syntax
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Syntax. Lecture 4: The Complementiser System. Complementisers. Complementisers are words which introduce subordinate clauses: I know that [he’s mad] I wonder if [you’ve heard] I was hoping for [it to be sunny] - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Syntax
Lecture 4:The Complementiser System
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Complementisers
• Complementisers are words which introduce subordinate clauses:– I know that [he’s mad]– I wonder if [you’ve heard]– I was hoping for [it to be sunny]
• Unlike other subordinating particles, they always precede the subordinate clause:– John left though he didn’t want to– John left, he didn’t want to though– * I know he’s mad that
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Complementisers and X-bar
• If X-bar theory applies to everything: – Complementisers are
heads– They project a
‘complementiser phrase’– They have complements– They have specifiers
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The complementiser as the head
• Clauses differ in force– Some make statements– Some ask questions
• The force of the sentence is often determined by the complementiser:– He stated that I was right– I asked if I was right
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Where is the CP in the clause?
• It is not part of the IP:– All the positions in the IP are taken
• Specifier = subject• Head = inflection• Complement = VP
• CP is independent of IP:– I wonder if [I’m not totally sane] and [he’s not
totally mad]– They say that he’s mad. But if [so], then so am I
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Where is the CP in the clause?
• Complementisers form a constituent with the clause:– This shows [that he is mad] and [that I’m not]– They say [that I’m mad] but I don’t believe [it]– * They say [that I’m mad] but I don’t believe that
[it]• It replaces C + IP, not just IP
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IP as complement of complementiser
• Complements are phrases that always follow heads– IP is a phrase that always
follows the complementiser
• Functional heads select for a single complement– Complementisers only ever
precede IPs
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Features of the Complementiser
• Complementisers can be declarative and interrogative:– +wh = interrogative = if– -wh = declarative = that
• Complementisers can also be distinguished in terms of what kind of clause they introduce– I know [that he disappeared] finite clause– I long [for him to disappear] infinitival clause
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Features of the Complementiser
So what about this?
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Whether• Whether can be used to introduce non-finite
interrogatives clauses:– He wondered whether [to stay in bed]
• However, whether is unlike a complementiser:– It can introduce both finite and non-finite clauses
• He wondered whether [he should stay in bed]
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Whether– It can introduce a clause with a ‘missing subject’
• * I am anxious for [to leave]
– It can be coordinated with an interrogative phrase• He wondered whether and (if so) when to tell her• *he wondered if and (if so) when to tell her
• This suggest that whether is not a complementiser but more like an interrogative phrase (more on these later)
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Obligatory nature of the complementiser
• If the complementiser provides the force of the sentence, it should always be present.
• Sometimes there is no complementiser– I think that he fled– I think he fled
• It seems that we have to suppose an invisible complementiser:– I think [CP e [IP he fled]]
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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 1)
• If there were no complementiser there would be no CP
• So verbs with clausal complements could take IP or CP complements– I think [CP that he fled]
– I think [IP he fled]
• But what a verb takes as its complement is a lexical matter – unpredictable/idiosyncratic
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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 1)
• But EVERY verb which takes CP complement takes IP complements – so this is predictable– I think/suppose/said/know/feel/... (that) he fled
• If the complementiser can be empty:– all these verbs take only CP complements
• I think [CP that/e he fled]
– whether the complementiser is pronounced or not is an idiosyncratic fact about complementisers
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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 2)
– I said yesterday that he fled– I said that yesterday he fled
• When a modifier is next to the verb, it modifies it – when it is separated from the verb, it modifies the following clause– I said yesterday he fled
• This is ambiguous – but why?• If there is an empty complementiser it is easy to
account for– I said yesterday e he fled– I said e yesterday he fled
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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 3)
• Certain questions involve a wh-phrase in front of the subject– I wonder [why he fled]
• The subject is in the IP specifier position (like all other subjects)
• The wh-phrase must therefore be outside the IP
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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 3)
• Wh-phrases are phrases – so they can’t be heads
• A suitable position for a phrase which precedes the IP is the specifier of CP
• If there is a CP, there must be a C – but this in empty in this case
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Wh-movement
• Many wh-phrases which appear in the specifier of CP have other functions inside the IP– Who did you meet object– Who did he say fled subject– When will you leave modifier
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Wh-movement
• These positions are always empty when there is a wh-phrase in CP specifier– * who did you meet him– * who did you say he fled– * when will you leave at 6 o’clock
• This suggests that the wh-phrase starts in these positions and moves
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Wh-movement
• Wh-phrases start off in the position appropriate to their function– Object– Subject– Modifier
• Then they move to the specifier of CP
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Evidence in favour of wh-movement (argument 1)
• Sometimes the wh-phrase does not move– You saw who!– He said who fled!– You will leave when!
• These are called echo questions• They don’t have the same meaning as wh-
questions with moved wh-phrases• But they do show that wh-phrases can occupy
these positions
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Evidence in favour of wh-movement (argument 2)
• When ‘want’ is followed by ‘to’ they can be contracted into ‘wanna’– Who do you want to fight– Who do you wanna fight
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Evidence in favour of wh-movement (argument 2)
• But this is not always possible– Who do you want to fight Bill– * Who do you wanna fight Bill
• The difference is in the function of the wh-phrase– Who do you want to fight who =
object• You want to fight him
– Who do you want to fight Bill who = subject• You want him to fight Bill
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Evidence in favour of wh-movement (argument 2)
• When there is a subject, it sits between ‘want’ and ‘to’– I want him to go
• Obviously ‘want’ and ‘to’ cannot contract in this case
• But the only way a wh-phrase at the beginning of a sentence can interfere between ‘want’ and ‘to’ is if it sits between then at some point
• So it must have been in this position once, and then moved
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Examples
These can contract
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Examples
• Then movement takes place
These can’t
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Conclusion
• Complementisers introduce clauses• They determine the force of the sentence• They provide a position for wh-phrases to
move to– This is not surprising as wh-phrases appear in
questions and this is to do with the force of the sentence