Syntax

Instructor’s Handbook
Syntax
A Generative Introduction

Instructor’s Handbook

Andrew Carnie
 © 2002 by Andrew Carnie

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First published 2002 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd, a Blackwell Publishing company

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 THE USE OF THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR COURSE
INSTRUCTORS ONLY. PLEASE DO NOT PHOTOCOPY OR
DISTRIBUTE THESE ANSWER KEYS TO YOUR STUDENTS.
 Contents

Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Generative Grammar 4
Chapter 2 Fundamentals: Rules, Trees, and Parts of Speech 7
Chapter 3 Structural Relations 17
Chapter 4 Binding Theory 22
Chapter 5 X-bar Theory 24
Chapter 6 Extending X-bar Theory: TP, CP, and DP 29
Chapter 7 Constraining X-bar Theory: Theta Roles and the Lexicon 33
Chapter 8 Head-to-Head Movement 37
Chapter 9 NP/DP Movement 42
Chapter 10 Raising, Control, and Empty Categories 48
Chapter 11 Wh-movement 52
Chapter 12 Towards Minimalism 56
Chapter 13 Alternative Approaches: LFG 58
Chapter 14 Alternative Approaches: HPSG 60
 Welcome

TO THE INSTRUCTOR

Thank you for adopting Syntax as the textbook for your class. I hope you and your students
will find it useful.
The book is aimed at an introductory level of formal analysis. It is not an introduc-
tion to Minimalism, but presents a view that is Minimalist-informed. For example, I don’t
approach phrase structure from the perspective of Bare Phrase Structure or Antisymmetry.
Instead, the student starts with old-style Phrase Structure Rules, then is lead through X-bar
theory, finally in chapter 12, there is a very brief discussion of Merge. I didn’t write the book
in Minimalism mainly because I feel that MP, although a great theory, is a little too abstract at
this time for beginning students.
The book is designed to take students through many of the fundamental concepts of
syntax (constituency, phrase structure rules, X-bar theory syntax/lexicon interactions, binding,
structural relations, various kinds of movement and conditions on movement). I certainly don’t
claim to have covered everything. For example, there is almost no discussion of VP ellipsis,
and no mention at all of Dative Movement, Tough-movement or ACD. I chose topics that I
think are accessible to the beginner and form a coherent whole. However, you may well want
to supplement the text with readings on the topics I don’t cover. You may also want to look
carefully at the problem sets and gray textboxes for each chapter. If I wasn’t able to include
discussion of a topic then there is frequently a problem set that takes it up.
The textbook is designed to be used over a typical 14-week semester, although, I
have found that sometimes I want to spend more time on some of the earlier chapters. For
example, I often spend two and a half weeks on chapter 5. I, and my colleagues, have used
this textbook successfully a number of times in our one-semester undergraduate Introduction

Please do not copy or distribute this answer key to your students.

2 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

to Syntax class. This class (which normally has around 50 students in it) has a prerequisite of a
formal introduction to linguistics, which focuses on the core areas of phonology, syntax, mor-
phology, phonetics, and semantics. Some people may prefer to break this textbook into two
semesters’ worth of material, supplementing some areas I gloss over more quickly with addi-
tional reading. I have also given this textbook to first-year graduate students who came to our
program with limited background in syntax. They have all found it a successful way to gear
them up to the level of our core syntax classes. Other people have told me that they have used
the book in introductory graduate classes, although this is not the primary audience for the
book. I deliberately made the tone of the book “informal,” which may be less appropriate to
graduate students.
The textbook is designed to be used in the order of presentation, where each chapter
builds on the next. I understand that you may, of course, want to do the chapters in a different
order, or skip chapters entirely (e.g. some people may prefer to skip the discussion of phrase
structure rules and go directly to X-bar theory). In this manual, I’ve mentioned all the major
ideas covered in each chapter, so that if you skip a chapter or do them out of order you’ll know
what to cover extramurally.
The problem sets form an important part of the book. They often ask the student to
challenge the presentation of the material in the textbook and think critically about the mate-
rial. The problem sets come of a number of types. Some are simply technology practice to
cement the knowledge they have learned (e.g., the tree drawing exercises), others ask the stu-
dent to apply their new skills to foreign language problem sets, and still others ask the student
to challenge the black and white presentation of the text.
Electronic copies of all the problem sets in Microsoft Word 98/2000 and PDF for-
mats are available on the textbook homepage on Blackwell’s website:
http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/carnie You may need a password to
access them. Instructions on how to obtain one are found on the web page. You may also need
to download fonts to use the Word98/2000 versions. You are welcome to download these
problem sets and modify them for your own use. However, please do not distribute problem
sets without a citation to the book on every page, even if you significantly modify them. I, and
my contributing problem set authors, have spent a long time composing these problem sets,
and would like credit for them. On that same website you can download the power point pres-
entation slides I use in my own classes. You are welcome to use these if you like, again with
credit.
On a related note: in order to retain the usefulness of the problem sets in this text
book for use in classes by other instructors, and for your future classes, please do not distrib-
ute this instructor’s handbook or these answer keys in any form (electronic, print, or
otherwise) to your students. Please do not photocopy this handbook. If you need extra copies
for teaching assistants, please contact Blackwell, and they will be happy to send you a desk
copy. I thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter, it will ensure that future in-
structors will be able to use the problem sets in my textbook with confidence in the originality
of their students’ answers.
Unsurprisingly, this text is going to reflect my own biases. While I tried to follow
the “canon” of thought on particular matters where possible, on occasion, I quite deliberately
strayed from the generally accepted path. When I did this, I did it for one of two reasons: (1)
Pedagogical reasons (2) I really don’t believe the “standard view.” An example of the former
(pedagogical reasons), is the fact that until an exercise in chapter 8, I generate all auxiliary
verbs under T (not as V). I felt it was just easier for the students to put them in the right place
when you don’t give them the option. An example of the latter (I don’t believe the canon), is I
don’t distinguish adverbs from adjectives (calling them both A). This may well annoy you, the
instructor, and for that I apologize in advance. I have thought very carefully about all the cases

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where I diverge from common practice, and have decided on reflection to leave them all in.
Perhaps these areas will stimulate discussion in your classes.
This instructor’s manual is your personal guide to the major ideas, idiosyncrasies of
presentation, and answer keys. Each chapter has a brief outline of the major topics covered in
the corresponding textbook chapter, along with a discussion of anything unexpected or non-
canonical. What follows are the definitions (also found in the textbook itself) used in the
chapter, and answers to most problem sets.
Please feel free to send me – or, if you prefer to remain anonymous, Blackwell – any
comments, corrections, or high praise you might have on the textbook. I’ll be saving those
comments for revisions in future editions.
Andrew Carnie
Tucson

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 Generative Grammar

1. TOPICS COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER

This chapter covers some of the basic philosophical issues of syntactic theory. Items marked
with an asterisk (*) have a mention below in Idiosyncrasies in this Chapter section below.

a) Syntax as a science
b) Syntax as a part of cognitive science
c) I-Language (Language) vs. E-Language*
d) The scientific method*
The distribution of person, number agreement in anaphors is used as an example.
e) Modeling syntactic hypotheses using rules
f) Prescriptive vs. Descriptive rules
g) Sources of data: Intuitions, corpora
h) Distinguishing learning from acquisition
i) Innateness and arguments for it
j) Parameters as an explanation for language variation
k) choosing among theories: Levels of adequacy (descriptive, observational and explana-
tory)

2. IF YOU SKIP THIS CHAPTER

Some instructors have expressed to me the desire to do this chapter last instead of first. This is
a matter of personal taste. If you leave it until last, then you will want to review number and
agreement and the notion of anaphor before you do chapter 4, and will probably want to dis-
cuss evaluation metrics (levels of adequacy) before you do chapters 12–14. Parameter setting

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 Chapter 1: Generative Grammar 5

should be reviewed before chapter 5. The things that I would review in class before going on
to chapter 2 include prescriptive vs. descriptive rules, and basic syntactic methodology and
perhaps innateness.

