CONTENTS
PREFACE = xvil
INTRODUCTION: THE CHOMSKIAN PERSPECTIVE ON LANGUAGE STUDY = 1
Introduction = 3
1 Linguistics: the science of language = 3
2 The native speaker: grammaticality and acceptability = 6
2.1 Descriptive adequacy = 6
2.2 Grammaticality and acceptability = 7
2.3 The grammar as a system of principles and rules = 9
3 Knowledge of language: universal and specific properties of language = 10
3.1 Explanatory adequacy and language acquisition = 10
3.2 Universal grammar = 11
3.3 Parameters and universal grammar = 12
3.4 Language learning and language acquisition = 15
4 The generative linguist = 16
5 Language acquisition: some speculation = 17
6 Purpose and organization of the book = 20
6.1 General purpose = 20
6.2 Organization = 21
7 Exercises = 21
1 THE LEXICON AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE = 23
Introduction and overview = 25
1 The units of syntactic analysis = 25
2 Words and phrases = 28
3 Predicates and arguments = 31
3.1 Subcategorization = 32
3.2 Argument structure and thematic structure = 34
3.2.1 Argument structure in logic = 35
3.2.2 Argument structure in natural language = 36
3.2.3 Theta theory = 41
4 The projection principle = 47
5 The assignment of thematic roles = 47
5.1 Clausal arguments = 47
5.2 Expletives = 51
5.2.1 It and extraposition = 51
5.2.2 There and existential sentences = 54
5.2.3 Conclusion = 55
5.3 Main verbs and auxiliaries = 56
6 The extended projection principle (EPP) = 59
7 Thematic roles: further discussion = 60
7.1 The syntactic realization of theta roles = 60
7.2 The subject theta role = 60
8 Summary = 62
9 Exercises = 63
2 PHRASE STRUCTURE = 71
Introduction and overview = 73
1 Syntactic structure: recapitulation = 73
2 The structure of phrases = 78
2.1 The verb phrase = 78
2.1.1 Layered VPs = 78
2.1.2 The order of constituents = 86
2.1.3 Extending the proposal = 87
2.2 Noun phrases = 88
2.3 Adjective phrases = 92
2.4 Prepositional phrases = 93
2.5 X-bar theory = 94
3 The structure of sentences = 97
3.1 Introduction: the problem = 97
3.2 S as a projection of INFL = 98
3.2.1 AUX and tense = 98
3.2.2 Agreement = 101
3.2.3 Infinitival clauses = 103
3.2.4 The structure of IP = 104
3.3 S' as a projection of C = 106
3.3.1 C as the head of CP = 106
3.3.2 Head-to-head movement = 108
3.3.3 The structure of CP = 111
3.4 Summary: X'-theory and non-lexical categories = 112
3.5 Small clauses: a problem = 112
4 Structural relations = 113
4.1 Agreement patterns = 113
4.2 C-command and government = 120
4.2.1 C-command and the first branching node = 120
4.2.2 Government = 122
4.2.3 M-command and government = 123
5 Learnability and binary branching: some discussion = 126
6 Features and category labels = 133
7 Summary = 134
8 Exercises = 136
3 CASE THEORY = 139
Introduction and overview = 141
1 Morphological and abstract case = 141
2 Structural case: NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE = 145
2.1 Complements: ACCUSATIVE = 145
2.2 Subjects: NOMINATIVE and ACCUSATIVE = 147
2.2.1 NOMINATIVE subjects = 147
2.2.2 The subject of infinitival clauses = 154
2.2.2.1 For as a case-marker = 154
2.2.2.2 Exceptional case-marking = 158
2.2.2.3 Small clauses = 160
2.3 Summary = 162
3 Adjectives and nouns = 162
3.1 Of-insertion = 162
3.2 Failure of of-insertion = 163
3.3 Inherent case in German: some examples = 165
4 Adjacency and case assignment = 167
5 Passivization: discussion = 169
