Lengua Inglesa Avanzada I 2017/18 Handout 1

This Course aims to analyse the grammar of English from a

theoretical-descriptive perspective. The two basic tools to
use are Greenbaum & Quirk´s (1990) referential
grammar on the one hand, and the present Handouts on the
other. No reference is made to Greenbaum & Quirk (1990) in
the Handouts.
In the present Handout, English grammar is described and/or
explained from the point of view of Generative Theory, a
school of linguistics and, more generally, a school of
thought, inaugurated or founded by Noam Chomsky in the United
States of America in the 1950s.
More specifically, the goal of the Course is to describe
and explain the formal properties of generally-assumed types
of phrases in English. The methodology and the units of
analysis employed in the Handout are borrowed from GB theory
(Government-Binding theory), the model of Generative Grammar
that covers the decade of the 1980s (and also late 1970s and
beginning of the 1990s). GB theory follows the Classical
period of Generative Grammar, and it antecedes and feeds in a
crucial way the third (and current) period or model, known as
Minimalism or Minimalist Theory. That is, roughly speaking,
it is possible to distinguish three big periods or models
within Generative Grammar: the Classical period, the GB
period, and Minimalism.

Let us have a look at various statements

about language and grammar that generative
linguists in general are expected to agree on.

The essence of human language is its unlimited combinatory potential.

Language can be characterised as a combinatory system, and as such,
it is made up of basic computational units that combine with one
another in structural ways. Generative Theory or Generative
Grammar has always highlighted the capacity of (precisely) the
generative systems of syntax and semantics that construct or build
up an infinite range of expressions from a limited set of elementary
units. 1
 Generative grammar has always put the emphasis
on the fact that natural languages are formal objects
(in the sense that they are systems that are
structured and that work according to principles
and rules) while at the same time being biological
objects (since they are the product in the first place of
genetic endowment).

For a generative linguist, the speaker of a language has

inside his/her brain the grammar of that language, which
the speaker has constructed, or constructs, by using (i) the
devices in his/her own brain and (ii) the input that he/she
receives from other speakers. what the linguist does is make
that knowledge explicit, and try to formulate hypotheses
that can explain the language faculty.

For a generative linguist, being a linguist means

primarily doing research on the formal properties
of language (whether it is language from a
universal perspective, or otherwise case studies of
specific languages), though it can also mean in a
crucial way analysing the connections that exist
between language and other disciplines such as
philosophy (knowledge representation, logic),
psychology (human cognition, perception,
performance), language acquisition, computer
science (computational theory, artificial
intelligence), neuroscience (brain mechanisms for
intelligent behaviour),…

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 Nowadays, Biolinguistics and, more generally, Cognitive Science, are
prominent domains of research, at many University sites, and a big
portion of the investigation within these domains is centred upon
the study of the neural bases of syntactic structure building, that is,
the operations by which the brain builds up complex structures
from simpler pieces, all of which are associated at some specific time
with meaning.

Now, more specifically about the present

Course!

Syntax is considered by Generative Theory to be the core component of

grammar, or the same, the core component of language. Syntax does not work
alone, and we should rather speak of the syntax-semantics interface, but the fact
that must be highlighted is that the essence of the language faculty consists in the
ability to put together or combine very simple units that form or make up
more complex units (see the first and last statements above), and this is what
syntax does!

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Syntax could be defined as the linguistic or grammatical
component that governs the combination of words into
phrases, and of phrases into sentences (and/or clauses).

Let us recall from the second paragraph on p. 1 above that the purpose
of the present Course (Lengua Inglesa Avanzada I) is to analyse the
formal properties of phrases in the English language.
Phrases must be identified as one of the core units of syntactic analysis.

words phrases sentences and clauses

Now, words and phrases must be put in connection in the first place with the
notion or concept of category, specifically word-level categories
on the one hand, and phrase-level categories on the other. In addition,
phrase-level categories, or just phrases, must be related to the notion or
concept of function. Let us see (1) below!

