Principles and Parameters (II)

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Principles and Parameters (II)

• Rajat Kumar Mohanty
• rkm_at_cse.iitb.ac.in

Department of Computer Science and
Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
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Levels of Representation in Universal Grammar
(UG)

• Lexicon

Theta roles
X-bar rules
Constrained by theta criterion
D(eep)-Structure
Move-alpha
S(urface)-Structure
Transformational rules
Constrained by EPP
LF (logical form)
PF (phonetic form)
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Universal Principles
Language specific Parameters
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Outline

• Move-?
• Structure Preserving Hypothesis (SPH)
• Head Movement Constraint (HMC)
• Tensed S Condition (TSC)
• Doubly Filled COMP Filter
• Bounding Theory
• Subjacency Principle

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D-structure to S-structure

• Move-? Move any constituent anywhere (subject
  to other constraints)
• S-structure the actual word order in a sentence
• D-structure is mapped onto S-structure by the
  function Move-?

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Move-?

• Movement Bounded / Unbounded
• Bounded movement rearranges the argument
  structure of a verb and is confined to a minimal
  clause.
• Unbounded movement does not affect the argument
  structure.

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Move-?

• Types of movement
• NP-movement
• Wh-movement
• V-raising
• I-raising
• Restrictions
• Only maximal or zero-level categories can move
• For maximal categories, movement must be from an
  A-position. It must be to a position that is not
  ?-marked.
• For zero-level categories, Head Movement
  Constraint must be satisfied.

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Structure Preserving Hypothesis (SPH)

• SPH forces head categories to move to head
  positions and maximal projections to maximal
  (spec) positions.
• Examples
• Which car will John fix?
• Will which car John fix?

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CP

• Which car will John fix ?

C
NP
IP
C
I
NP
Which car
will
VP
I
V
spec
John
Tense AGR EPP WILL
t
NP
V
fix
t
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CP

• Will which car John fix ?

C
NP
IP
C
I
NP
VP
will
Which car
I
V
spec
John
Tense AGR EPP WILL
t
NP
V
Violation of SPH
fix
t
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Head Movement Constraint (HMC)

• Movement of an X0 category ? is restricted to the
  position of a head ? that governs the maximal
  projection of ?.
• According to HMC, movement of the verb is
  restricted to I.

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• The ship sank

IP
I
NP
The ship
VP
I
Tense AGR EPP
V
V-raising
V
NP
ti
sink
Unaccusative Movement
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IP

• John seems to be happy.

I
NP
I
VP
Tensed S Condition (TSC) Move an NP to an empty
position provided the NP is not contained in a
tensed S.
N
spec
V
N
Tense AGR EPP
IP
V
John
I
ti
seem
e
I
VP
Tense AGR EPP TO
V
ti
V
AP
be
happy
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IP

• It seems that John is happy.

I
NP
I
VP
Tensed S Condition (TSC) Move an NP to an empty
position provided the NP is not contained in a
tensed S.
N
spec
V
N
Tense AGR EPP
CP
V
It
C
spec
seem
e
C
IP
that
John is happy
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• The ball was kicked

IP
I
NP
The ball
VP
I
Tense AGR EPP BE -EN
V
V
NP
ti
kick
Passivization
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IP

• The man who I met was John

I
NP
N
Det
Tense AGR EPP
VP
I
CP
N
spec
V
the
spec
C
N
NP
V
IP
C
be
John
man
I
NP
who
VP
I
I
Tense AGR EPP
NP
V
V
NP
Relativization
t
meet
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Doubly Filled COMP Filter

• The man who I met was John.
• The man who that I met was John.
• COMP cannot contain both a wh-element and a
  complementizer
• (parametric variation)

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CP

• who did you give the book to ?

C
NP
IP
C
I
NP
v P
I
v
spec
you
Tense AGR EPP DO
v
VP
ti
who
V
give
NP
PP
V
P
the book
NP
P
t
t
to
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CP

• To whom did you give the book ?

C
PP
IP
C
I
NP
v P
I
v
spec
you
Tense AGR EPP DO
v
VP
ti
To whom
V
give
NP
PP
V
the book
Pied-piping
t
t
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• Who bought what ?

CP
C
spec
IP
C
NP
I
NP
VP
who
I
V
spec
t
Tense AGR EPP
t
NP
V
PF movement
buy
what
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• Who bought what ?

CP
C
spec
IP
C
I
NP
NP
VP
I
who
what
V
spec
t
Tense AGR EPP
t
NP
V
PF movement
buy
t
LF movement
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CP

• who do you think that John likes ?

C
NP
IP
C
I
NP
VP
I
V
spec
you
Tense AGR EPP DO
CP
t
V
who
spec
C
think
t
IP
C
Cycle-2
John likes t
that
Cycle-1
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• CP who do IP you think CP t that IP John
  likes t

Violation of subjacency principle
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Bounding Theory

• Subjacency principle
• (subordinate adjacency)
• Movement must not cross more than one bounding
  nodes in one cycle
• Bounding Nodes (English) IP, DP
• (parametric variation)

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• IP It seems CP that IP John is likely IP t to
  pass the exam

IP John seems CP that IP t is likely IP t
to pass the exam
Violation of TSC
IP John seems CP that IP it is likely IP t
to pass the exam
Violation of subjacency
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Sources and further readings

• Comsky, Noam. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of
  Syntax. CUP, Cambridge.
• Comsky, Noam. 1981. Lectures on Government and
  Binding. Foris, Dordrecht.
• Ouhalla, Jamal. 1994. Introducing
  Transformational grammar. Arnold, London.

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