句法学

1Take-HomeExamB.A.CourseSyntax2010I.Formthreeminimalpairsandprovideanaccountforeachofthem.(30%).(1)aWhatdoesWilliamsregretthatJohnsonbought?bWhatdoesWilliamsthinkthatJohnsonbought?a中由于regret的补助语的事件是预设的，事件内的论元是存在的（无论后悔与否事件及其论元都是存在的）。因此论元是独立依存的，不能所指依存Williams关于此事件的regret.所以从regret补助语的提取是不可能的。相反，（1b）中的think的补助语内事件的确定依存thinking的行为，因此论元所指依存事件，这样提取就是合法的。若使（1a）合法，必须建立一个话语场景，regretting是预设的并且其内容是被提问的，如此才能允许所指依存，这要求特殊的对比语调。所指依存的另一个重要部分就是确定（definite）所指，如果论元是确定的，那么是独立所指，无需所指依存事件，反之，就需要所指依存。主题的提取同样受到所指依存限制。(2)aWhodidJohnbelievetheclaimthatBrownisdating?bWhodidJohnmaketheclaimthatBrownisdating?在（2a）中，theclaim有固定的所指，无论John相信与否；而在（2b）中，有轻动词结构，致使事件makingtheclaim和claiming一样，复杂NP无法有确定所指，其内论元可以所指依存事件。2(3)a这本书，我没见过一个能读懂的人。b这本书，我没见过那个能读懂的人。(3a)中复杂NP是不确定所指的，因此NP内论元和所指成分可以喝动词形成的事件构成所指依存关系。如果把“一个”换成“那个”，那就不同了。显然(3b)中的NP具有所指的确定性，其内变量是独立依存的，无法所指依存主题算子域内动词形成事件，所以句子不可接受。(4)aWhowillteachwhat?bwhatwillwhoteach?多元wh问句中，语类α非对称地成分统制(asymmetricallyc-command)β，那么α则比β具有先进行移位的优势。于是，处于主语位置的wh短语优于宾语位置的wh短语，如果宾语wh短语跨越wh短语移入句首Spec-CP位置则违背优势条件(superioritycondition).这里who的句法位次高于what,所以（4a）中的who优于what而先期移至Spec-CP位置，遵循优势条件，句子合乎语法；(4b)中的who原位不动，而句法位次低的what移至句首，违背优势条件，句子不合法。3(5)aForhertobeatMarywouldbedifficult.bHertobeatMarywouldbedifficult.Non-finiteIoftheinfinitivalclauseis“weak”andcan’tassigncasetothe[Spec,IP].ItisnotgovernorandthatitsprojectionIPcan’tblockoutsidegovernment.Hence(5b)violatescasefilterwhichclaimsthateveryovertNPmustbeassignedabstractcase.“Her“can’tbeassignedcase.So(5b)isillegal.In(5a),“for”cangovernintonon-finiteIPandcase-markitssubject.Theprepositionalcomplementizerforin(5a)case-marksthesubjectNPoftheinfinitivalclause:(5a)passesthecasefilterandisgrammatical.(6)aMaryithinksthatherselfiisthebestactor.bMaryithinksthatapictureofherselfiwillbebeautiful.In(6a)thefinitesubordinateclausecontainsthereflexive,itsgovernor(I)andanaccessiblesubject(AGR)andwillconstitutethebindingdomaininwhichthereflexivemustbebound.TheAGRisanaccessiblesubjectbecauseherselfandAGRiniscanbecoindexedwithoutviolating.SoherselfandMarycan’tbecoindexed.Sothesentence(6a)isillegal.In(6b),thegovernorofherselfisof,thepreposition.InordefortheNPsubjectofthelowerclause[apictureofherself]tobeaccessible,wemustbeabletocoindexitwiththereflexive.Thiscoindexationisbannedbecauseitwouldviolatethei-within-Ifilter.Besides,theAGRofthelowerclausecouldn’tbecountedasan4accessiblesubject.GiventhattheentireNPin(6b)isthesubjectNPofthesentenceitiscoindexedwithAGRbyvirtueofitspersonandnumberagreement.ThecoindexationofherselfwithAGRwouldagainviolatethei-within-Ifilter.Coindexationistransitive,henceherselfendsupbeingcoindexedwiththeNP.Sonoaccessiblesubjectisavailableinsidethefinitelowerclause.Next,weneedtoextendthebindingdomainofthereflexivetothenextclauseup:thesubjectMary,ortheSUBJECT,AGR,can’tviolatethei-within-Ifilter.SoherselfandMarycanbeundercoindexation.Thesentenceof(6b)islegal.IIExplainthefollowingcontrast(20%).1a.Johnwantstobehappy.=JohnwantsJohntobehappy1b.Everyonewantstobehappy.Everyonewantseveryonetobehappy.1.“John”isauniquereferent.“Johnwantstobehappy”,meansthatJohnwantsJohntobehappy.“everyone”isauniversalcategory,whichcanmeananyoneinthesociety.“everyone”canmeanMary,Kate,Joey,etc.“everyonewantstobehappy”canmean“MarywantsMarytobehappy”And“JoeywantsJoeytobehappy”,etc.So“everyonewantstobehappy”doesn’tequal“everyonewantseveryonetobehappy”.2a.thestudentofphysicswithlonghair2b.*thestudentwithlonghairofphysics52c.thestudentofphysicsandchemistry2d.thestudentwithlonghairand(with)abigmoustache2e.*thestudentofphysicsandwithlonghair2.Acommonsyntacticpatternisformedbygroupingtogethertwoormorecategoriesofthesametypewiththehelpofaconjunctionsuchasandoror.“thestudentofphysicsandwithlonghair”violatestheprincipleofcoordinationstructureswhichclaimthecategorytypeofthecoordinatephraseisidenticaltothecategorytypeoftheelementsbeingconjoined.“ofphysics”isthecomplementofverb.While“withlonghair”isanadjunctwhichisoptional.“thestudentwithlonghairofphysics”violatestheexpandedxprule.Thisruleallowsamodifiertooccureitherbeforetheheadorafterit.Wherethereisacomplement,amodifierthatfollowstheheadwillnormallyfollowthecomplementaswell.TheExpandedXPRule:XP—(Spec)(Mod)X(Complement*)(Mod).“withlonghair”isamodifier.“ofphysics”isacomplementofverb.3a.JohntookabookfromMaryinordertoreadit.3b.*JohnreceivedabookfromMaryinordertoreadit.3.Inthesentence3b,“John”isassignedabeneficiaryroleby“receive”.Atthesametime,“John”isassignedaagentroleby“read.Itisimpossiblefor“John”tobebothabeneficiaryroleandanagentroleat6thesametime.So3biswrong.4a.*Poirotibelievesthathimselfiisthebestdetective.4b.Poirotibelievesthatapictureofhimselfiwillbeonshow.4.In(4a),thefinitesubordinateclausecontainsthereflexive,itsgovernor(I)andanaccessibleSUBJECT(AGR)andwillconstitutethebindingdomaininwhichthereflexivemustbebound.ThecoindexationofthereflexiveandtheSUBJECTisunproblematic;himselfandAGRiniscanbecoindexedwithoutviolating.TheAGRisanaccessibleSUBJECT.MoreoverIisthegovernorofhimself.Thebingdingdomainofhimselfwillbethelowerclause.So,thebindingdomaincannotbeenlarged