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(1)
Word-level Phrase-level functions
Categories categories

N(oun) NounPhrase or NP subject

D(eterminer) DP predicate
V(erb) VP direct object
Aux(iliary) AuxP indirect object
A(djective) AP subject complement
P(reposition) PP (or attribute)
Adv(erb) AdvP object complement
I(nflection) IP adjunct
Neg(ation) NegP
C(omplementiser) CP adverbial disjunct

conjunct

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Warnings about the lists or
taxonomies of elements in (1)!

As the horizontal arrows indicate, there is an exact

correspondence between word-level categories and
phrase-level categories, but not so between categories and
functions. Thus, in a trivial way, an NP can be subject, or
direct object, or indirect object, as in The children bought
Peter a gorgeous shirt. Also, the AdvP carefully is an
adjunct in He opened the case carefully, but the AdvP
perhaps is a disjunct (Perhaps, he opened the case).
The list of categories could be made more exhaustive by adding an element such as
Q(uantifier) (and, correspondingly, QP), which has been considered traditionally a kind of
Determiner, but which has certain distributional properties, that is, properties relative to the
position it can occupy, that distinguish it from other Determiners. Also, instead of just
Aux/AuxP, it is possible to use more specific labels like Modal/Modal Phrase,
Perfect/Perfect Phrase, etc.

VERY IMPORTANTLY, DP is made to

correspond to D in (1), an issue that we deal with
in Handout 2.
The DP-hypothesis came to be postulated at the
end of the 1980´s (Abney 1987), and has been
endorsed ever since by the majority of generative
linguists. Nevertheless, some generativists still use
the notation NP. We will use NP for the remainder
of the present Handout.
The reader is referred to castillo
(2003: 38–39) for illustrations of the
functions listed in (1).

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Let us now pay attention to (2), (3),
and later (4) below. A definition of
phrase can be found at the bottom of
(3).

(2) Definition of the concept of category:

The category of an element is the status an element has

relative to its MEANING, FORM, and POTENTIAL OF
DISTRIBUTION (with respect to other elements).

For instance, big is identified as an adjective, given that it denotes a

property, it accepts the comparative suffix –er (as in bigger), and it can
typically occupy the position to the immediate left of a noun (a big
computer) or the position after the copula be (This computer is big), and
it can be modified by such words as very, quite, or so (This computer is
very/quite/so big).

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 (3) Types of categories:

a. As shown in (1) above, categories must be divided in the

first place into WORD-LEVEL categories on the one hand,
and PHRASE-LEVEL categories on the other. This division has
immediate consequences for the syntax, that is, for the actual
combination of simpler units into complex units, which is a core
property of human language (see pp. 1–2 of this Handout).

Word-level categories are, as the name

indicates, single word items and, as such, they
can be looked up in a standard dictionary. Examples of
word-level categories are: study, jump, Mary, the, his, honestly,
sensible, book, not, may, May, very,…
By contrast, phrase-level categories or
phrases must be defined as a word or otherwise
a set of words that is or contains a head or
nucleus. A head or nucleus is the type of element
that can have a FUNCTION in a sentence or clause,
either on its own, or acompanied by modifiers.

As we can see, the concept of head or nucleus

is the link or connection that exists between
categories, specifically phrasal categories or phrases,
and functions.

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 (4) How can we define functions?

Functions, which are listed on the right-most column in

(1), can be identified as THE ROLES PLAYED BY
CONSTITUENTS IN A SENTENCE. More specifically,
functions are realised by phrase-level categories (or
just phrases).
As observed in (3) above, a phrase can consist of just one word, subject to
the condition that it can be a head, that is, that it can play any given function
or role in a sentence. Thus, Geoff is a word-level category, specifically a
Noun, but it is also a phrase (an NP), since it can be subject, as in Geoff did
not break his promise, or object, as in They are taking George to court.
On the other hand, guy is the head of the NP that guy. In the sentence They
are taking that guy to court, the object function corresponds to that guy.

