1Week 10. LFCAS LX 522Syntax IThe Y modeln We’re now ready to tackle the most abstract branchof the Y-model, the mapping from SS to LF. Here iswhere we have “movement that you can’t see”.DSSSLFPFX-bar theoryCovert movementPhonology/Morphologyq TheorySubcategorizationBinding theoryCase theory, EPPOvert movement,Expletive insertionDerivationsn We think of what we’re doing when weconstruct abstract structures of sentencesthis way as being a sequence of steps.n We start with DSn We do some movementsn We arrive at SSn We do some more movementsn We arrive at LFDerivationsn The steps are not necessarily a reflection of whatwe are doing online as we speak—what we aredoing is characterizing our knowledge of language,and it turns out that we can predict ourintuitions about what sentences are good andbad and what different sentences mean bycharacterizing the relationship betweenunderlying thematic relations, surface form, andinterpretation in terms of movements in anorder with constraints on what movements arepossible.Derivationsn It seems that the simplest explanation for thecomplex facts of grammar is in terms of severalsmall modifications to the DS that each aresubject to certain constraints, sometimes eventhings which seem to indicate that oneoperation has to occur before another could.DSLFDerivationsn Concerning SS, under this view, languages pick a pointto focus on between DS and LF and pronounce thatstructure. This is (the basis for) SS.n There are also certain restrictions on the form SS has(e.g., Case, EPP have to be satisfied).DSLFSS2Derivationsn Although speaking sloppily we might say thatmovements that happen in the part of thederivation between SS and LF happen “afterpronunciation” this doesn’t imply that in timewe arrived at SS, pronounced, and then didfurther syntactic computation.DSLFSSDerivationsn It’s just that parts that happen between SS andLF are invisible to the pronunciation because allof the changes (movements, etc.) that occurbetween DS and SS are reflected in the SSrepresentation that we focus on, and none ofthe changes that occur between SS and LF are.DSLFSSDerivationsn Because we can’t see (hear) them, the things thathappen between SS and LF are more difficult todetect—we have to rely on somewhat indirectevidence. That’s what we’ll be focusing ontoday.DSLFSSQuantifiersn We interpret Bill saw everyone asn For every person x, Bill saw x.n This is the meaning. This is the logical formof the sentence Bill saw everyone. In thenotation of formal logic, this is written as"x. Bill saw x‘For all x (x a person), Bill saw x.’Quantifiersn Every boy hates his roommate.n Notice that each boy hates a differentroommate, the roommates are specific toeach boy.n For every boy x, x hates x’s roommate.n This means that every boy doesn’t justmean the group of boys; rather it goesthrough the set of boys and sayssomething about each of themindividually.Quantifiersn These phrases which don’t refer to specificpeople/things in the world but ratherseem to do things to sets of people/thingsare quantifiers. Examples include:n most studentsn twelve angry menn fewer than half of the membersn some custodiann nobody in their right mind3QPn What is the category of a quantifierlike most students?n Well, it goes basically in all thesame places a DP goes. Like whichstudent or what or who.n So, like what we said for wh-phrases, quantifier phrases arereally DPs with an extra property(they’re quantificational).Sometimes people write QP, butthey mean ‘a quantificational DP’.studentNPN¢NDPD¢Devery[+quant]QPstudentNPN¢NDPD¢Devery[+quant]Restrictionsn To reiterate, quantifiers are used to saysomething about individuals in a set.n Most students like syntax.n The set (sometimes, restriction) is the set ofstudents.n This says that, if you check all of the studentsindividually to see if each likes syntax, you’llfind that most (more than half) of the studentsyou checked do.n For each x in students, does x like syntax? Did weanswer “yes” for most of the ones we checked?Quantifiersn To write the logical form (meaning) of a sentencewith one of these, you put the quantifier first,and replace where it came from with a variable:n Most students eat at Taco Bell.For most students x, x eats at Taco Belln No administrators eat at Taco Bell.For no administrator x, x eats at Taco Belln Mary likes every flavor of ice cream.For every flavor of ice cream x, Mary likes xBindingn A quantifier is said to bind its variable. That is,the reference of the variable is assigned by thequantifier.n Bill read every book.For every book x, Bill read xn Is this true? Well, let’s go through the books.Moby Dick. Did Bill read Moby Dick? Yes. Ok,War and Peace. Did Bill read War and Peace? Yes.Ok, …Scopen A student read every book.n When is this true?n Mary, it turns out, has read all of the books.n Nobody has read everything, but Mary readhalf of the books and Bill read the other half.Every book was read by a student.n There are two meanings here, the sentenceis ambiguous between two logical forms.4Scopen A student read every bookThere is a student x such thatfor every book y, x read yorFor every book y, there is a student xsuch that x read yn It matters which quantifier comes first inthe logical form.Scopen This is perfectly logical. A quantifier takes a set ofindividuals and checks to see if something is trueof the individual members of the set.n A student read every book. (Namely, Mary)n In the set of students, we find that it is true that for atleast one student x: x read every book.n In the set of students, we find that it is true that for atleast one student x: In the set of books, we find that it istrue that for each book y, x read y.n There is a student x such that for every book y, x read y.n $ x Œ students : " y Œ books: x read y.Scopen A student read every book. (They were allcovered, though not necessarily by one student)n In the set of books, we find that it is true that for eachbook x: a student read x.n In the set of books, we find that it is true that for eachbook x: In the set of students, we find that it is true thatfor at least one student y, y read x.n For every book x, there is a student y such that y read x.n $ x Œ books: " y Œ students: y read x.LFn We think about this kind of ambiguity inmuch the same way we think aboutMary heard a dog bark in the house.n (either Mary was in the house or the dog was)n This (above) is a syntactic ambiguity,depending on
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