CAS LX 522 Syntax ISyntaxThings we knowSlide 4Slide 5Slide 6Language is complexAnd yet people know this stuff…Speakers of English know…How do people know this?Notice also…Positive and negative evidenceSlide 13Conclusion: People have languageSo, how come we don’t all speak the same language?Word OrderWord order—adverbsParametersOur tasksThe enterpriseI-languageCompetencePrescriptive rulesSlide 24Slide 25JudgmentsSyntax as scienceA simple introductory exampleSlide 29Slide 30Hypothesis: An anaphor must have an antecedent which agrees with it in gender.Slide 32Slide 33Hypothesis: An anaphor must agree in gender and number with its antecedentPersonHypothesis about anaphorsLevels of adequacySlide 38Refresher on syntaxConstituentsPhrasesSentencesTrees(Wait a minute, that’s not an X-bar structure!)Finding constituentsReplacement testSlide 47Sentence fragment testMovement tests—cleftingSlide 50Movement tests—preposingCoordination testWhen constituency tests failSlide 54Trees and constituencySlide 56Slide 57Phrases and constituentsSlide 59Inside the NPSlide 61Slide 62Slide 63Slide 64Slide 65Slide 66ModifiersSlide 68Slide 69Slide 70The actual structure…Slide 72Slide 73Slide 74Slide 75Inside the VPSlide 77Slide 78What we’ve got…AdjP and AdvPWhat we’ve got now…Slide 82Slide 83For next time:Week 1. IntroductionCAS LX 522Syntax ISyntax•The scientific study of how sentences are structured in human language.•Cf. Semantics, Phonology, Phonetics, Pragmatics, Historical Linguistics, …Things we know•What we are studying is what we know about language.•Perhaps this sounds pointless…•However, there are things we know but don’t know we know. Knowledge of language is largely unconscious knowledge, and our task is to figure out what that knowledge is.Things we know•A native speaker of English knows right away which of the following sentences are “English” and which are not.–Pat the book lifted.–Pat lifted the book.–Lifted Pat the book.–Pat book the lifted.Things we know•A native speaker of English knows right away which of the following sentences are “English” and which are not.–*Pat the book lifted.–Pat lifted the book.–*Lifted Pat the book.–*Pat book the lifted.Things we know•A native speaker of English knows right away which of the following sentences are “English” and which are not.–*Pat the book lifted.–Pat lifted the book.–*Lifted Pat the book.–*Pat book the lifted.*LiftedThe * indicates “ungrammatical”Language is complex1) Tony threw out the couch.2) Tony threw the couch out. Prepositions can go on either side of the object.3) Tony stormed out the door.4) * Tony stormed the door out.And yet people know this stuff…5) What did Mary say John bought?6) What did Mary say that John bought?Ok, that is optional.7) Who did Mary say bought coffee?8) *Who did Mary say that bought coffee?Speakers of English know…9) Bill thinks Mary is a genius.10) Her mother thinks Mary is a genius.11) She thinks Mary is a genius.12) I asked Mary to buy coffee.13) What did you ask Mary to buy?14) I saw the book about aliens on the table.15) *What did you see the book about on the table?How do people know this?•Everyone native speaker of English knows this.•No native speaker of English (growing up) “You can’t question a subject in a complement embedded with that” or “You can’t use a proper name as an object if the subject is co-referential.”Notice also…•What people eventually end up with is a system with which they can produce (and rate) sentences. A grammar. Even if you’ve never heard these before, you know which one is “English” and which one isn’t:16) Eight very lazy elephants drank brandy.17) Eight elephants very lazy brandy drank.Positive and negative evidence•Adults know if a given sentence S is grammatical or ungrammatical. This is part of the knowledge kids gain through language acquisition.•Kids hear grammatical sentences(positive evidence)•Kids are not told which sentences are ungrammatical(no negative evidence)Positive and negative evidence•One of the striking things about child language is how few errors they actually make.•For negative feedback to work, the kids have to make the errors (so that it can get the negative response).•But they don’t make the errors.Conclusion: People have language•A linguistic capacity is part of being human.•Like having two arms, ten fingers, a vision system, humans have a language faculty.•The language faculty (tightly) constrains what kinds of languages a child can learn.•=“Universal Grammar” (UG).So, how come we don’t all speak the same language?•Languages differ.•But in light of the learnability problem (and from empirical observation) they must differ only in limited ways.Word Order•English, French: Subject Verb Object (SVO)–John ate an apple.–Pierre a mangé une pomme.•Japanese, Korean: Subject Object Verb (SOV)–Taroo-wa ringo-o tabeta.–Chelswu-ka sakwa-lul mekessta.•Irish, Arabic (VSO), Malagasy (VOS), …Word order—adverbs•English: Adverbs before verbs–Mary quickly eats an apple.•(also: Mary ate an apple quickly)–*Mary eats quickly an apple.•French: Adverbs after verbs–Geneviève mange rapidement une pomme.–*Geneviève rapidement mange une pomme.Parameters•We can categorize languages in terms of their word order: SVO, SOV, VSO.•This is a parameter by which languages differ.•The dominant formal theory of first language acquisition holds that children have access to a set of parameters by which languages can differ; acquisition is the process of setting those parameters.Our tasks•We’re trying to characterize knowledge of language. What are these things we know but don’t know we know?•We each have knowledge of this sort of our native language.The enterprise•The data we will primarily be concerned with are native speaker intuitions.•Native speakers, faced with a sentence S, know whether the sentence S is part of their language or isn’t. These intuitions are highly systematic.•We want to uncover the system (which is unconscious knowledge) behind the intuitions of native speakers—their knowledge of language.I-language•Notice: What we are studying is what one person knows. We are studying what the system is behind one person’s pattern of intuitions.•Of course, speakers growing up in the same community have knowledge of language that is very similar, but language is
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