Two further aspects to note about (1) are the following:

Apart from the division of categories into word-level categories

and phrase-level categories, there is an important distinction to
make that affects categories in general. This is the distinction
between lexical categories on the one hand, and functional
categories on the other. Lexical categories (whether words or
phrases) have full lexical meaning, and are typically open-class
elements, that is, elements that can be innovated in a
language at any given time, whether they are created anew, or
borrowed from another language.
The categories in (1) that belong to the lexical type are: N (or also NP), V (VP), A (AP), and
Adv (AdvP). As for P (PP), this is considered to be a hybrid element that shares properties of
lexical categories and functional categories.
Functional categories lack true meaning or lexical meaning,
and are instead associated with so-called grammatical
meaning. They typically belong to the closed-class portion of

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 the lexicon of a language since it is extremely difficult for
them to be borrowed from another language or to be created
anew within one language.
The categories in (1) that belong to the functional type are: D (or also DP), Aux (AuxP), I (IP),
Neg (NegP), and C (CP).

As we will see in the course on Morphosyntax, the relevance of the

functional category Inflection (or IP) is paramount for sentence
structure!

The second aspect that must be noted is of a completely

different kind, and has to do with the use of terminology both in
English and in Spanish.
The English label or term phrase corresponds originally with
Spanish sintagma, since frase has/had traditionally been used
as synonymous with oración (English sentence). However, due
to the influence or impact of the literature written in English,
the word phrase is translated into Spanish not only as
sintagma, but also as frase. Thus, a VP is an SV (‘un Sintagma Verbal’) or an FV
(‘una Frase Verbal’) in Spanish. Similarly, a PP corresponds with Spanish SP (‘Sintagma
Preposicional’) or FP (‘Frase Preposicional’).

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 There is a decisive task to
tackle right now in
the present Handout! This is
the actual analysis of phrase-level
categories or phrases, that is, the
internal organisation of phrases.

What can be safely acknowledged thus far is that phrases can consist
of one word (that is, a word-level category) or more, but that they
must necessarily contain a head.
What is the internal organisation of a phrase, e.g. of an NP like
(5a) or one like (5b) below?
(5) a. the student of Physics
b. the student from U.K.

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 The methodology that we will implement in the present Course in
order to analyse phrases is X’-theory (or X-bar theory),
which is a major proposal within the generative GB model.
However, let us see first very briefly how phrases used to
be represented in Generative Grammar before the advent
of X’-theory and then we will introduce the mechanics of
X’-theory.

Generative Grammar is famous for having proposed the use of tree-

diagrams, or trees (because of their shape), or also phrase-markers,
as a neat way of representing the inner structure of phrases (hence the
latter name!).
Tree-diagrams, which look like real inverted trees, and are made up of
branches and nodes (these, the extreme-ends of each branch), used to
consist of two levels in the Classical period (from the 1950´s up to the
middle of the 1970´s): the head level and the phrase or phrasal
level.

Let us consider the abstract tree-diagram

in (6) below.
(6) XP phrasal level

… X … ..

head level (also represented as Xº)

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If we now analyse the NPs in (5) following (6), we will obtain the
configurations in (7).

(7) a. NP b. NP

Det N PP Det N PP

the student P NP the student P NP

of N from N

Physics UK

Such configurations were later referred to as ‘flat structures’, since the

head of a phrase actually occupied the same level as that of the rest of
complements or modifiers within the phrase. In the specific case at hand,
the head student is at the same level as the determiner the, and also at the
same level as the PP constituents of Physics and from UK, respectively.
Incidentally, being at the same level as is expressed more technically by using the word sister. Together
with sister, the other two types of relations applying in the tree are called mother and daughter. To give an
example, student in (7a) is sister to the Determiner the and to the PP of Physics, and it is daughter to the NP node.
Likewise, the NP node UK in (7b) is daughter of the PP node and sister of the P from.