3. IDIOSYNCRASIES IN THIS CHAPTER

1 My description of the scientific method will undoubtedly cause some people to raise their
eyebrows. Of course scientific investigation does not necessarily begin with data. (In fact,
some people claim that it never does). Often a hypothesis precedes any data gathering.
However, from the perspective of the student, I think it is important to perceive the data
as being the primary driving force behind linguistic science. So I made this simplification
for pedagogic reasons.

2 I distinguish I-language from E-language, but use the terms Language (capital L) and
language (lower case l). The definitions are not precisely identical to I-language and E-
language. Language (upper case) is the capacity and ability to use a particular language
(lower case).

PROBLEM SETS

1. INTUITIONS

a) Prescriptive (who instead of whom)

b) Prescriptive (me instead of I)
c) Descriptive, syntactic (red can’t be a subject NP)
(Some students say semantic for the same reason. I gener-
ally accept this answer too.)
d) Descriptive, syntactic (that-trace effect)
e) Prescriptive (Hopefully is supposed to mean “in a hopeful
manner” not “I hope that…”)
f) Prescriptive (split infinitive)
g) Descriptive, syntactic (wrong word order)
h) Descriptive, semantic (a sister must be a sibling)

2. INNATENESS

It is really hard to come up with a good answer to this ques-

tion, which is the point of the question. It is hard to come up
with an argument against innateness, which suggests the hy-
pothesis is likely correct! The best common answer I’ve seen
suggests performing an unethical experiment where one exposes a
child to a language that violates UG.

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6 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

3. PRESCRIPTIVE RULES

Common answers include: maintaining a standard across dialects

for effective communication. Marking of social and educational
status; so-called “clarity” in writing.

4. UNIVERSALS

Common answers include: shared world view and perception of the

way the world works; a common ancestor language.

5. LEARNING VS. ACQUISITION

Typical answers:
Learned: Reading, writing, mathematics, modern dance, the rules
of basketball, driving.
Acquired: walking, facial recognition, sexuality, taste in
food.
Other answers are, of course, possible.

6. LEVELS OF ADEQUACY

a) descriptive
b) observational
c) explanatory

7. ANAPHORA

Part 1: The antecedent must precede the anaphor

Part 2: This is the trickiest question in the chapter. The ante-

cedents here are quantifiers. Everyone allows any gender
or number to appear on the anaphor. Nobody, although it
is technically not plural (as shown by the verb agree-
ment) requires a plural or masculine singular anaphor.

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 Fundamentals: Rules,
Trees, and Parts of
Speech

1. TOPICS COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER

This chapter focuses on the basic notions of constituency (and constituency tests) and phrase
structure rules. There is also an extensive discussion of parts of speech and how they are de-
termined (on the basis of distribution, rather than semantically). The rules are roughly aspect-
style phrase structure rules.

2. IF YOU SKIP THIS CHAPTER

It is possible to skip directly to chapter 5 at this point and do X-bar theory. However, if you do
this, you will need to discuss parts of speech, as well as the mechanics of how rules are writ-
ten, and trees are generated by rules. Average students often comment to me that they are glad
they did this chapter before doing X-bar, although they express frustration at having to learn
two notations.
You should be warned that the trees in chapters 3 and 4 use the phrase structure
rules in this chapter, not the X-bar ones. So if you skip this chapter, you’ll need to explain
that.

3. IDIOSYNCRASIES OF THIS CHAPTER

1 I don’t distinguish adjectives from adverbs, abbreviating both as A. I’ve had a number of
good in-class debates on this issue.

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8 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

2 I don’t use AUX, instead auxiliaries are generated in T. I use the categories S and S' (TP
and CP are introduced in chapter 6).

NP T VP
will
N V NP
I use
N
tense

3 Be careful to note the final form of rules, some rules are revised throughout the chapter. I
also draw my student’s attention to this fact.

4 I use + to indicate multiple possible occurrences of an item in a PSR instead of *, since

many student confuse this * with the one meaning ungrammaticality. E.g.

NP Æ (D) (AP+) N (PP+)

means you can have (hypothetically) as many APs and NPs as you need.

5 I discuss the possibility that particles (blow up, etc.) are actually prepositions without an
object.

6 Some people dislike my use of the term “modifies” in my golden rule for tree associa-
tion, feel free to replace with “is closely semantically associated with.”

PROBLEM SETS

1. PART OF SPEECH 1

a) The old rusty pot-belly stove has been replaced.

D A A N(or A) N T T(orV) V

b) The red-haired assistant put the vital documents

D A N V D A N

through the new efficient shredder.

P D A A N

c) The large evil leathery alligator complained to

D A A A N V P

his aging keeper about his extremely

D A N P D A

unattractive description.
A N

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 Chapter 2: Fundamentals 9

d) I’ve just eaten the last piece of chocolate cake.

N T A V D A N P A N

2. PART OF SPEECH 2

wabe N; after the

were T; closed class
outgrabe V; after did, out- prefix
Jubjub A; after the, before bird
frumious A; after the, -ious ending
bandersnatch N; after frumious
vorpal A; after his, before sword, possibly -al
ending
manxone A; after the, before foe
tumtum A; after the, before tree
And Conj; closed class
in P; closed class
thought N (!!!); after in
uffish A; after in, before thought, –ish ending
he This is tricky, I accept D, Pronoun, or
Noun
Jabberwock N; after the, before PP
whiffling could be either a V (gerund) (after came,
precedes PP) or an adverb (after verb came)
the D; closed class
tulgey A; between the and wood, -y ending
burbled V; -ed ending

3. NOOTKA

1) N
2) V
3) V
4) N
5) First position in sentence is a verb, verbs take –ma ending
second position in a sentence is a noun, nouns take -÷i
suffix.
6) The same word appears in different parts of speech in the
same language.

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10 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

4. ENGLISH

a) S

NP VP

D AP N V PP PP
the child walked
AP A P NP P NP
young from to
A N D N
very school the store

a) [S[NP[DThe][AP[AP[Avery]][Ayoung]][Nchild]][VP[Vwalked]
[PP[Pfrom][NP[Nschool]]][PP[Pto][NP[Dthe][Nstore]]]]].

b) S

NP VP

N V NP PP
John paid
D N P NP
a dollar for
D N PP
a head
P NP
of
N
lettuce

b) [S[NP[NJohn]][VP[Vpaid][NP[Da][Ndollar]][PP[Pfor]
[NP[Da][Nhead][PP[Pof][NP[Nlettuce]]]]]]].

c) S

NP VP

N V AP
teenagers drive
AP A
quickly
A
rather

c) [S[NP[NTeenagers]][VP[Vdrive][AP[AP[Arather]][Aquickly]]].

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 Chapter 2: Fundamentals 11

d) S

NP T VP
can
D AP N PP V NP AP
A magician fool
A P NP D N A
clever with the audience easily
D AP N
the equipment
A
right

d) [S[NP[DA][AP[Aclever]][Nmagician][PP[Pwith][NP[Dthe]
[AP[Aright]][Nequipment]]]][Tcan][VP[Vfool][NP[Dthe]
[Naudience]][AP[Aeasily]]]].

e) S

NP T VP
might
D N V NP PP
the police plant
D N P NP
the drugs in
D N
the apartment

e) [S[NP[DThe][Npolice]][Tmight][VP[Vplant][NP[Dthe][Ndrugs]]
[PP[Pin][NP[Dthe][Napartment]]]]].

f) S

NP T VP
should
D AP N V AP AP*
those hopefuls practice
A A AP A
Olympic diligently day
A
every

*The AP characterization of every day is of course suspicious.