5.1 Passivization and argument structure = 169
5.2 Case absorption = 171
5.3 The properties of passivization = 173
5.4 Passive and inherent case = 174
5.4.1 German = 174
5.4.2 The double object construction in English: discussion = 175
6 Visibility = 177
6.1 Explaining the case filter = 177
6.2 Movement and chains (introduction) = 178
7 Summary = 180
8 Exercises = 182
4 ANAPHORIC RELATIONS AND OVERT NPs = 187
Introduction and overview = 189
1 Reflexives = 192
1.1 Binding and antecedent = 192
1.2 Locality constraints = 193
1.3 Structural relations between antecedent and reflexive = 195
1.4 The domain of reflexive binding = 200
1.4.1 Governors = 200
1.4.2 Subjects = 201
1.4.3 Complete functional complex = 201
1.4.4 Subject and big SUBJECT = 203
1.4.5 Accessible SUBJECT and the i-within-i filter = 206
1.5 Reflexive interpretation: summary = 209
2 Anaphors: reflexives and reciprocals = 210
3 Pronouns = 211
4 Referential expressions = 214
5 The binding theory = 215
6 Discussion section: problems in the binding theory = 217
6.1 Implicit arguments = 217
6.2 Possessive pronouns and anaphors = 219
7 NP types and features = 221
7.1 NPs as feature complexes = 221
7.2 The binding theory in terms of features = 222
7.3 The last NP = 223
8 Appendix: circularity = 224
9 Summary = 228
10 Exercises = 230
5 NON-OVERT CATEGORIES: PRO AND CONTROL = 235
Introduction and overview = 237
1 The non-overt subject of infinitivals = 237
1.1 Understood arguments = 237
1.2 The extended projection principle = 240
1.3 The binding theory = 243
2 PRO: pronominal and anaphoric = 244
3 The distribution of PRO = 246
3.1 The data = 246
3.2 PRO and overt NPs = 248
3.3 PRO must be ungoverned: the PRO theorem = 251
3.4 Other non-finite clauses and PRO = 254
4 Properties of control = 256
4.1 Obligatory control and optional control = 256
4.2 Subject control vs. object control = 257
4.3 C-command and obligatory control = 257
4.4 The controller: argument control = 258
5 Control patterns = 259
5.1 PRO in complement clauses = 259
5.2 Passivization and control = 260
5.3 PRO in adjunct clauses = 262
5.4 PRO in subject clauses = 263
6 Summary = 263
7 Exercises = 264
6 TRANSFORMATIONS: NP-MOVEMENT = 269
Introduction and overview = 271
1 Movement transformations = 271
1.1 Passivization: recapitulation = 271
1.2 Questions = 273
1.2.1 Survey = 273
1.2.2 Yes-no questions = 276
1.2.3 Echo questions = 278
1.2.4 Wh-questions = 279
1.3 Syntactic representations = 280
2 NP-movement = 282
2.1 Introduction: passive and raising = 282
2.2 Traces = 285
2.2.1 Theta theory = 286
2.2.2 The extended projection principle = 287
2.2.3 Local processes = 287
2.3 Some properties of NP-movement = 289
2.3.1 Properties of A-chains = 289
2.3.2 C-command = 294
2.4 Raising adjectives = 295
3 Burzio's generalization = 296
3.1 Case-marking and argument structure = 296
3.2 Unaccusatives in Italian = 298
3.2.1 Ne-cliticization = 299
3.2.2 Auxiliary selection = 305
3.3 One-argument verbs in English = 306
3.3.1 Raising predicates = 306
3.3.2 Verbs of movement and (change of) state = 307
3.3.3 Ergative-causative pairs = 308
4 Levels of representation and principles of the grammar = 312
4.1 The structure preserving principle = 312
4.2 The theta criterion = 314
4.3 The extended projection principle = 315
4.4 The case filter = 315
4.5 The binding theory = 316
4.5.1 Level of application = 316
4.5.2 The feature composition of NP-traces = 321