Generative syntacticians were agreed that it should be more appropriate

if the determiner of a
and much more explanatory
head Noun could be shown to occupy a
different level than the head Noun itself,
since the determiner is a functional or grammatical category, whereas the
head Noun is the core lexical element!

Also, distinction between a complement

the
proper and adjunct was completely lacking in the flat-structure
configurations like the ones above.

That is, the PP of Physics in (5a) must surely occupy a closer position with
respect to the head Noun student than the PP from UK in (5b): whereas the

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PP in (5a) denotes what the student actually studies, which means that it
is turned into a typical direct object if a sentence is concocted (he/she
studies Physics), such is not the case at all with the PP element in (5b)!
PP elements like from UK, with long hair, in the corner, with the umbrella,
are never complements of a Noun like student, but instead are adjuncts,
that is constituents that describe or denote some property of student, but
one that is disconnected from the specific eventuality of studying.

All in all then, a device called X’-theory was proposed (most

prominently by a linguist called Jackendoff) at the end of the
1970´s, and it happened to differ from (6) in that it featured a
new level in between the head level and the phrasal level. This new
intermediate level was the one that gave the name to the very
theory or device. Let us have a look at (8) below!

(8) XP/X´´

Specifier X´

X Complement

Effectively, the head level in (8) is X (or also Xº), the phrasal or
top-most level is XP (or also now X´´ or X-double-bar), and the
new intermediate level is X´.

More on (8) below!

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The head or nucleus X, WHICH IS THE
ONLY ELEMENT THAT IS ALWAYS
OBLIGATORY IN ANY GIVEN PHRASE, does
not figure in the new configuration as the
sister of such items as e.g. determiners
(the, his, that, some,…) or emphasisers
(very, so, quite, straight,…). These items
can now be called SPECIFIERS (or SPEC
for short) and they are SISTERS TO THE
LEVEL X´, and not to the head level X.

In the new X´-configuration, the head X can only

be sister to a COMPLEMENT. The PP of
Physics in (5a) could actually be granted this
position!
That is, the head X is not sister any longer either to
SPECIFIERS or to ADJUNCTS! In effect, as is
clearly shown in (9) below, the latter type of
constituent, that is, Adjuncts, now occupy
precisely an adjoined position to X´. This is
accomplished by creating an identical node X´ on
top of the original X´ node or site. That is,
whenever an adjunct occurs within a phrase, then
the device resorts to RECURSION or
REPETITION of the X´-level itself!

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 Adjuncts are always
therefore sisters and
daughters to X´, whereas
(9) XP complements are
daughters to X´ but,
Specifier X´ crucially, as observed
above, they are sisters to
X´ Adjunct the head!
X Complement

It must be noted that the labels COMPLEMENT or ADJUNCT do not actually figure in the
representation of the tree-diagram itself. These are names of functions, specifically functions of a more
generalised type than those in (1) above! On trees are specified only names of categories – word-level
categories and phrase-level categories – since functions are not primitives, but result from the position
that the category itself occupies on the tree!
Nevertheless, it must be granted that the word Specifier is actually the name of a function. When
drawing a phrase-marker or tree, it is possible to use either the notation Specifier or the very name of
the category in question (for instance, Det, or Adv).

In (11) below are the X´-tree-diagrams or phrase-markers that correspond to the phrases in
(10). The reader is referred to Castillo (2003: 49–60) for more illustrations
of tree-diagrams of VPs, NPs, APs, AdvPs, PPs where the X´-format is
implemented.

