Syntax

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Syntax

• Lecture 4
• The Complementiser System

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Complementisers

• Complementisers are words which introduce
  subordinate clauses
• I know that hes mad
• I wonder if youve heard
• I was hoping for it to be sunny
• Unlike other subordinating particles, they always
  precede the subordinate clause
• John left though he didnt want to
• John left, he didnt want to though
• I know hes mad that

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Complementisers and X-bar

• If X-bar theory applies to everything
• Complementisers are heads
• They project a complementiser phrase
• They have complements
• They have specifiers

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The complementiser as the head

• Clauses differ in force
• Some make statements
• Some ask questions
• The force of the sentence is often determined by
  the complementiser
• He stated that I was right
• I asked if I was right

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Where is the CP in the clause?

• It is not part of the IP
• All the positions in the IP are taken
• Specifier subject
• Head inflection
• Complement VP
• CP is independent of IP
• I wonder if Im not totally sane and hes not
  totally mad
• They say that hes mad. But if so, then so am I

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Where is the CP in the clause?

• Complementisers form a constituent with the
  clause
• This shows that he is mad and that Im not
• They say that Im mad but I dont believe it
• They say that Im mad but I dont believe
  that it
• It replaces C IP, not just IP

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IP as complement of complementiser

• Complements are phrases that always follow heads
• IP is a phrase that always follows the
  complementiser
• Functional heads select for a single complement
• Complementisers only ever precede IPs

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Features of the Complementiser

• Complementisers can be declarative and
  interrogative
• wh interrogative if
• -wh declarative that
• Complementisers can also be distinguished in
  terms of what kind of clause they introduce
• I know that he disappeared finite clause
• I long for him to disappear infinitival clause

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Features of the Complementiser
So what about this?
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Whether

• Whether can be used to introduce non-finite
  interrogatives clauses
• He wondered whether to stay in bed
• However, whether is unlike a complementiser
• It can introduce both finite and non-finite
  clauses
• He wondered whether he should stay in bed

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Whether

• It can introduce a clause with a missing
  subject
• I am anxious for to leave
• It can be coordinated with an interrogative
  phrase
• He wondered whether and (if so) when to tell her
• he wondered if and (if so) when to tell her
• This suggest that whether is not a complementiser
  but more like an interrogative phrase (more on
  these later)

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Obligatory nature of the complementiser

• If the complementiser provides the force of the
  sentence, it should always be present.
• Sometimes there is no complementiser
• I think that he fled
• I think he fled
• It seems that we have to suppose an invisible
  complementiser
• I think CP e IP he fled

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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 1)

• If there were no complementiser there would be no
  CP
• So verbs with clausal complements could take IP
  or CP complements
• I think CP that he fled
• I think IP he fled
• But what a verb takes as its complement is a
  lexical matter unpredictable/idiosyncratic

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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 1)

• But EVERY verb which takes CP complement takes IP
  complements so this is predictable
• I think/suppose/said/know/feel/... (that) he fled
• If the complementiser can be empty
• all these verbs take only CP complements
• I think CP that/e he fled
• whether the complementiser is pronounced or not
  is an idiosyncratic fact about complementisers

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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 2)

• I said yesterday that he fled
• I said that yesterday he fled
• When a modifier is next to the verb, it modifies
  it when it is separated from the verb, it
  modifies the following clause
• I said yesterday he fled
• This is ambiguous but why?
• If there is an empty complementiser it is easy to
  account for
• I said yesterday e he fled
• I said e yesterday he fled

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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 3)

• Certain questions involve a wh-phrase in front of
  the subject
• I wonder why he fled
• The subject is in the IP specifier position (like
  all other subjects)
• The wh-phrase must therefore be outside the IP

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Evidence for the empty complementiser (argument 3)

• Wh-phrases are phrases so they cant be heads
• A suitable position for a phrase which precedes
  the IP is the specifier of CP
• If there is a CP, there must be a C but this in
  empty in this case

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Wh-movement

• Many wh-phrases which appear in the specifier of
  CP have other functions inside the IP
• Who did you meet object
• Who did he say fled subject
• When will you leave modifier

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Wh-movement

• These positions are always empty when there is a
  wh-phrase in CP specifier
• who did you meet him
• who did you say he fled
• when will you leave at 6 oclock
• This suggests that the wh-phrase starts in these
  positions and moves

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Wh-movement

• Wh-phrases start off in the position appropriate
  to their function
• Object
• Subject
• Modifier
• Then they move to the specifier of CP

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Evidence in favour of wh-movement (argument 1)

• Sometimes the wh-phrase does not move
• You saw who!
• He said who fled!
• You will leave when!
• These are called echo questions
• They dont have the same meaning as wh-questions
  with moved wh-phrases
• But they do show that wh-phrases can occupy these
  positions

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Evidence in favour of wh-movement (argument 2)

• When want is followed by to they can be
  contracted into wanna
• Who do you want to fight
• Who do you wanna fight

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Evidence in favour of wh-movement (argument 2)

• But this is not always possible
• Who do you want to fight Bill
• Who do you wanna fight Bill
• The difference is in the function of the
  wh-phrase
• Who do you want to fight who object
• You want to fight him
• Who do you want to fight Bill who subject
• You want him to fight Bill

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Evidence in favour of wh-movement (argument 2)

• When there is a subject, it sits between want
  and to
• I want him to go
• Obviously want and to cannot contract in this
  case
• But the only way a wh-phrase at the beginning of
  a sentence can interfere between want and to
  is if it sits between then at some point
• So it must have been in this position once, and
  then moved

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Examples
These can contract
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Examples

• Then movement takes place

These cant
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Conclusion

• Complementisers introduce clauses
• They determine the force of the sentence
• They provide a position for wh-phrases to move to
• This is not surprising as wh-phrases appear in
  questions and this is to do with the force of the
  sentence