Overview of Tagalog Sentence

Structures1:
Minimalist Approach

Resty M. Cena
Universidad ng Pilipinas-Diliman
restycena@gmail.com

PART I: THE BASICS

In Part I: The Basics, we present the basic terminology of the minimalist
methodology. Examples are in Tagalog.

The Minimalist Approach

Current minimalist efforts strive to achieve two independent but intertwined results:
methodological minimalism and substantive minimalism.

Scientific inquiry in general aims for methodological minimalism: a relentless drive

to find the simplest, most elegant, and most general descriptive devices. In this
tradition, the Minimalist Approach keeps the descriptive apparatus to the minimum.
Structures follow a single mold: the x-bar schema. Two major structural relations are
recognized: Contain and C-command. And only one syntactic operation: Merge
(Move is considered a type of Merge). The whole enterprise is constrained by
universal principles and parameters.

The desideratum of substantial minimalism is motivated by the commitment to the

idea that the language system is an optimal system for the condition the system
was created, and that is mainly to generate structures intelligible to the semantic
and phonetic form components.

Minimalism is the second and current approach within the Principles and
Parameters approach. Preceding Minimalism was Government and Binding theory.

1
Lecture notes in Linguistics 140, second semester, school year 2006-2007.
Our objective in this study is to bring to fore properties of Tagalog that have the
potential to contribute to the clarification of issues in minimalist studies. Going in
the other direction, we will use the minimalist framework on Tagalog data to
elucidate some of the ways the language works.

The X-Bar Schema

The x-bar schema is a fixed representation of the structure of phrases. It is one of
the ways that structures intra- and inter-languages are constrained from exhibiting
too much variation.

The X-bar schema:

XP
/
Specifier X’
/ \
X Complement

Looking at the x-bar schema above, we say that

• X is the head of the structure. It is the minimal projection of X itself.

• X’ (x-bar) is an intermediate projection of X, it is a structure that is larger

than a word and smaller than a phrase.

• XP is the maximal projection of X; it is a projection X that is not contained

within any larger constituent with the same head X.

• The specifier and the complement are maximal projections.

• Specifier is a phrase that carries some grammatical function in respect of X.

• Ccomplement is a phrase that complements X.

• The head X dictates the properties of the whole phrase.

The example below shows the x-bar structure of the prepositional phrase talagang
para diyan. The items match one-for-one the items in the schema above.
 Talagang para diyan

PP
/
ADV P’ The adverb talaga serves as
specifier of para
talaga +ng / \
P PRN The pronoun diyan serves as
complement of para.
para diyan

PP = prepositional phrase, P = preposition, ADV = adverb, PRN = pronoun

Classic X-bar theory is under scrutiny, as most everything else, in current minimalist
efforts.

Creating Structures: Merge

Derivation is carried out using merge. Merge merges two constituents at a time to
form a single constituent at the next higher level. Let us show the derivation of the
phrase talagang para diyan.

Talagang para diyan

PP
/
ADV P’ Step 2: Merge P’ and ADV to
form PP
talaga+ng / \
P PRN Step 1: Merge P and PRN to form
P’
para diyan

1. First, we merge the preposition P para and its complement, the pronoun
diyan, to form the (small) prepositional phrase P’ para diyan.
2. Then we merge the resulting structure P’ with the specifier adverb ADV
talaga+ng to form the prepositional phrase PP talagang para diyan.

The structure PP consists of two sub-structures, P’ and ADV. P’ in turn consists of two
sub-structures, P and PRN. That a syntactic structure may consist of two and only
two structures is guaranteed by the Binarity Principle.
BINARITY PRINCIPLE2
Every syntactic structure is binary-branching.

The structures P’ and PP in the diagram above are binary-branching.

HEADEDNESS PRINCIPLE
Every syntactic structure is a projection of a head word.

The structures P’ and PP in the diagram above are projections of the head word
para.

Structural Relations: Contain and C-Command

The minimalist approach recognizes two structural relations: contain and c-
command.

C ONTAIN
A constituent X contains another constituent Y if there is a direct path from X to Y
and X is higher up in the structure than Y.

Talagang para diyan

PP PP contains all structures underneath

it.
/
ADV P’ ADV does not contain any
structure.
talaga +ng / \
P PRN P’ contains P and
PRN.
para diyan

Hence, PP contains all the constituents underneath PP. P’ contains the constituents P
and PRN.

In terms of nodes of the tree diagram, a mother node is a container, a daughter

node a containee, and constituents X and Y are sister nodes if both are immediate
daughters of the same mother node.