5 Appendix: subjects and derived subjects = 324
6 Summary = 330
7 Exercises = 330
7 WH-MOVEMENT = 335
Introduction and overview = 337
1 Wh-movement: some examples = 337
2 The target of movement: wh-phrases = 339
3 The landing site of wh-movement = 342
3.1 Long vs. short movement = 342
3.2 C-command = 348
3.3 Wh-movement and substitution = 348
3.4 The doubly filled COMP filter = 348
3.5 Adjunction = 351
3.5.1 General discussion = 351
3.5.2 Wh-movement as adjunction? = 354
3.6 Movement of maximal projections: a comparison = 356
4 Traces and wh-movement = 356
4.1 Theta theory and the projection principle = 357
4.2 Agreement and binding = 357
4.3 Case = 358
4.3.1 Wh-pronouns and case = 358
4.3.2 Wh-trace vs, NP-trace: more contrasts = 359
4.4 Adjunct traces = 360
5 Subject movement = 361
5.1 Vacuous movement = 364
5.2 The that-trace filter = 362
6 Bounding theory = 364
6.1 Island constraints = 364
6.2 Subjacency = 365
6.3 Subjacency as a diagnostic for movement = 368
6.3.1 Left dislocation: movement and copying? = 368
6.3.2 Relative clauses and wh-movement = 370
6.3.3 Relative clauses and resumptive pronouns = 371
6.3.4 NP-movement = 373
6.4 The subjacency parameter = 374
7 Binding theory and traces of wh-movement = 376
7.1 Typology of NPs = 376
7.2 Crossover = 380
8 Movement to the right in English = 381
8.1 Heavy NP-shift = 382
8.2 PP-extraposition from NP = 384
8.3 Conclusion = 385
9 Summary = 385
10 Exercises = 387
8 AN INVENTORY OF EMPTY CATEGORIES = 393
Introduction and overview = 395
1 Null elements in English: an inventory = 395
1.1 D-structure representations = 396
1.2 Identification of null elements = 397
1.3 Government = 398
1.4 The binding theory and the classification of NP-types = 398
1.4.1 The typology of NPs = 398
1.4.2 NP-trace and PRO = 399
1.4.3 NP-trace and wh-trace = 401
2 Null elements in a grammar = 402
2.1 Formal licensing: the empty category principle = 403
2.2 Subjacency and ECP = 407
2.3 Some problems = 409
2.3.1 Adjunct movement and ECP = 409
2.3.2 Subject movement = 412
3. Non-overt subjects: the pro-drop parameter = 412
3.1 The gap in the paradigm: pro = 412
3.1.1 Null subjects in Italian = 412
3.1.2 Inflection and pro = 414
3.1.3 The typology of null elements: some discussion = 414
3.2 Cross-linguistic variation: the pro-drop parameter = 415
3.3 Licensing of pro = 418
3.4 Discussion: the pro-drop parameter and the subset principle = 419
4 Non-overt antecedents of wh-movement = 420
4.1 Relative clauses = 420
4.1,1 Empty operators and object relatives = 420
4.1.2 Subject relatives = 423
4.2 Further examples of empty operators = 427
4,2.1 Infinitival relatives = 427
4.2.2 Infinitival adjuncts = 427
4.2.3 Principle C and operator binding = 429
5 Parasitic gaps = 429
5.1 Description = 429
5.2 The PRO hypothesis = 431
5.3 Parasitic gaps are traces = 432
5.4 Conclusion = 434
6 Summary = 43S
7 Exercises = 436
9. LOGICAL FORM AND PHONETIC FORM = 439
Introduction and overview = 441
1 Operator and variable = 441
1.1 The interpretation of quantifiers = 441
1.2 Wh-phrases and operators = 444
1.3 Move-alpha and LF = 445
1.4 LF movement in English: wh-in situ = 449
1.5 Wh-movement and parametric variation = 450
2 The ECP = 451
2.1 ECP effects at LF = 451
2.1.1 Subject-object asymmetries = 451
2.1.2 Complement vs. non-complement and ECP = 455
2.2 The application of the ECP = 456
2.2.1 That-trace effects = 456