(10) a. cook the chicken in the tiny kitchen

b. so jealous of Martha
c. the teacher of French outside

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(11) a. VP

V´

V´ PP

V NP P´

cook Spec N´ P NP

the N in Spec N´

chicken the AP N´

A´ N

A kitchen

tiny

b. AP

Spec A´

so A PP

jealous P´

P NP

of N´

Martha

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c. NP

Det N´

the N´ PP

N PP P´

teacher P´ P

P NP outside

of N´

French

Now, although this is an issue that belongs properly to the

course on Morphosyntax, it is convenient to advance how

important it is/was to determine the status of a sentence according

to the X´-format! We will refer to this issue very briefly here.
The category figuring in (1) as
I(nflection) will prove
crucial!

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Before the advent of X´-theory in the GB period of Generative Grammar,
sentences used to be identified with the notation S. This way, a sequence
like (12) would be made to correspond with the flat-structure configuration
below. Note that, for ease of exposition, the internal configuration of the NPs has been left unspecified.

(12) He took the second flight

S sentence

NP VP

He V NP

took the second flight

In what sense could a configuration like (12) be

improved? That is, why did it not actually fit in
with the new X´-format?

Answer  The use of S did not correspond with

any phrasal category! And now, according to the
new X´-theory, trees were made up of such units
as phrasal categories!

8. The status of the sentence as an I(nflection)Phrase: what is I(nflection) and why

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 So linguists had to figure out a way
of replacing S by a phrasal
category! In other words, they
needed to identify some element as
the head of the overall sentence!

Since phrases were (or are) projections of

heads, consisting specificallyy of three levels, it
was necessary to find a category that could act
as the head of the new phrase!

The idea was entertained that the category in question would have to
be associated in some way to verbs, since verbs are actually elements
that can make up a sentence on their own, that is without the need of
any other (overt or pronounced) constituent! As is well known
imperatives give evidence of this: Go!

And the next step was to acknowledge that

Inflection, that is, verbal Inflection, actually
played a major role in a basic distinction affecting
sentences in very many languages!
Effectively, a main clause in English (and in lots of other languages) must have a
finite verb, that is, a verb carrying finite Inflection, whereas a subordinate clause
can feature either a finite verb or a non-finite verb!

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We will stop here the issue of the identification of a sentence (or
a clause) as an IP, and will put an end to the present Handout by
offering a definition and/or a typology of SENTENCES and
CLAUSES.

As regards the labels SENTENCE and/or CLAUSE, the

one below is a characterisation that most grammars
would arguably agree on!

Simple(x) sentence

The sentence that consists of just one clause, which means that there is only one lexical
or main verb (V), though V can of course be preceded by Auxiliaries. Simple
sentence is thus synonymous with 1 main clause.
E.g. The Department rejected the proposal
The Department has rejected the proposal

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Complex sentence

The sentence that consists of 1 main clause, plus 1 or more subordinate clauses.
A complex sentence contains therefore several lexical or main verbs (V), one for
each clause that actually occurs, and in turn each of these verbs can take its own
Auxiliaries. However, one of these verbs (V) will be the main verb of the
overall structure, and the other verbs (V) will be subordinated to the
former.
E.g. They all liked the way [he behaved]  the subordinate clause in brackets is a
relative clause
He would prefer [to spend the night in London]  the subordinate clause in
brackets is an object clause

Also, a compound sentence

is made up of two or more simple(x) or complex sentences coordinated with

each other.
E.g. [John rang up his friends] and [they all went to the pub where she was singing]
[You could finish your Ph.D. next month] or [you could apply for the scholarship]

Let us highlight the

fact that a main
clause must have a
finite verb, whereas
the verb of a
subordinate clause
can be finite or non-
finite.

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Effectively, the first verbal form of a main
clause (whether it is V, as in The Department
rejected… or Aux, as in The Department has
rejected…) is obligatorily a finite verb.

By contrast, the verbal form of a subordinate clause can be finite, as in They

all liked the way [he behaved], or non-finite, as in He would prefer [to spend
the night in London].

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Finally, let us observe that the four basic types of simple(x)
sentences are the following:

declarative sentences affirmative

negative

interrogative sentences affirmative

negative

exclamative sentences (typically) affirmative

imperative sentences affirmative

negative

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