maximal phrase like AP or PP, much and right in(57b) and (57b) would be specifiers.

However, unlike specifiers of N′, specifiers of A′ and P′ are all optionaland lack a tight syntactic relationship with the head.

Such differences among putative ‘specifiers’ have caused proponentsof X′ syntax to restrict the use of X′ to phrases like NPs.

Feature structures

Most modern grammars rely on a representation of lexical informationin terms of features and their values.

Each feature structure is an attribute-value matrix (AVM).

Attribute1 value1

Attribute2 value2

Attribute3 value3

. . . . . .

Value types

The value of each attribute can be an atomic element, a list, a set, ora feature structure.

Attribute1 atomic

Attribute2 〈〉

Attribute3{ }

Attribute4[. . .]

Feature structures: typed

One important property of every feature structure is that it is typed .

That is, each feature structure is relevant only for a given type.

(60) a. university

name Kyunghee University

location Seoul

university

name Kyunghee University

mayor Kim

Typed feature structures: example

author

name Kim

children 〈Edward, Richard, Albert〉hobbies

{swimming, cycling, jogging, . . .

}advanced-degree

field linguistics

area syntax

year 1996

Feature structures: structure-sharing

One useful aspect of feature structures is structure-sharing, whichwe have already seen above in connection with the 1 notation.

Structure sharing is used to represent cases where two features (orattributes) have an identical value.

individualname Kimaddress 1

children

⟨individualname Edwardaddress 1

,individualname Richardaddress 1

individualname Albertaddress 1

Feature structures: subsumption

The subsumption relation concerns the relationship between a featurestructure with general information and one with more specificinformation. In such a case, the general one subsumes the specificone.

[individualname Kim

individualname kimtel 961-0892

Feature structures: unification

Feature unification means that two compatible feature structures areunified, conveying more coherent and rich information.

individual

name Kim

] ⊔ [individual

tel 961-0892

individual

name Kim

tel 961-0892

Feature structures: unification (cont’d)

If two feature structures have incompatible feature values, theycannot be unified

individual

name Edward

] ⊔ [individual

name Richard

individual

name Edward

name Richard

Feature structure for linguistic entities

Any individual or entity, including a linguistic expression, can berepresented by a feature structure.

Every lexical entry includes at least phonological (in practice,orthographic), morphological, syntactic, and semantic information.

(66) Lexical Information for the verb putsa. phonological information: /pυts/b. morphological information: put + sc. syntactic information: verb, present, 3rd singulard. argument information: <agenti, themej, locationk>

e. semantic information: put relation(i,j,k)

Feature structure for linguistic entities: example

form 〈puts〉

syntax

[pos verb

vform -es

[spr 〈NPi 〉comps 〈NPj , PPk〉

arg-st

⟨NP[agt]i , NP[th]j , NP[loc]k

semantics

pred put-rel

theme j

Basic properties of argument structure

The feature arg-st has as its value a list whose elements are thearguments that a lexical expression takes.

(68) a. The child smiled.b. The dog chased the squirrel.c. The bishop gave the medal to his successor.

Basic properties of argument structure: examples

(69) a.[form 〈smile〉arg-st 〈NP〉

[form 〈chase〉arg-st 〈NP, NP〉

[form 〈give〉arg-st 〈NP, NP, PP〉

Observations about the properties of ARG-ST

We can make a few important observations about the properties ofarg-st.

The first is that even though arguments are linked to semantic roles(e.g., agent, patient, theme, location, etc), the value of arg-st is alist of syntactic categories like NP or PP. This is partially becausethere are sometimes difficulties in assigning a specific semantic role(as in That item is similar to his). When required, we mark thecategorial information of each argument with a semantic role value.

Observations about the properties of ARG-ST (cont’d)

The second is that not only verbs but also other lexical expressionsincluding adjectives, nouns, and prepositions can take an argument orarguments.

(70) a. [His mother] is quite fond [of the novel].b. [Internet firms’] reliance [on information technology]

might differ across industries.c. [The moon] was out. [Mars] was in.

(71) a.[form 〈fond〉arg-st 〈NP, PP[of]〉

[form 〈reliance〉arg-st 〈DP, PP[on]〉

[form 〈in〉arg-st 〈NP〉

Observations about the properties of ARG-ST (cont’d)

The third point to note is that the arguments selected by eachpredicate feature the ordering of subject, direct object, and obliquecomplement, and are eventually linked to grammatical functions suchas subj and comps.

Types of argument structure constructions

The information of the arg-st list implies verbs can be classifiedbased on the type of argument structure they can occur with.

That is, we can differentiate verb types by looking only at the numberof arguments they require.

Types of argument-structure constructions: intransitiveconstruction

The Intransitive Construction: This is theargument-structure construction accommodating verbs that requireonly one argument.

(72) a. John disappeared.b. *John disappeared Bill.

(73) a. John sneezed.b. *John sneezed the money.

(74)[arg-st 〈NP〉

Types of argument-structure constructions: linkingconstruction

The Linking Construction: Verbs such as look, seem, remain,and feel require a complement whose typical category is an AP.

(75) a. Tang looked [thoughtful].b. Students became [familiar with this information].c. The drink never tasted [so good].d. The difference remained [statistically significant].e. James seemed [ready to start a new life].

These verbs also can select other phrases (here, NP).

(76) a. Her house became [a landmark].b. They seemed [a happy couple].c. She remained [a firm supporter of the arts].

