新编简明英语语言学教程 第二版 戴炜栋4 Syntax

Chapter4SyntaxWhatissyntax?----abranchoflinguisticsthatstudieshowwordsarecombinedtoformsentencesandtherulesthatgoverntheformationofsentences.TransformationalGenerativeGrammar(TG)Norm.Chomsky,themostinfluentiallinguistin20thcentury,someimportantworks:(1957)SyntacticStructure;(1965)AspectsoftheTheoryofSyntax;(1981)LecturesonGovernmentandBinding;(1986)Barriers(1993)AMinimalistProgramforLinguisticTheory;(1995)TheMinimalistProgram;(1998)TheMinimalistInquiry……CriteriaongoodgrammarObservationaladequacyDescriptiveadequacyExplanatoryadequacyTheultimategoalforanytheoryistoexplain.TGdiffersfromtraditionalgrammarinthatitnotonlyaimsatlanguagedescription,butalsoitsexplanation.Chomskyismuchmoreinterestedinthesimilarities(languageuniversals)betweenlanguagesratherthantheirdifferences.Linguistsshouldattempttofindagrammaticalframeworkwhichwillbesuitableforalllanguages;Linguistsshouldconcentrateontheelementsandconstructionsthatareavailabletoalllanguagesratherthanonelementsthatactuallyoccurinalllanguages.TherearelikelytobeuniversalconstraintsonthewayslinguisticelementsarecombinedChomskyproposedthatthegrammarsofallhumanlanguagesshareacommonframework(UniversalGrammar).CategoriesCategory（范畴）referstoagroupoflinguisticitemswhichfulfillthesameorsimilarfunctionsinaparticularlanguagesuchasasentence,anounphraseoraverb.Themostcentralcategoriestothesyntacticstudyaretheword-levelcategories(traditionally,partsofspeech)Word-levelcategoriesMajorlexicalcategories:p.43N,V,Adj,Prep.MinorLexicalcategories:p.43Det（限定词）,Deg,Qual（修饰语）,Auxi,Conj.ThecriteriaonwhichcategoriesaredeterminedMeaning:n.entities,v.action,adj.propertiesEx.beawareofknowaboutInflection:n–s,v.–ed-ing,adj.–er-estEx.awordbelongingtomorethanonecategoryDistribution:a/ann.,bev-ed,bev-ing,Note:Themostreliablecriterionofdeterminingaword’scategoryisitsdistribution.PhrasecategoriesandtheirstructuresPhrasecategories----thesyntacticunitsthatarebuiltaroundacertainwordcategoryarecalledphrasecategories,suchasNP,VP,AP,PP.NPVPAPPPphraselevelllllNVAPwordlevelThestructure:specifier+head+complementhead（中心成分）----thewordaroundwhichaphraseisformedspecifier（标志成分）----thewordsontheleftsideoftheheadscomplement（补足成分）----thewordsontherightsideoftheheadsPhrasestructurerules(PS-rule段语结构规则）Thegrammaticalmechanismthatregulatesthearrangementofelementsthatmakeupaphraseiscalledaphrasestructurerule,suchas:NP(Det)+N+(PP)……e.g.thosepeople,thefishontheplate,prettygirls.VP(Qual)+V+(NP)……e.g.alwaysplaygames,finishassignments.AP(Deg)+A+(PP)……veryhandsome,verypessimistic,familiarwith,veryclosetoPP(Deg)+P+(NP)……ontheshelf,intheboat,quitenearthestation.SpecifierXComplementHeadXPTheXPruleTheXPrule:XP(specifier)X(complement)Note:ThephrasestructurerulescanbesummedupasXPruleshowninthediagram,inwhichXstandsforN,V,AorP.CoordinationruleCoordinatestructures-----thestructuresthatareformedbyjoiningtwoormoreelementsofthesametypewiththehelpofaconjunctionsuchasand,or,etc.----Coordinationhasfourimportantproperties:nolimitonthenumberofcoordinatedcategoriesbeforetheconjunction;acategoryatanylevelcanbecoordinated;thecategoriesmustbeofthesametype;thecategorytypeofthecoordinatephraseisidenticaltothecategorytypeoftheelementsbeingconjoined.Phraseelementsspecifier（标志成分）head（中心成分）complement（补足成分）specifiers----Semantically,specifiersmakemoreprecisethemeaningofthehead-----Syntactically,theytypicallymarkaphraseboundary.SpecifierscanbedeterminersasinNP,qualifiersasinVPanddegreewordsasinAP.Complements----Complementsthemselvescanbeaphrase,theyprovideinformationabutentitiesandlocationswhoseexistenceisimpliedbythemeaningofthehead,e.g.astoryaboutasentimentalgirl.Therecanbenocomplement,onecomplement,ormorethanonecomplementinaphrase,e.g.p.48(4-4)…(4-6)Asentence-likeconstructionmayalsofunctionasacomplementsuchasin“Ibelievedthatshewasinnocent.Idoubtifshewillcome.Theyarekeenforyoutoshowup.”“That/if/for”intheabovesentencesarecomplementizers（补语化成分）,theclausesintroducedbycomplementizersarecomplementclause.Modifiers----Modifiersspecifyoptionallyexpressiblepropertiesofheads.ExpandedXPruleXP(specifier)(modifier)X(complement*)(modifier)Sentences(theSrule)SNPVPSNPVPNPDetNVDetNAboyfoundtheevidenceSNPinflVPManylinguistsbelievethatsentences,likeotherphrases,alsohavetheirownheads.Inflisanabstractcategoryinflection(dubbed‘Infl’)astheirheads,whichindicatesthesentence’stenseandagreement.InflP(=S)NPVPInflSentences(theSrule)InflrealizedbyatenselabelInflP（=S）NPVPNPDetNVDetNAboyfoundtheevidence.InflPstInflrealizedbyanauxiliaryInflP（=S）VPNPNPDetNVDetNAboywillfindtheevidenceInflTransformationsAuxiliarymovement(inversion)DoinsertionDeepstructure&surfacestructureWh-movementMoveαandconstraintsontransformationsAuxiliarymovement(inversion)InversionMoveInfltotheleftofthesubjectNP.Inversion(revised)MoveInfltoCs.CsCPSDetNVthetrainwillarriveNPVPInflAuxiliarymovement(inversion)CPSCsNPDetNVWillthetraine(“empty”---trace)arriveInflInflVPDoinsertionDoinsertion----InsertinterrogativedointoanemptyInflposition.CPCsSNPInflVP