Grammar as Science. Text by Richard K. Larson. Graphic design by Kimiko Ryokai. Supported by the National Science Foundation

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1 Grammar as Science Text by Richard K. Larson Graphic design by Kimiko Ryokai Supported by the National Science Foundation The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England

2 2010 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please This book was set in Times Roman and Univers by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd., Hong Kong. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Larson, Richard K. Grammar as science / Richard K. Larson ; designed and illustrated by Kimiko Ryokai. p. cm. Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Grammar, Comparative and general Syntax Textbooks. I. Ryokai, Kimiko. II. Title. P291.L dc

3 Index adjectives 28, 129 adjunction of N 337 adjuncts 220, 231, 233, , 266, iterability of 236, 264 lexical sensitivity of 244 optionality of 237 recursion of 236, 264 adverbials. See adverbs adverbs 29, 128, 130, 220 agent 228 Allen, C. 388 ambiguity semantic 51, 111 in structural formulas 198 syntactic arguments 240 arrow notation 41 articles 28, 128, 130 Asimov, I. 199 asterisks 58 auxiliary verbs 301 black box branches 46, 115 Bresnan, J. 236 case categories of words. See grammatical categories c-command 118 center embedding 150 chemical bonds 199 chemical valences 199 Chomsky, N. 3, 18, 82, 304 circular reasoning 172 clausal 294, 299, 309, 376 complementizers 290, 306 CP , , 408 complements 228, 247, 266, , complex NPs 328, 396, 409 conjunction 29, 84, , 128, 136, 188, 312 predicate conjunctions 95, 100 conjunction test 133, 261 constituency 96 97, , 172, 181, 247, 251, 286, 291, 299 constituency test 102, 104, 107, 110 constituent questions. See questions, wh-questions context-free rules 44 CP. See complementizers dative 128, 211, 217 declarative sentences 283 degree inflection 129 deletion. See ellipsis derivation family of 45, 50 derived nominals 328 Derry, G. 82 Descartes, R. 22 descriptive adequacy 365

4 430 Index determiners 29, 130, determiner phrase (DP) See also nouns D feature 290, direction feature 214 dislocation , 368 See also transformations, movement dislocation test , 128, 136, 172, 174, 181, 183, 188 ditransitive verbs , 249, 323 dominance 116 DP. See determiners duration feature 215 each... the other 121, 184 ellipsis , 136 ellipsis test , 111, 136, 138, 172, 174, 180 embedding center embedding 150 finite clauses nonfinite clauses sentence embedding 286, 287 exclamative sentences 284 explanatory adequacy family of derivations 45 features D (declarative) 290, dative 211, 217 direction 214 duration 215 inheritance , 223 locative 211, 214 manner 216, 220 number 225 PAST 304, 305, 306 PRES 304, 305, 306 Q-question 290, , 391 subcategory features TNS-tense 301, finite clauses 298 finiteness 301 Freud, S. 12 gerundive nominals 328 Goldstein, I. 4 Goldstein, M. 4 grammar 23, 54 alternative grammars 82 building a grammar 62 as a scientific theory 81 testing a grammar grammatical categories 27 29, 128, conjunction test for 133 function of 130 meaning of 130 subcategorization 207 substitution test for 131 Haegeman, L. 229 Harris, J. 13 head 222 Horn, L. 376 Humboldt, W. von hypotheses 55, 65, 81 idioms , 324 ill-formedness 59, 69 See also judgments infinitives. See embedding, nonfinite clauses inflection case degree 129 number 129 tense 129