But it is the only one that fits the rules I’ve given. I allow
a certain amount of flexibility on this point.

f) [S[NP[DThose][AP[AOlympic]][Nhopefuls]][Tshould]
[VP[Vpractice][AP[Adiligently][N?P[Devery][Nday]]]].

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12 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

g) S

NP VP

D AP N PP AP V NP PP
the research warns
A P NP A N P NP
latest on always people about
N D N
dieting the dangers
PP

P NP
of
AP N
chol.
AP A
much
A
too

g)[S[NP[DThe][AP[Alatest]][Nresearch][PP[Pon][NP[Ndieting]]]]
[VP[AP[Aalways]][Vwarns][NP[Npeople]][PP[Pabout][NP[Dthe]
[Ndangers][PP[Pof][NP[AP[AP[Atoo]][Amuch]][Ncholesterol]]]].

h) S

NP T VP
was
D AP N V AP AP PP
that faucet dripping
A A AP A P NP
annoying constantly day for
A N
every months

(Again every day is problematic.)

h) [S[NP[DThat][AP[Aannoying]][Nfaucet]][Twas][VP[Vdripping]
[AP[Aconstantly]][AP[AP[Aevery]][Aday]][PP[Pfor]
[NP[Nmonths]]]].

5. AMBIGUITY
(Students often give the trees for their paraphrases, not the
original sentence, although the question is worded so they
don’t. You might draw their attention to this.)

a) i) John said quickly that Mary went to the store.

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 Chapter 2: Fundamentals 13

NP VP

N V S' AP
John said
S A
quickly
NP VP

N V PP
Mary went
P NP
to
D N
the store

ii) John said that Mary went quickly to the store.

NP VP

N V S'
John said
S

NP VP

N V PP AP
Mary went
P NP A
to quickly
D N
the store

b) i) I discovered a poem written in Old English.

NP VP

N V NP
I discovered
D AP N
an poem
AP A
English
A
Old

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14 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

(Some students will also treat Old English as a compound and

generate it under a single A node. This seems like a reasonable
alternative to me.)

ii) I discovered an old poem written in Modern English(or

written in England, or from England).

NP VP

N V NP
I discovered
D AP AP N
an poem
A A
old English

6. STRUCTURE

a) *It was a minivan to Petunia that Susan gave.

*Susan gave it. (where ellipsis hasn’t occurred)

The following sentence will give bad results:

Susan gave the minivan to Petunia and the car to Phil.

b) The constituency here depends upon whether the letter is

from Stacy, or whether Clyde merely got it from Stacy (but
it was from Louise). So both answers are possible

7. CONSTITUENCY TESTS (ADVANCED)

This is a very difficult question. [Barbie and Ken kissing] is

a small clause. Various tests will show this. But [Barbie and
Ken] is displaced by movement.

8. ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS

*He blew out the candle and up the building

But

He turned off and blew up the lightbulb.

9. BAMBARA

1) No
2) Yes
3) No evidence

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 Chapter 2: Fundamentals 15

4) NP Æ N (or none)
5) PP Æ NP P
6) VP Æ (NP) V (PP)
7) S Æ NP (T) VP
8) a) S

NP VP

N V
A kasi-ra

c) S

NP T VP
ye
N NP V
Den min
N
ji

d) S

NP VP

N V PP
N son-na
NP P
ma
N
a

9) b) [S[NP[NA][VP[Vkaa-ra]]].
c) [S[NP[NDen][Tye][VP[NP[Nji]][Vmin]]].

10. HIXKARYANA

1) Yes
2) No
3) NP Æ N (A) (D)
4) VP Æ (NP) V
5) S Æ VP NP
6) Verb, it precedes the subject NP

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16 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

7) a) S

VP NP

NP V N
yonyohoryeno biyekomo
N
kurah

b) S

VP NP

NP V N
yonoye kamara
N A D
toto heno komo

8) a)[S[VP[NP[NKuraha]][Vyonyhoryeno]][NP[Nbiyekomo]]].
c)[S[VP[NP[NToto][Aheno][Dkomo]][Vyonoye]][NP[Nkamara]]].

11. IRISH

1) No
2) NP Æ (D) N (A) (must be consistent with the answer to (1)
3) No
4) S Æ V NP (NP)
5) c) S

V NP NP
Phóg
D N D N
an fear an mhuc

d) S

V NP NP
Chonaic
N D N A
mé an mhuc mhór

e) S

V NP
Rince
D N
an bheán

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 Structural Relations

0. INTRODUCTION

This chapter is pretty straightforward. However, I would like to draw a couple of

things to your attention.

1) There is no discussion of government (except in passing).

2) The definition of “mother” is limited to immediate domination.
3) The discussion of “indirect object” is very sketchy. If you care about this you
might want to expand on the issue.

PROBLEM SETS

1. STRUCTURAL RELATIONS1
1) N3, NP3, PP, VP, S
2) NP3
3) No
4) D1 AP, A,

1
The idea for this problem set is borrowed from Radford (1988).

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18 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

5) T, VP, V, NP2, N2, PP, P, NP3, D3, N3

6) VP
7) VP, V, NP2, N2, PP, P, NP3, D3, N3
8) {NP1,T,VP}, {D1,AP,N1}, {V,NP2,PP}, {P,NP3}, {D3,N3}
9) VP
10) Symmetrically c-command
11) NP2, N2, PP, P, NP3, D3, N3
12) NP1
13) NP2
14) NP3
15) Yes
16) PP
17) V, NP2, N2, PP, P, NP3, D3, N3
18) S
19) D1, A, N1, T, V, N2, P, D3, N3
20) D3

2. TREES

a) S

NP1 VP

D AP1 N1 PP1 V NP2

The man loves
A1 P1 NP4* N2 PP2
big from bagels
N4 P2 NP3*
New York with
AP2 N3
cheese
A2
cream

*Some students may treat New York as an N with an adjective

modifier, and similarly some students may treat cream cheese as
a compound.

I haven’t done the trees for the following sentences.

Sorry, you are on your own!

b) Susan rode a bright blue train from New York.

c) The plucky platypus kicked a can of soup from New York to
Tucson.
d) John said Martha sang the aria with gusto.
e) Martha said John sang the aria from La Bohème.
f) The book of poems from the city of Angels with the bright
red cover stinks.
g) Louis hinted Mary stole the purse deftly.

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 Chapter 3: Structural Relations 19

h) The extremely tired students hated syntactic trees with a

passion.
9) Many soldiers have claimed bottled water quenches thirst
best.
10) Networking helps you grow your business.

3. STRUCTURAL RELATIONS
1) VP, V, NP2, N2, PP2, P2, NP3, AP2, A 2, N 3
2) V, NP2, N2, PP2, P2, NP3, AP2, A2, N3
3) D, AP1, N1, PP1, P1, NP4, N4
4) D, AP1, N1, PP1
5) VP, V, NP2, N2, PP2, P2, NP3, AP2, A 2, N 3
6) NP1, D, AP1, N1, PP1, P1, NP4, N4
7) D, AP1, N1, PP1, P1, NP4, N4
8) V, NP2, N2, PP2, P2, NP3, AP2, A2, N3
9) V, NP2
10) None
11) NP1, D, AP1, N1, PP1, P1, NP4, N4

4. NEGATIVE POLARITY ITEMS

Both c-command and precedence are consistent with the data in
this question.

5. GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS
a) Subject: It; object of preposition: southern California
b) Subject: we ; indirect object: the family dog; object: an-
other bath
c) Subject: The quiz show contestant; object: a wild guess
about the answer; object of a preposition: the answer

6. TZOTZIL
1) NP Æ (D) N
2) PP Æ P NP
3) VP Æ V (AP) (NP) (PP)
(There is not enough evidence to determine the order of NP
and PP.)
4) S Æ VP NP
(Some students may treat the subject as optional if they
note that the church in (c) is semantically an object.)
5) li Maruche
6) A trick question, could be either depending upon how you
treat passives also depending upon their trees in (10) below.

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20 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

7) Precede
8) Precede
9) Yes
10) b) S

VP NP

V PP D N
‘ibat li Maruche
P NP
xchi’uk
N
smalal

c) S

VP NP

V D N
Pas ti ‘eklixa’une

7. HIAKI
1) NP Æ (D) N (A)
2) No, prepositions are morphologically marked.
3) VP Æ {PP, A, NP} V
(Don’t put any order on these complements because there
isn’t any evidence for the order in the data.)
4) S Æ NP VP
5) b) S

NP VP

D N NP2 V
Hunáa'a yá'uraa nokriak
D2 N2
hunáka'a hámutta

c) S

NP1 VP

N1 NP2 V
Taáwe hiba-tu'ure
N2 A
tótoi'asó'olam káamomólim

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 Chapter 3: Structural Relations 21

d) S

NP VP

N A V
Tá’abwikasu ’áma yépsak.

6) [NPHunáa'a yá'uraa]
7) Technically no, since the students are told to assume 'áma
is an adverb and object is defined as an NP daughter of VP.
8) [N yá'uraa]
9) VP, NP2, N2, D2, V
10) [V yépsak]
11) NP
12) NP2, VP, S
13) N2,
14) NP1, N1, N2
15) No
16) Yes

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 Binding Theory

0. INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents a fairly straightforward presentation of binding theory. How-

ever, there is coverage of all three binding conditions. I oversimplify the description
of what binding domain is. I stipulate that the binding domain is equivalent to the
clause. So there is no discussion of accessible subject etc. Nor, since there is no gov-
ernment discussed in chapter 3, is there any discussion of “governing category.”
These topics might serve as topics for further discussion.

PROBLEM SETS

1. BINDING PRINCIPLES
a) Condition B
b) Condition C
c) Condition A
d) Condition B
e) Condition A
f) Condition B

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 Chapter 4: Binding Theory 23

2. JAPANESE
Question 1: It appears to be an anaphor in this data, it must
be locally bound.

Question 2: It has the properties of both, since in (b) it can

be bound by something outside the clause. (The solution, not
asked for, is that zibunzisin must be bound by the first NP
that precedes it.)

Question 3: Condition C (Mary bound by zibunzisinga).

3. WH-QUESTIONS
The anaphor in the wh-phrase isn’t c-commanded by its antece-
dent in it’s surface position. We return to this question in
the chapter on wh-movement.

4. COUNTEREXAMPLES?
a) Me is c-commanded and coindexed with I, should be a princi-
ple B violation.
b) Should be a condition A violation, because himself is bound
by an NP outside its binding domain (clause).
c) The obligatorily bound anaphor is bound by an NP two
clauses up.
d) In (i) the pronoun ye can’t be locally bound.
In (ii) the pronoun ye can’t be free.
So in (i) it’s behaving like a pronoun, and in (ii) like an
anaphor.

5. PERSIAN
Xodesh can either be locally or longdistance bound.
Xod must be locally bound.

6. C-COMMAND OR PRECEDENCE?
If precedence defines binding, then these sentences would constitute condition C
violations. However, the sentences are grammatical. By contrast, under c-command,
the pronoun does not c-command the R-expression, so these do not constitute condi-
tion C violations (correctly).

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 X-bar Theory

0. INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces the basic notions of X-bar theory as applied to NPs, APs,
PPs, and VPs.2 CP, TP (which I use instead of IP), and DP are saved until the next
chapter. There is significant discussion on motivating more general principles in-
stead of language specific phrase structure rules. I also discuss at length the
distinction between complements and adjuncts, and the tests to distinguish them. The
notion of phrase structure parameters is also introduced.
As in Radford (1988) and the original work in X-bar theory (but not con-
sistent with common current practice), adjuncts in this chapter are not Chomsky-
adjoined. Instead they are daughters of and sisters to the single bar level.

[XP spec [X' adjunct [X' X complement]]]

I’m using a version of X-bar theory where only the single bar level iterates,
XP is what I use for Xmax or X''.
There is relatively little discussion of specifiers (I’m going to reserve speci-
fiers for subjects in later chapters). I put determiners in the specifier of NP in this

2
The particular presentation in this chapter of X-bar theory draws fairly heavily on Radford
(1988) rather than on the original versions of X-bar theory found in Chomsky (1973) or Jack-
endoff (1977).

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 Chapter 5: X-bar Theory 25

chapter but this is the only specifier they see. In chapter 6, I adopt a DP hypothesis
getting rid of this exception. Unlike Jackendoff’s original form, I don’t put very in
the spec of VP, because I find this confuses the students later when they do the VP-
internal subject hypothesis. So students may need some additional discussion reas-
suring that specifiers are well motivated.
One area that may require further discussion is the treatment of pre-head
complements (as in the linguistics professor). Some people prefer to treat these as
N-N compounds rather than AP N complement head structures. I adopt the latter,
without much discussion. There is no discussion in the text of why pre-head modifi-
ers must not be phrasal. This will probably need some classroom work.

PROBLEM SETS

1. TREES
a) S

NP VP

N' V'

N V NP
Abelard wrote
D N'
a
N' PP

N P'
poem
P NP
about
N'

N
Héloïse

You are on your own with the rest. Notice that “from Italy” in
(d) is ambiguous and could either modify volume or verse, in
either case as an adjunct.

b) Abelard wrote a poem with Héloïse in mind.

c) Abelard wrote a poem with Héloïse’s pen.
d) The red volume of obscene verse from Italy shocked the pu-
ritan soul of the minister with the beard quite thoroughly
yesterday.

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26 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

e) The biggest man in the room said that John danced an Irish
jig from County Kerry to County Tipperary all night long.

2. GERMAN NOUN PHRASES

1) Elide or delete an N' node. This is like one-replacement in

English.

2) I believe mit Sahne modifies the verb, not the NP cake, but
this is up for debate. Simin Karimi tells me that on the
basis of certain pronominalization facts, she thinks the PP
modifies Kuchen. The exact analysis of the mit Sahne PP is
irrelevant to the content of the question. Which is actu-
ally about the Subject NP.

a) S

NP VP

D N' V'
Die
N' PP V' PP

AP N' P' V NP P'

isst
A' N P NP N' P NP
Frau aus mit
A N' N N'
schlanke Kuchen
N N
Frankreich Sahne

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 Chapter 5: X-bar Theory 27

OR

NP VP

D N' V'
Die
AP N' V' PP

A' N' PP V NP P'

isst
A N P' N' P NP
schlanke Frau mit
P NP N N'
aus Kuchen
N' N
Sahne
N
Frankreich

f) S

NP VP

D N' V'
Die
AP N' V NP
liebte
A' N PP D N'
Koenigin die
A P' N
junge Prinzessin
P NP
von
N'

N
England

g) von England is a complement, so is a sister to N, not N',

so deletion of the bare noun is impossible. By contrast aus
Frankreich is an adjunct, sister to N', so there is an N'
alone above the noun head can occur.