2.2.2 Two assumptions = 457
2.2.2.1 ASSUMPTION 1: level of gamma-marking = 457
2.2.2,2 ASSUMPTION 2: deletion at LF = 458
2.2.3 Applying the proposal = 458
3 lntermediate traces and the ECP = 462
3.1 The problem = 462
3.2 Intermediate traces and antecedent-government = 463
3.3 Intermediate traces must be antecedent-governed = 465
4. Quantifiers = 466
4.1 LF representations and the scope of quantifiers = 466
4.2 Subject-object asymmetries and French negation = 468
4.3 VP-adjunction of quantifiers = 469
5 A note on parasitic gaps = 473
6 Summary = 474
7 Exercises = 474
10 BARRIERS: AN INTRODUCTION = 477
Introduction and overview = 479
1 Maximal projections: transparent or opaque? =479
1.1 Case-marking and proper government = 480
1.1.1 Infinitival IP = 480
1.1.2 Finite IP = 480
1.1.3 Transparent CP = 481
1.1.4 Transparent small clauses = 481
1.1.5 Conclusion = 482
1.2 PRO = 482
1.2.1 Opaque small clauses = 482
1.2.2 Opaque CP = 483
1.3 Conclusion: maximal projections may or may not be barriers = 484
1.4 Defining barriers = 484
1.4.1 L-marking = 484
1.4.2 Inheritance = 486
1.5 Unifying subjacency and government = 487
2 Subjacency and barriers = 487
2.1 Movement and adjunction = 487
2.1.1 Short movement and long movement = 487
2.1.2 VP-adjunction = 489
2.2. Island violations = 492
3 ECP and barriers = 495
3.1 Degree of grammaticality: subjacency and ECP = 495
3.1.1 Example 1: extraction from a relative clause = 495
3.1.2 Example 2: extraction from an adjunct = 498
3.1.3 Example 3: extraction from a subject clause = 500
3.1.4 Extraction from complements = 501
3.2 Extraction: summary = 504
4 Discussion section: further data = 504
4.1 Subjects and the vacuous movement hypothesis = 504
4.2 Noun complement clauses = 506
5 A-chains = 508
6 Summary = 511
7 Exercises = 512
11 ASPECTS OF THE SYNTAX OF GERMANIC LANGUAGES : WORD-ORDER VARIATION AND GOVERNMENT AND BINDING THEORY = 513
Introduction and overview = 515
1 Movement transformations in English: a survey = 515
2 Word-order in Dutch and German = 520
2.1 SOV and SVO? = 520
2.2 Verb second = 522
2.3 Further arguments for SOV = 531
2.3.1 Non-finite clauses = 531
2.3.2 Verb-particle combinations = 532
2.4 Extraposition = 534
2.5 Summary: Dutch and German as SOV languages = 537
3 Scrambling = 537
3.1 Scrambling = 539
3.2 Scrambling vs. wh-movement = 543
3.3 Scrambling as a stylistic rule or a syntactic rule? = 547
3.4 Summary = 551
4 Summary = 551
5. Exercises = 552
12 ROMANCE LANGUAGES: SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS = 555
Introduction and overview = 557
1 Non-overt objects in Romance languages = 557
1.1 Null objects in Portuguese = 557
1.1.1 Identifying the empty category = 558
1.1.2 Null operators = 561
1.1.3 The pre-movement structure = 564
1.1.4 Conclusion = 565
1.2 Non-overt objects in Italian = 565
1.2.1 The data = 565
1.2.2 Control by the understood object = 566
1.2.3 Constraints on the interpretation of the non-overt object = 567
1.2.4 The identification of the empty category = 569
1.3 Summary: non-overt elements in object positions = 572
2 Pronouns and clitics = 573
2.1 Object pronouns and clitics = 573
2.1.1 French object pronouns = 573
2.1.2 Strong forms and weak forms = 574
2.1.3 Object clitics in Italian and Spanish = 579
2.2 Subject pronouns in French = 580
2.3 Movement and the model of the grammar = 586
3 Summary = 587
4 Exercises = 587
BIBLIOGRAPHY = 593
INDEX = 606
