Syntax II Specifiers tell us more information about

Syntax II

Specifiers tell us more information about nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions • The, a, this, three, some, many etc. • Determiners are specifiers of nouns • Very, really, quiet, so • Qualifiers are specifiers of adjectives and adverbs

Modifiers also give us more information. But, unlike specifiers, modifiers can be considered words and phrases in their own right. Because modifiers – unlike specifiers – are lexical categories in their own right, they get their own phrase markers. Modifiers can be optional (adjuncts) or obligatory (complements)

Complements are not optional. Removing them makes the sentence ambiguous. I loved the policeman *I loved A dog chased the cat *A dog * A dog chased Gareth put the car in the garage *Gareth put the car

• X- X-Bar Syntax • X’ (pronounced X-bar) is a category bigger than the word but smaller than the phrase. • Where X = N/V/A/P etc. • In this we have two rules: • a) XP {specifier} + X’ • b) X’ X + (YP) • E. g. NP = det. + N’ • N’ = N + VP / N’ = N + PP

• I loved the policeman

• The dog chased the cat

• Gareth put the car in the garage

Adjuncts Unlike complements, adjuncts are optional ‘big’ + ‘dog’ the adjective big gives us more information about the noun dog ‘John eats’ + ‘dinner’ The NP ‘dinner’ gives us more information about the VP ‘eats’ ‘John eats dinner’ + ‘at 5 o’clock’ the prepositional phrase ‘at 5 o’clock’ gives us more information about John’s eating of dinner (not breakfast, lunch etc. )

Adjuncts Optional, additional information for the head. A big dog chased the cat I loved the policeman with all my heart I loved the policeman intensely with all my heart

• Recall: a) XP {specifier} + X’ b) X’ X + (YP*) [YP* any number of complements] E. g. NP = det. + N’ • N’ = N + VP / N’ = N + PP • However, for adjuncts, we need a slightly different rule

Complement XP {specifier} + X’ b) X’ X + (YP) Adjunct a) XP {specifier} + X’ b) X’ + (ZP*) [ZP* any number of adjuncts]

Because the adjunct rule takes an X’ position and creates an extra X’ position, it is recursive. XP X’ + (YP*) Furthermore, it allows us to see how things like adjectives fit into our tree structure