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28 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

3. JAPANESE

1) -o marks objects and –ga marks subjects

2) SOV
3) Precede
4) Precede
5) Precede
6) S

NP VP

N' V'

N NP V
Toru-ga mita
D N'
sono
AP N'

A' N
hon-o
A
akai

4. PARAMETERS

I leave these for you to do.

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 Extending X-bar
Theory: CP, TP, and
DP

0. INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents a short survey of clause types (main, embedded, complement,
adjunct, specifier, tensed, untensed). There is no discussion of small clauses, I find
students have too much difficulty with the concept to identify them at this stage in
their intellectual development. I identify a clause as a subject and predicate phrase (I
use the term predicate phrase here, instead of predicate due to the fact in the next
chapter we use predicate to refer only to the head of the predicate phrase).
DPs, TPs (note not IP!) and CPs are all introduced. I make the claim that all
clauses have a CP even if there is no overt C (and similarly with TP and T). There is
a brief introduction to subject/aux inversion, which we return to in more detail in
chapter 8.

PROBLEM SETS

1. ENGLISH THAT
a) Complementizer
b) Determiner, as shown by number agreement

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30 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

2. SUBJECTS AND PREDICATE PHRASES

a) Subject: The peanut butter
T: has
Predicate Phrase: got moldy
b) Subject: The duffer’s swing
Predicate Phrase: blasted the golf ball across the green
c) Main Clause Subject: That Harry loves dancing
Main Predicate Phrase: is evidenced by his shiny tap shoes
Embedded clause subject: Harry
Embedded clause predicate phrase: loves dancing
d) Subject: The Brazilians
Predicate Phrase: pumped the oil across the river

3. CLAUSE TYPES
a) Main clause: Stalin may think that Roosevelt is a fool.
complementizer: Ø
T: may
subject: Stalin
finite
Embedded clause: that Roosevelt is a fool
complementizer: that
T: is
subject: Stalin
finite

b) Main clause: Lenin believes the Tsar to be a power-hungry

dictator.
complementizer: Ø
T: -s
subject: Lenin
finite
Embedded clause: the Tsar to be a power-hungry dictator
complementizer: Ø
T: to (to be?)
subject: the Tsar
non-finite

c) Main clause: Brezhnev had said for Andropov to leave.

complementizer: Ø
T: had
subject: Brezhnev
finite
Embedded clause: for Andropov to leave
complementizer: for
T: to
subject: Andropov
non-finite

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 Chapter 6: Extending X-bar Theory 31

d) Main clause: Yeltsin saw Chernyenko holding the bag.

complementizer: Ø
T: -ed?? or [past]
subject: Yeltsin
finite
Embedded clause – this is tricky, since they have to iden-
tify the clause headed by hold as a clause. Chernyenko
holding the bag
complementizer: Ø
T: -ing? (this requires some discussion)
subject: Chernyenko
non-finite

4. TREES
CP

C'

C TP
Ø
NP T'

D N' T VP
the -ed
AP N' V'

AP A' N V' PP
child
A' A V' PP P'
young
A V P' P NP
very walk to
P NP D N'
from the
N' N
store
N
school

You are on your own for the rest:

b) Linguistics students like phonetics tutorials.
c) John paid a dollar for a head of lettuce.
d) Teenagers drive rather quickly.
e) Martha said that Bill loved his Cheerios in the morning.
f) Eloise wants you to study a new language. [assume to = T]
g) For Maurice to quarrel with Joel frightened Maggie.
h) John’s drum will always bother me.

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32 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

5. TREES II
Again you are on your own.

6. HUNGARIAN

No, the possessor has to appear in spec, NP. In the second con-
struction it appears in spec, DP.

7. ENGLISH MODALS AND AUXILIARIES

You are only allowed one modal (=T), but multiple Auxs (=V)
(e.g., I should have had been being kissed when Margo walked
into the room and interrupted the frivolity).

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 Constraining X-bar
Theory: Theta Roles
and The Lexicon

0. INTRODUCTION

The system of X-bar theory developed in the previous chapter seriously overgener-
ates. This chapter introduces theta roles and thematic relations as a way to constrain
this.
Two important points of note: (1) I distinguish thematic relations from theta
roles. Thematic relations are the semantic notions. Theta roles are the syntactic slots
associated with a group of theta roles. The theta criterion holds of theta roles, not
thematic relations. (2) I use Haegeman’s box notation for theta grids.
The EPP and expletives are also introduced in this chapters.

PROBLEM SETS

1. SINHALA
1) See below
2) See below
3) Experiencer
4) maˇ´ is used with experiencers
5) A attaches to Agents, B attaches to experiencers

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34 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

a) Mam´i kawij ki´n´wa.

agent theme
i j

b) Maˇ´i kawij ki´wen´wa.

experiencer theme
i j

c) Lameai kataaw´j ahan´wa.

agent theme
i j

d) Lameaˇ´i kataaw´j æhen´wa.

experiencer theme
i j

e) Mam´i naˇ´n´wa.
agent
i

f) Maˇ´j næˇ´en´wa.
experiencer
i

g) Hæm´ irida m´ mam´i kol´mb´j yan´wa.

agent goal
i j

h) Hæm´ irida m´ maˇ´i kol´mb´j yæwen´wa.

experiencer goal
i j

i) Mallii nit´r´m´ an(Í´n´wa.

agent
i

j) Malliˇ´i nit´r´m´ æn(Í´n´wa-.

experiencer
i

k) Mam´i unt´j banin´wa.

agent theme
i j

l) Maˇ´i unt´j bænen´wa.

experiencer theme
i j

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 Chapter 7: Theta Roles and the Lexicon 35

m) Apiˇ´i pans´l´j peen´wa.

experiencer theme
i j

2. IRISH AND THE THETA CRITERION

1) The theme role seems to be applied twice, once to An fear,

the other time to é (a resumptive pronoun).
2) The subject role is in the subject agreement (pro-drop).
3) The object appears twice, once in the object, the second
time in the possessive clitic (clitic doubling).

3. WARLPIRI
ngka: location
kurra: goal
ngirli: source
ngku: agent
wana: location/path

4. OBJECT EXPLETIVES
Maybe. It is the double of the relative clause that modifies
it. Otherwise this sentence would be an example of a counterex-
ample to the theta criterion.

5. PASSIVES
Part 1:

a) Johni bit the applej.

agent theme

i j

b) Susani forgave Louisj.

agent theme
experiencer

i j

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36 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

c) The jockeyi rides the horsej.

agent theme

i j

d) Phillipi gave the medalj to the soldierk.

agent recipient theme

i j k

e) Phillipi gave the soldierj the medalk.

agent theme recipient

i j k

Part 2: Delete external argument (delete agent might also be

consistent). Some students (usually the bright ones) will also
say that the second theta role becomes the external argument.
While technically this is not correct, they can’t know this
until they do chapter 9. Other students claim that the theme
becomes an experiencer, I’m less thrilled with this answer,
especially in light of how one can experience giving. But since
the definition of experiencer is so wishy-washy, it is hard to
argue against.

6. HIAKI -WA
Part 1: Deletes agents, similar to English –en.
Part 2: Only agents are effected by –wa. Also note that intran-
sitives can be affected by the suffix.

7. ANTIPASSIVES IN ENGLISH AND INUPIAQ

Note the question is only about theta grids, but of course
there are also case changes going on here too (the element nor-
mally marked with absolutive is deleted, and the element that
otherwise is marked with ergative becomes absolutive).

Part 1: Delete the theme.

Part 2: Similar to antipassive, but doesn’t allow a by-phrase
expression of the theme. Also seems to be limited to certain
verbs (not required by question).

