SYNTACTIC THEORY

Q3153 ~ Autumn 2014-15

Assessed exercise 1:

Null constituents

CANDIDATE NUMBER: 127542

Dr Melanie Green

0
 The Minimalist Program is the line of research initiated by generative
grammar in the early nineties of the twentieth century whose pioneer was Noam
Chomsky.
It is called program, not theory, because its intention was to become a research
mode, characterized by the flexibility to face multiple addresses that minimalism
made possible. Noam Chomsky wrote 'There are minimalist questions, but no
minimalist answers' (2000: 92). Among these questions the most relevant would
be; what the properties of language are and why they are.
In the context of generative grammar, from the theoretical point of view, the
Minimalist Program draws on the Principles and Parameters approach. This
program suggests that there is a fixed set of valid principles for all languages;
these principles are understood as a kind of set of possibilities that the child,
when learning a language, can be combined to a limited extent (parameters),
according to the specific properties that characterize their native language. The
reasons and motives to create the Minimalist Program can be summarized in
one quote said by its creator ''Languages ``can be learned because there is
little to learn'' (Noam Chomsky, 1998:181).

Null constituents

The Minimalist Syntax assumes that all the constituents in a given structure
are clear. However, the syntactic structures may also have null constituents or
empty categories. This means that there are grammatical and semantic
particles that exist, yet they are not heard phonetically.

a) Skyler thinks Walter has been deceitful

On the one hand, in the matrix clause, which is an auxiliarness finite clause,
clause we can find a null T. The explanation would be that when a syntactic
structure like this is formed, a semantic interpretation as well as a phonetic

1
interpretation are nedded. Therefore we need the PF-component1 in which a
number of morphological and phonological operations made, these are called
Affix Hopping.2 In the PF component, the unattached affix in T will be lowered
onto the verb think via the morphological operation of Affix Hopping. The reason
of this operation is that the closest head c-command by T in the verb think
(which is the head V of VP). Since inflections in English grammar are suffixes,
the tense affix will be lowered onto the end of the verb think, to result in thinks
[think + Tns 3SgPr].

On the other hand, in the embedded clause we can find a Null Complemetiser.
The explanation would be that, as is well known, all finite clauses have the
status of CP constituents which are introduced by a complementiser like that or
if or by a null complementiser (in this case). Our example, which is the case of a
declarative complement clause, it is found the null variant of that. This implies
that the particle that can be omitted phonetically in certain circumstances, yet
the particle is still there, as a null one.

b) In the case of the Korean sentence:

(2)

Chelswu-ka sakwa-lul mek-ess-ta.

Chelswu-NOM apple-ACC eat-PAST-DEC.
Chelswu ate the apple.

We can see the affix of the verb mek-ess-ta , indicating that is a declarative (-
ess) past (-ta) form. So, we can see again the Affix Hopping, which show that
there is null auxiliary. However, this auxiliary is transformed directly to the verb
prefix, as we do in English. It is observable that the three Korean words of the

1
PF-component of a grammar is the component which converts the syntactic structures generated by
the computational component of the gramma into PF-representations, via series of morphological and
phonological operations. (Radford, Andrew. Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of English. 2004
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). p.468
2
Affix Hoping: In the F component, an unattached tense affix is lowered onto the closet head c-
commanded by the affix (provided that the lower head is a verb, sin tense affixes require a verbal host
attach to). (Radford, Andrew. Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of English. 2004
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). p.118

2
sentence have interfixes and prefixes, which tell us what kind of word is, among
other information.

(3) b.

Ahmet kitap ald m

Ahmed book buy.PAST INT
Did Ahmed buy a book?

The verb conjugated in past ald, therefore, we face another null auxiliary.
However, in the case of Turkish, the auxiliary verb is not broken down to a
question such as English, but an interrogative particle is added m.

c)

The minimalist program of Chomsky proves the grammatical similarities

between very different languages. This would demonstrate his theory of the
Universal Grammar. Although in some languages lack a subject is possible, for
example, or even auxiliaries do not exist, they are always in our brain, and that
is what Chomsky's minimalist program seeks to demonstrate through Null
Constituents.

3
 (1) Skyler thinks Walter has been deceitful.

CP

C TP

[DECL]

NP T

N VP
Skyler [Aff. 3SgPr.]

[does]

V CP

think+s

C TP

that

NP T

Walter VP

[Af.3Sg.PP] V NP

has been N

deceiful
3
(2) Chelswu-ka sakwa-lul mek-ess-ta.
Chelswu-NOM apple-ACC eat-PAST-DEC
Chelswu ate the apple.

CP

C TP

[DECL]

NP T

N VP
Chelswu-ka [Af.3Sg.PS.]

V NP

mek-ess-ta

sakwa-lul

4
 (3) b. Ahmet kitap ald m
Ahmed book buy.PAST INT
Did Ahmed buy a book?

CP

C TP

[INT]
m

NP T

N VP
Ahmet [Int.3Sg.PS.]

V NP

aldi

kitap

5
References

Asger, David (2003) Core Syntax: A Minimalist Approach. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

Chomsky, Noam (1995) The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

London: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.

Radford, Andrew (2004) Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of English.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Radford, Andrew (1997) Syntax: A Minimalist Introduction. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.