(77)[arg-st 〈NP, XP[pred +]〉

]Syntactic Constructions Chapter 4 61 / 73

Types of argument-structure constructions: transitiveconstruction

The Transitive Construction: Unlike linking verbs, a puretransitive verb combines with a referential, non-predicative NP as itscomplement.

(78) a. He typed [the first pages of his doctoral dissertation].b. Clinton supported [the health care bill].c. The Roman armies destroyed [the temple].

The complement NP here is not a predicative complement, as seenfrom the passive examples.

(79) a. The first pages of his doctoral dissertation were typed.b. The health care bill was supported by Clinton.

(80)[form 〈destroy〉arg-st 〈NP[agt], NP[pat]〉

Types of argument-structure constructions: ditransitiveconstruction

The Ditransitive Construction: English has a number ofgenerally ditransitive verbs, including send, pass, buy, teach, and tell.

(81) a. Sam sent [him] [a coded message].b. The player passed [Paul] [the ball].c. The parents bought [the children] [non-fiction novels].d. She taught [her students] [job skills].

(82)[form 〈teach〉arg-st 〈NP, NP[goal ], NP[th]〉

Types of argument-structure constructions: ditransitiveconstruction (cont’d)

As we noted earlier, these verbs typically have related verbs in whichthe recipient or goal argument is realized instead as an oblique PPcomplement.

(83) a. Sam sent a coded message to him.b. The player passed the ball to Paul.c. The parents bought non-fiction novels for the children.d. She taught job skills to her students.

(84)[form 〈teach〉arg-st 〈NP, NP[th], PP[goal ]〉

Types of argument structure constructions: complextransitive construction

The Complex Transitive Construction: There is anothertype of transitive verb which selects two complements, onefunctioning as a direct object and the other as a predicative phrase(NP, AP, or VP), describing the object.

(85) a. Mary regards Bill as a good friend.b. Hamilton’s policies made some people furious.c. They call her a strategist.d. They believe him to be a disinterested observer.

(86)[form 〈call〉arg-st 〈NP, NP, XP[pred +]〉

Types of argument structure constructions: some others

Even though these five types of argument structure constructions cancover most of the general types, there are other verbs that do not fitinto these constructions or at least require further specifications onthe complement(s).

(87) a. *They carted away.b. *They carted the debris.c. They carted the furniture out of the home.

(88)[form 〈cart〉arg-st 〈 1NP[agt], 2NP[th], 3PP[loc]〉

Argument structure as constructions

The argument-structure patterns have been identified with verbclasses, but we view these classes as ‘constructions’ because they arelogically independent of any given verb.

The key support for this view comes from the manner in whichlanguage users creatively extend the meanings of verbs by changingthe combinatory behavior of verbs.

(89) a. Pat coughed and then shook his head.b. Pat began to cough violently.c. *Pat coughed his head.

(90) a. Chess coughed smoke out of his lungs.b. I coughed vodka back into my glass.

Argument structure as constructions (cont’d)

(91) a. Pat kicked. (intransitive)

b. Pat kicked the ball. (transitive)

c. Pat kicked at the ball. (conative)

d. Pat kicked Bob the ball. (ditransitive)

e. Pat kicked the ball into the stadium. (caused-Motion)

f. Pat kicked Bob black and blue. (resultative)

Construction type Argument-structure Semantic Properties

intransitive <NPx> X acts alone

conative <NPx, PPy> X acts at Y

transitive <NPx, NPy> X acts on Y or X experiences Y

ditransitive <NPx, NPy, NPz> X causes Y to receive Z

caused-motion <NPx, NPy, PPz> X causes Y to move Z

resultative <NPx, NPy, XPz[pred +]> X causes Y to become Z

Table: Argument-structure constructions and semantic properties

In this constructional view, the meaning of a sentence is determinedby the combination of the matrix verb’s core meaning with the basicevent type (constructional meaning) conveyed by the constructionwith which it combines.

According to this constructional view, extended uses of a verb areexpected, because the set of verbs that can occur in the givenconstruction is not predetermined.

(92) a. Colin sneezed.b. *Colin sneezed his napkin.c. Colin sneezed his napkin off the table.

Conclusion

We first showed that the well-formedness of each phrase depends onits internal as well as external syntax.

The pivotal expression in internal syntax is the head which projectseither its minimal or maximal phrase.

We have seen that a grammar with simple PS rules raises twoimportant issues: endocentricity (headedness) of a phrase andredundancies in the lexicon.

Conclusion (cont’d)

To resolve these two issues, generative grammar has introduced X′

rules including three key combinatorial rules: head-complement(s),head-specifier, and head-modifier.

These rules ensure that each phrase is a projection of a headexpression, while recognizing the existence of intermediate phrases(X-′ phrases).

Capturing the similarities between NPs and Ss in a uniform way, agrammar with X′ rules also recognizes the necessity of introducingfeatures like pos.

Conclusion (cont’d)

The grammar we adopt in this course (SBCG) follows the direction indeveloping a fine-grained feature-system to build the generativegrammar we aim for.

We also introduced the basic feature system that we will use indescribing the English language.

In addition, we examined the traditional idea of argument structurepatterns and the novel conception of such patterns within CxG,according to which argument-structure patterns are constructions.We have briefly shown that this view plays a key role in accountingfor innovative uses of verbs in various contexts.

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