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 Head-to-Head
Movement

0. INTRODUCTION

This is the first chapter on transformations. It presents a relatively straightforward

view of head-to-head movement, starting by contrasting French and English adver-
bial and negative placement, moving on to VSO order in Irish (the VP-internal
subject hypothesis is also introduced here). Then we move on to T Æ C movement
and the interaction of V Æ T and T Æ C.
One thing that is unusual about this chapter, and that you should be aware
of, is that I continue to treat all auxiliaries as generated under T, and not raised from
V Æ T. I did this for a number of reasons, the primary of which is that I wanted to
avoid having to talk about multiple VP shells. However, there is an exercise in this
chapter (building on a previous exercise in chapter 6) that asks the students to de-
velop a V raising analysis of auxiliaries.
I cast transformations in the D-structure Æ Transformations Æ S-structure
model, leaving aside questions of the Minimalist model until chapter 12.

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38 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

PROBLEM SETS
1. ENGLISH
a) CP

C'

C TP

NP T'

N' T VP
have
N V'
I
AP V'

A' V N/DP
loved
A N/D'
always
N
peanut butter
(some students may treat peanut butter as a phrase)

b) CP

C'

C TP

NP T'

N' T NegP
do
N Neg'
I
Neg VP
not
V'

V N/DP
love
N/D'

N
peanut butter

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 Chapter 8: Head-to-Head Movement 39

c) CP (For briefness, I’ve abbreviated

this tree, there is T
C' lowering in the embedded
clause too.)
C TP

NP T'

N' T VP
-s
N V'
Martha
AP V'

A' V CP
thinks
A
often John hates syntax
d) CP

C'

C TP
+Q
NP T'

N' T VP
do
N V'
you
V N/DP
like
N/D'

N/D
peanut butter

I leave the rest to you.

e) Have you always hated peanut butter?
f) Are you always so obtuse?

2. AMERICAN VS. BRITISH ENGLISH VERB HAVE

Part 1: Auxiliary have undergoes T Æ C but possessive have
does not.
Part 2: Yes, (suggesting that it has undergone V Æ T).

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40 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

3. VERB RAISING

German: Yes, main verbs appear higher than negation and undergo
T Æ C.

Persian: Yes the main verb undergoes T Æ C. The data in (c)

and (d) is trickier, but there it appears as if negation at-
taches to T, and in (c) it is attached to the V, suggesting the
verb has raised to T. The word order is surprising, however.

4. ITALIAN
V raising

5. GERMANIC VERB SECOND

Part 1: You don’t get V2 when there is an overt complementizer.
The phenomenon is in complementary distribution with overt com-
plementizers, suggesting that complementizers are involved.

Part 2: V raising.

6. HEBREW CONSTRUCT STATE (N → D)

Part 1: Overt complementizers are in complementary distribution
with construct states.

Part 2: The agreement phenomena show that the construct state

N, agrees with the final adjective. If we take seriously the
idea that modifiers are always sisters (or more accurately are
attached to a projection of the element they modify), then at
some point the construct N had to be low and near the adjec-
tive.

7. ENGLISH
Adjectives normally precede nouns in English, the adjectives
here follow. Suggesting that at least part of the noun has
moved around them. This is supported by the alternation between
some spicy thing and something spicy. (However, of course, con-
trast a spicy something!)

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 Chapter 8: Head-to-Head Movement 41

8. ENGLISH PROPER NAMES AND PRONOUNS

Part 1: Proper names are (usually) in complementary distribu-
tion with determiners. The fact that you can have The Smiths,
suggests that under certain circumstances the N remains down-
stairs. The alternation (Smith vs. The Smiths) suggests that
movement is involved.

Part 2: D, they are in complementary distribution with deter-

miners (it is an open question as to whether they undergo
N Æ D movement).

9. ITALIAN N → D
When there is no determiner, the adjective follows the noun,
when there is, it precedes the noun. Assuming that adjectives
are fixed in position, the alternation suggests that the N has
raised around the AP. The answer to this is very similar to the
answer to question 7.

10. ENGLISH MODALS (REPRISE)

Both modals and tensed auxiliaries can undergo subject/aux in-
version, precede negation and adverbs, whereas untensed
auxiliaries don’t. This suggests untensed auxiliaries mark the
base position for auxiliaries (but not modals) and they move
when they are tensed.

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 NP/DP Movement

0. INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents a fairly standard view of NP movement. I call it NP/DP

movement, so that we can retain the traditional NP movement name (which students
will find in the literature), but maintain the use of the DP hypothesis.
I treat both passives and subject-to-subject raising in this chapter. subject to
object raising (see also exercise 6 of this chapter) and control constructions are left
to the next chapter. I start out with an EPP-based explanation but develop it into
Case theory.
Movement is explained in terms of feature checking for the first time.

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 Chapter 9: NP/DP Movement 43

PROBLEM SETS

1. ENGLISH
a) CP

C'

C TP
Ø
NP T'

N' T AP
is
N A'
Marie
A CP
likely
C'

C TP
Ø
t T'

T VP
to
V'

V N/DP
leave
the store

I leave the rest for you to do, however, I’ve listed the trans-
formations that apply in each:

b) The money was hidden in the drawer.

passive
c) Donny is likely to have been kissed by the puppy.
passive in the lower clause, raising
Note: you may want to discuss how to deal with the mul-
tiple auxiliaries before assigning this question.
d) It seems that Sonny loves Cher.
T-lowering (in both clauses), expletive insertion
e) Has the rice been eaten?
T Æ C movement, passive
again discussion of the multiple auxs will probably be
in order

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44 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

2. ENGLISH UNGRAMMATICAL SENTENCES

a) Sonny can’t get case in the embedded subject position, be-
cause of non-finite T.

b) Well this is a theta criterion violation, but in terms of

case, at least one NP doesn’t get case, since only the nom
NP gets case.

c) Donny already has case in the embedded clause.

3. PERSIAN ACCUSATIVE CASE

Features don’t have to be overtly morphologically expressed. We
can have abstract case features. This parallels the discussion
of English nouns in the body of the text.

4. ARIZONA TEWA
1) Spec: XP Æ (YP) X'
Adjunct: X' Æ (ZP) X'
Complement: X' Æ (WP) X

2)a) CP

C'

C TP
Ø
DP T'

D' T VP
Ø
D NP V'
he¶’i
N' DP V
mánkhwE¶@di
N D'
sen
D NP
nE@’i
N'

N
‘enú

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 Chapter 9: NP/DP Movement 45

c) CP

C'

C TP
Ø
DP T'

D' T VP
Ø
D NP V'
na:bí
N' DP V
mánsunt’ó
N D'
kwiyó
D NP
he¶’i
N'

N
p’o

3) same as the English passive

4)b) CP

C'

C TP
Ø
T'

T VP
Ø
V'

DP V'

D' DP V
mánkhwE¶@di
D NP D'
he¶’i
N' D NP
nE@’i
N N'
sen-di
N

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46 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

‘enú
d) CP

C'

C TP
Ø
T'

T VP
Ø
V'

DP V
nasunt’íi
D'

D NP
he¶’i
N'

N
p’o

5. MIDDLES, ACTIVES, CAUSATIVES, AND PASSIVES

Part 1: Middle: theme
Active: instrument theme
Causative: agent theme (instrument)
Part 2: This is essentially the Relational Grammar Law 1AEX.
Middles are already passive like, so they don’t allow
further passivization.