5 Index 431 inheritance , 223 intensifiers 29 interrogative sentences. See questions intonation 284 islands , iterability 236, 264 Jackendoff, R. 345 judgments 55, 58 Keil, F. 4 knowledge of a grammar 39 of language 9 12, tacit 11 12, 54 Kuhn, T. 281 language as an artifact 5 as a natural object 5 See also knowledge of language lexical items 201 lexical rules 44, 69 lexical sensitivity 244 linguistic competence 31 locality , 378 locative feature 211, 214 locative proforms 317 manner feature 216, 220 measure phrase (MP) modal verbs 302 movement. See transformations N adjunction 337 native speaker intuitions. See judgments negative polarity items (NPIs) 119, 146, 184 nodes daughter 47 leaf. See nodes, terminal mother 46 root 46, 115 sister 47, 265 terminal 46, 115 See also tree diagrams normal science 281 nouns 28, 128 adjuncts complements , complex NPs 328 derived nominals 328 determiner phrase (DP) gerundive nominals 328 noun phrase (NP) 109, 211, 223, , 343, , 396, 406 possessive NPs 141 NP. See nouns number feature 225 number inflection 129 optionality 237 paradigm 281 participant roles. See thematic roles participles 128 parts of speech. See grammatical categories PAST feature patient 228 perfective have 301 Phase Principle , 417 phases 410 phonology 23 phrase markers. See tree diagram phrases. See tree diagram phrase structure rules 42 44, 348

6 432 Index picture noun phrases 380 Platts, M. 31 Popper, K. 38 possessive NPs 141 PP. See prepositions precedence 116 predicate conjunctions 95, 100 predictions 55, 68, 69, 86 prepositions 28, 128, 130, 218 complements of 252 prepositional phrase (PP) 109, 211, , 337, PRES feature principles 39 processing difficulties 153 proforms , 136, 181 locative 317 pro-predicate 105 See also pronouns proform replacement test 106, 136, 174, 181 progressive be 301 prominence 117 pronouns 128 pleonastic , 324 PRO , , , 376, 378 reflexive , 146, 184, 313, , Q feature 290, , 391 questions polarity questions 285 wh-questions 285, 369 See also transformations, wh-movement recursion 91, 101, 236, 264 in structural formulas 198 reflexive pronouns. See pronouns rhetoric 168 Rizzi, L Ross, J. R. 340 rules context-free 44 lexical 44, 69 phrase structure (PS) 42 44, 348 and principles 39 recursive 91, 101 structural 44 scientific theories 54, 81, 94 coverage of the facts 82 depth of understanding 82 fertility 82 grammar as a scientific theory 81 hypothetico-deductive structure of 81 predictions 55, 68, 69, 86 simplicity 82, 94 strongly equivalent 93 weakly equivalent 93 See also hypotheses semantic ambiguity 51, 111 semantics 23 sentence embedding 286, 287 sentential subjects 398 simplicity 82, 94 specifier 348, 391, 395, 400 strict cycle, principle of the structural formulas 198 structural rules 44 subcategorization 207 substitution test 131, 261 syntactic ambiguity 49 51, 111 tacit knowledge 11 12, 54 tense PAST 304, 305, 306 PRES 304, 305, 306 TNS feature 301, tense phrase (TP) ,

7 Index 433 terminal string 46 thematic roles 229, 240, 322 agent 228 patient 228 theme 228 theme 228 theories. See scientific theories theta roles. See thematic roles Thrax, D. 128 TNS feature 301, TP. See tense transformations adjunction islands complex NPs 396, 409 sentential subjects 398, 409 wh-islands 399, 409 movement , 136, 183, 188 gapped 384, targeted 384, trace wh-movement , , transitive verbs , 248, 376 tree diagrams 45, 96, 115 adjuncts 263 branches 46, 115 complement 247 daughter nodes 47 head 222 leaf nodes. See below, terminal nodes mother nodes 46 nodes 46, 115 phrases 222 phrase structure rules 42 44, 348 root nodes 46, 115 sister nodes 47, 265 specifier 348, 391, 395, 400 terminal nodes 46, 115 tree relations c-command , , 146, 149, 185 dominance 116 precedence 116 prominence 117 unacceptability 58, 152 ungrammaticality 58, 152 Universal Grammar 17 19, 365 verbs 28, 128, 129, 251 adjuncts 231, , 266 arguments 240 auxiliary 301 clausal complements 294, 299, 309, 376 complements 228, 266, 334 ditransitive , 249, 323 intransitive 69, , 376 modal 302 modifiers. See adjuncts perfective have 301 progressive be 301 transitive , 248, 376 verb phrase (VP) 96, 101, VP/ See verb wanna contraction 376 well-formedness 30, 56, 70 See also judgments wh-islands 399, 409 wh-movement. See transformations wh-questions 285, 369 wh-phrases 369 wh-words 369 X-Bar Hypothesis 349 yes/no questions. See questions, polarity questions

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