6. TWO KINDS OF RAISING

This question leads us into chapter 10. It should be done be-
fore chapter 10.

a and b) These two pieces of data show accusative case marking

on the embedded subject, since acc case is assigned to a sister
of V, then this is the correct surface position of the NP.

c,d,e) These three pieces of data show that the subject of the
embedded clause is behaving like it is part of the higher
clause with respect to binding theory, it allows disjoint ref-
erence in (c). For many people it may be bound by the subject

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 Chapter 9: NP/DP Movement 47

when it is an anaphor in (d), and in (e) it cannot be corefer-

ent with the main clause subject.

f) It can get raised to subject position of the main clause in

a passive, just like a regular object.

7. HAITIAN CREOLE
NP movement in Haitian Creole leaves a resumptive pronoun. This
pronoun is an “overt trace,” creating an NP–Pronoun chain
(thus not violating the theta criterion).

9. TURKISH
The NP already has case in the embedded clause, therefore there
is no motivation for raising.

10. IMPERSONALS IN UKRAINIAN, KANNADA, AND IRISH

In English intransitives aren’t allowed to undergo passive; in
these languages they are. [±intransitive passive]

11. UNACCUSATIVES AND PASSIVES

You can only delete the external argument once, and only sup-
press the ACC case feature once. (Again the 1AEX of relational
grammar.)

12. ICELANDIC QUIRKY CASE

These NPs already have case. There is no motivation for the
movement. The solution may lie in distinguishing abstract case
from overt morphological case. The quirky case marked NPs in
Iceland take both a quirky case (dative) and an abstract case
(either accusative or nominative).

13. PASSIVES AND DOUBLE OBJECT CONSTRUCTIONS

Only the NP adjacent to the verb may passivize, suggesting that
this is the element that gets accusative case.

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 Raising, Control and
Empty Categories

0. INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces the distinctions between raising and control constructions,
between subject to subject raising and subject to object raising, between obligatory
and optional control, and between subject control and object control. There is also a
short discussion of little pro and the null subject parameter
Control theory is notoriously problematic. Here I give a less than satisfying
answer, but that I think reflects the less that satisfying status of control theory at this
time. I discuss the various syntactic, thematic/semantic, and pragmatic accounts that
have been suggest for controlling PRO. I do not consider movement analyses of
PRO.

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 Chapter 9: NP/DP Movement 49

PROBLEM SETS

1. ENGLISH PREDICATES
Warning: this is a very long (and tedious) problem set to do!

is eager Subject control

is believed SSR
seems SSR
is ready SC
persuaded OC
urged OC
requested SC (and maybe Object control)
hoped SC
expect SOR
force OC
tell OC
advise OC
ask OC, SC
assure This is a really weird verb. It doesn’t al-
low any of them. but it does allow a wh-
trace in the subject position of the embed-
ded clause. Is assured is a SSR raising
verb.
imagine SOR
promise SC
want SC or SOR
is likely SSR
consent SC
imagine SOR
encouraged OC
intended SOR, SC

2. TREES AND DERIVATIONS

I haven’t bothered to do the trees here. I’ve just indicated
traces and PROs. You’ll also note I’m ignoring the existence of
the VP-internal subject hypothesis.

a) Jean wants Billi [CP ti to do the Macarena].

b) Roberti is eager PROi to do his homework.
c) Jeani seems [CP ti to be in a good mood].
d) Rosemaryi tried PROi to get a new car.
e) Susan begged Billi PROi to let her sing in the concert.
Students may require some discussion of the “let her
sing in the concert” part of this sentence.

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50 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

f) Susani begged PROi to be allowed ti to sing in the concert.

There should be some discussion of whether PRO moves
from the specifier of to sing, to the specifier of to be
allowed, given that neither of them are case positions.
(Economy conditions – discussed in the chapter 12 –
force such an analysis, but you may want to draw the
problem to the student’s attention.)
g) Christinai is ready PROi to leave.
h) Fred was believed ti to have wanted PROi to try PROi to
dance.
I leave it for discussion as to whether there is a trace
only in the specifier of the first embedded TP, or
whether there is also one in the main clause object po-
sition.
i) Susan consented PROi to try PROi to seem ti to have been
kissed ti.
Again the existence of the chain of the two traces and
the lower PRO needs to be discussed, since none of these
are case positions.

3. IS EASY

Both, there is an arbitrary PRO as the subject of the embedded

clause, the object of the embedded clause raises to main clause
subject position.

4. THE EXISTENCE OF PRO

a) There needs to be a binder for the anaphor - thus PRO.
b) Himself is too far away from Robert to meet condition A, so
PRO must serve as the antecedent.

5. ICELANDIC PRO AND QUIRKY CASE

The quantifier here agrees in case with the quirky case marking
that PRO would get (note, not the case on the main clause sub-
ject that controls PRO). So this means that PRO must be getting
case. This problem is related to the one in the previous chap-
ter, where passive occurred even though the NP got quirky case.
A similar solution applies: we distinguish morphological from
abstract case.

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 Chapter 9: NP/DP Movement 51

6. CONTROLLERS
a) To improve myself is a goal for next year.
PRO = me obligatorily (as shown by the anaphor bound by
PRO) but there is no me to control it.
b) To improve yourself would be a good idea.
same answer as (a)
c) To improve himself, Bruce should consider therapy.
PRO = Bruce obligatorily, but Bruce does not c-command
it.
d) To improve herself, Jane went to a health spa.
same answer as (c)

7. IRISH pro
Irish doesn’t allow you to have both agreement and the pronoun.

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 Wh-movement

Basic wh-movement is addressed in this chapter, as well as some of the easier con-
straints. Wh-movement is cast as movement for feature checking reasons.
The main focus of the chapter is on locality conditions, in particular
bounding theory. The version of bounding theory I use here involves the subjacency
condition, and counting bounding nodes (TP and NP). There is no discussion of bar-
riers or the ECP (because I haven’t used government). In the next chapter we revise
subjacency into the more general minimal link condition (MLC), but that is left aside
in this chapter. I also discuss, briefly and stipulatively, that-trace and double-filled
CP filters. There is no discussion of the specified subject condition or argu-
ment/adjunct asymmetries in extraction. There is also no discussion of relative
clause or other operator constructions. The reason for all these omissions is brevity –
I assume these topics can all be covered in more advanced classes.

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 Chapter 11: Wh-movement 53

PROBLEM SETS

1. ENGLISH TRANSFORMATIONS
Again I haven’t bothered with the trees here, I just give the
relevant traces and PROs. Students are asked to provide the
trees.

a) Howi wasT [TP the plotj tT discovered tj by the authorities

ti?]
b) [Which animals]i [TP ti appear [TP ti to have lost their col-
lars?]]
(I’m assuming that there is wh-movement of subjects here)
c) Alan told me who wanted to seem to be invincible.

2. BOUNDING THEORY
Students are supposed to draw the tree. I’ve just circled the
bounding nodes here:

*Whoj did [TP George try to find out [CP whati [TP tj wanted ti]?

The wh-phrase has to cross both these, creating a subjacency

violation. It can’t stop off in the spec of CP because of the
what.

3. PICTURE NPS
Should be a violation of the subjacency condition. Who crosses
the NP node [a picture of] and the TP node of the sentence.
There is no intermediate CP to stop off in.

4. IRISH
You get the aN–resumptive strategy obligatorily when you have
an island (= subjacency violation). A note on the data: this is
a simplification of the facts. You can actually get the a N -
resumptive strategy in any position, except for the highest
subject position, but it is only obligatory in an island. See
McCloskey (1991) for more details.

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54 Syntax: Instructor’s Handbook

5. BINDING THEORY
Binding conditions hold at D-structure, before the transforma-
tions have move the wh-phrase.

6. ENGLISH
Students are expected to do trees, I’ll just list the transfor-
mations:

a) Car sales have surprised the stockbrokers.

No transformations (unless you assume VP-internal subjects,
or VP shells in which case there is one instance each of
head movement and NP movement.)
b) Have you seen my model airplane collection?
T Æ C
c) Can you find the lightbulb store?
T Æ C
d) John was bitten by an advertising executive.
NP movement (passive)
e) It is likely that Tami will leave New York.
Expletive insertion
f) Tami is likely to leave New York.
NP movement (raising)
g) It seems that Susy was mugged.
Expletive insertion, T-lowering (main clause)
h) Susy seems to have been mugged.
NP movement (raising), T-lowering, NP movement (passive)
(sub. clause)
i) What did you buy at the supermarket?
Wh-movement, T Æ C
j) I asked what Beth bought at the supermarket.
Main clause: T-lowering
Embedded clause: T-lowering, wh-movement
k) What is likely for Beth to have bought at the supermarket?
Wh-movement, NP movement (raising)
(some people may find this sentence ungrammatical)
l) What is likely to have been bought at the supermarket?
Wh-movement, NP movement (raising), NP movement (passive)

7. SERBO-CROATIAN

All the wh-words seem to move. Various alternatives can be pro-

posed, some more likely than others: Multiple CPs, (or other
multiple functional categories high in the tree). Other stu-
dents have suggested that the wh-words all combine into one wh-
phrase. This latter answer is obviously less satisfying.

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 Chapter 11: Wh-movement 55

8. BINDING AND SCRAMBLING

Wh-movement, because the anaphor can still be bound even though
it has moved.

9. IRISH
Complementizer agreement shows that the wh-word stops off in
the intermediate specifier. There would be no a L comp in the
embedded CP if the wh-word didn’t stop there.

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 Towards Minimalism

0. INTRODUCTION

This chapter is called “towards Minimalism” for a reason, it is not an introduction to

minimalism. Instead it is designed to take the student in the direction of Minimalist
ideas using the more standard P&P tools they’ve been taught in the first 11 chapters.
There are plenty of parts of Minimalism that are not covered here. The basic phi-
losophical and conceptual issues are almost entirely ignored. There is no discussion
of Bare Phrase Structure, Merge, multiple functional categories, to name a few is-
sues.
What is covered (note that I am not claiming that these are by any measure
defining properties of minimalism, these are simply the transitional issues I ad-
dress):

a) uniting head movement, NP movement, and wh-movement into Move

b) motivating all movement via feature checking and Full Interpretation
c) reducing conditions on movement to the Minimal Link Condition (MLC)
(=shortest move)
d) distinguishing LF from PF movement
e) accounting for language-specific variation in terms of timing between overt and
covert movement
f) a brief discussion of LF operations (like QR).

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 Chapter 12: Towards Minimalism 57

PROBLEM SETS

1. ENGLISH
The MLC holds that movement is to the closest potential landing
site. With wh-islands there is an intermediate, but filled
spec, CP that serves to block further movement. With NP is-
lands, however, there is no such “closer potential landing
site” to block extraction.

2. PF MOVEMENT
I was looking for sentences that might be synonymous or nearly
synonymous, for example, particle movement. Of course there are
always those that will claim that that all movement types have
some effect on meaning (broadly interpreted to include so
called “pragmatic” issues like topic and focus). The answers
you’ll get on this question will depend upon the semantic so-
phistication of your students.

3. SERBO-CROATIAN VS. ENGLISH WH-QUESTIONS

English only allows one overt wh-movement. Serbo-Croatian re-
quires that all movement be overt

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 Alternative
Approaches: Lexical-
Functional Grammar

0. ALTERNATIVE THEORIES

While I myself am a Minimalist, I think it is important for my students to be able to

read papers and work written in other theoretical frameworks.
This chapter and the next take a fairly big turn from the rest of the book.
These are quite dense and quite technical surveys of the machinery involved in LFG
and HPSG. People who have read the manuscript of this book tell me that these are
the hardest chapters in the book and I agree. These are not designed to be user-
friendly or in-depth introductions to these frameworks. If you really want to teach
your students to do LFG or HPSG properly (as opposed to giving them a familiarity
with the mechanics and ideas underlying the theories) then these chapters are not for
you. Instead, I’d recommend that you use one of the textbooks written by practitio-
ners of these approaches (such as Bresnan 2001 and Sag and Wasow 1999). This
chapter and the next one are designed to be quick and dirty introductions to the tech-
nical apparatus of these approaches.
I’ve written these chapters with an eye towards a smart syntax student who
has understood the basics of P&P/Minimalism, but would like to understand the
mathematical tools of these other approaches. In doing this, I haven’t always been
faithful to the ideological or philosophical underpinnings of the approaches. For ex-
ample, I occasionally say things like “this is the equivalent of head movement” when
what I really mean is “this does roughly the work that head movement does in P&P,

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 Chapter 13: Alternatives: Lexical Functional Grammar 59

even though it has different assumptions and motivations.” This is likely to annoy
those people who actually work in these frameworks, as it gives a certain P&P feel
to them. Again this is for pedagogical reasons. I reiterate, if you want proper intro-
ductions to the influential ideas of LFG or HPSG, you’d be better off going to the
source material. But if you want a brief explanation of what a metavariable or a SYN-
SEM structure is, then these chapters will do the trick.
One other caveat has to do with my discussion of evaluating competing
theories. A number of people have given me quite a bit of flack about the “all theo-
ries are roughly equal” or “aesthetics play a big role” language I use in these
chapters. Let me state for the record, that of course I believe it is possible to evaluate
theoretical approaches on empirical grounds. However, I do want to point out that
doing so is extremely difficult. Some theoretical machinery is better suited to certain
empirical tasks, but other machinery might be better at different tasks. This makes
empirical comparison, while not impossible, certainly more difficult than many
scholars would have us believe. This practical consideration has the effect that for
the most part people work in the theoretical framework that appeals to them on aes-
thetic grounds or works best in their own particular sub-area of interest. This isn’t an
ideal situation, but I think it is wrong to try to conceal this fact from students.
This chapter, on LFG, introduces – but does not discuss in depth – some of
the original motivations for abandoning transformations. It introduces the basic no-
tions of c-structure, f-structure, a-structure, variables, metavariables, grammatical
functions, AVMs, functional equations, f-descriptions, unification, lexical rules, and
functional control. It treats none of these topics in depth.

PROBLEM SETS

1. ENGLISH
I leave these for you to do.

2. ICELANDIC (AGAIN)
No.

3. TRANSFORMATIONS OR NOT?
The answer to this question involves creativity on the part of
the student.

4. WANNA-CONTRACTION
The answer to this question involves creativity on the part of
the student.

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 Alternative
Approaches: Head-
Driven Phrase
Structure Grammar

Please read the caveat about the alternatives chapters at the beginning of chapter 13
of this instructor’s handbook.
This chapter covers all the basics of HPSG: Features, SYN-SEM structures,
tags, realization principles, gap (slash) features, lexical rules, compositionality, uni-
fication, phrase structure rules, and binding theory. It does not get into some of the
more difficult issues, such as inheritance hierarchies. As in the last chapter, the
metaphors used are sometimes those of P&P not HPSG, for pedagogic reasons, and I
make no claims that this chapter represents HPSG as it’s practitioners would present
it.

PROBLEM SETS

1. ENGLISH
I leave these for you to do.

2. SUBJECT/AUX INVERSION
The answer to this question involves creativity on the part of
the student.

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 Chapter 14: Alternatives: Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar 61

3. ISLAND CONSTRAINTS
The answer to this question involves creativity on the part of
the student.

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