C-COMMAND
A constituent c-commands its sister and all its constituents.
2
Definitions are from Radford, Andrew. 1994. Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of
English. Cambridge University Press.
Thus P’ c-commands ADV because ADV is its sister. Regular c-command is a
symmetrical relation (an anti-symmetrical c-command is recognized). Hence, ADV c-
commands P’ because P’ is a sister, and ADV also c-commands P and PRN because
they are daughters of P’, which is a constituent that ADV c-commands. Neither P nor
PRN c-commands ADV because ADV is not a sister nor is it a constituent under a
constituent that P’ c-commands.

Talagang para diyan

PP PP has no sister, hence, is not in a c-

commanding
/ position.
ADV P’ P’ and ADV are sisters, hence,
they c-command each
talaga +ng / \ other
P PRN ADV c-commands P and PRN
because they are
para diyan daughters of P’, which ADV
c-commands.

Features
Lexical items at the end of the branches of the tree include grammatical features.
Functional items can simply be a bundle of grammatical features. The orthographic
forms we see on the page are merely convenient labels. For example, the pronoun
sila will enter into the derivation with at least the following features.

P’
/ \
PRN
sila
[3-Per] 3rd person
[pl-Nbr] plural number
[u-Case] unvalued case

Agreement relations are expressed using features. Features are checked to steer
derivations in the right direction: a representation legible to both the semantic and
phonetic interpretations.

Lexical Phrases
Lexical phrases are headed by a lexical item (as opposed to functional item). Some
common lexical phrases:
 Head
DP determiner phrase determiner lahat ng panday
PP preposition phrase preposition talagang para sa bata
VP verb phrase verb root bumili ng basi
AP adjective phrase adjective root sabik sa anak
NP noun phrase noun tao sa bukid

Determiner Phrase (DP)

The determiner phrase is headed by a determiner. Noun phrases serve as
complement, and quantifier phrases and adjectival phrases typically serve as
specifier..

lahat ng mga panday

DP
/ \
D’ QP Quantifier phrase serves as specifier
/ \ lahat
D NP Determiner ng is head of the phrase
ng mga panday

The set of determiner consists of the particles ang, ng, sa, si, ni, kay, and their
plural counterparts.

Later, we will look more closely at the range of structures that come under DP, for
example:

ang mga panday

sa malaking bahay niya
sa kay Ben na bahay
ang mga panday na gumagawa ng kanyon
sa gumagawa ng kanyon na mga panday

Preposition Phrase (PP)

A preposition heads the prepositional phrase. Transitive prepositions show
complements. ADV elements serve as specifier.

Talagang para diyan

PP
/ \
P’ ADV
 / \ talaga +ng
P DP
para sa bata

Some other words that may be used in place of para in the above are: doon, diyan,
dine, buhat, galing, tungo, … Most of these have longer forms: nandoon, nandiyan,
nandine, naroroon, naririyan, naririne, … The last three forms mentioned carry CVr
of the type that verbs use. Others like buhat, galling, and tungo show forms that
indicate states: nagbuhat, nanggaling, patungo. Many forms we call preposition
may well support a verb analysis. Even the quintessential preposition para allows a
verb form.

Adjective Phrase (AP)

The adjective phrase is headed by the adjective root.

higit na sabik kaysa sa panday

AP
/ \
A’ ADV
/ \ higit + na
A DP A fully extended x-bar
structure inside an x-bar
sabik / \ structure
D’ Comparative
/ \ kaysa
D N
sa panday

The diagram may appear complex, but it is simply our basic x-bar structure (AP),
whose head takes a complement that is a fully specified x-bar structure (DP).
Complex structures are hierarchies of x-bar structures.

Verb Phrase (VP)

The verb phrase is headed by the root of the verb.

madalas bumili ng basi.

VP
/ \
 V’ ADV
/ \ madalas
V DP
bili ng basi

The affix –um- is not part of VP. It is head of another projection that we will discuss
later.

Noun Phrase (NP)

The noun head of a noun phrase may have an attributive phrase as specifier and a
PP as complement..

NP
/ \
N’ AP
/ \ kalbo+ng
N PP
tao sa buwan

Sentences
English main sentences have a verb as head of the predicate. It is the finite tense in
the verb that is responsible for a subject expression.

He read the book.

TP Tense Phrase
/
PRN T’
he / \
T V’
[past-Tense] / \
V DP
read the book

Given a finite verb, an English sentence must have a subject. This is captured in the
following generalization.

EXTENDED PROJECTION PRINCIPLE (for English)

A finite Tense constituent must be extended into a TP projection that containing a
subject.

The following are the challenges of Tagalog to EPP.

 • Given that Tagalog verbs show aspect rather than tense, which element of a
verbal phrase serve as head?
• There are many non-verbal sentences (for example, Mabait si Ben, Panday si
Ben, atbp) . What is the head of these sentences?
• There are many sentences without a subject. Do they violate the Extended
Projection Principle?

Sentence Types in Tagalog

Tagalog sentences may be classified according to the type of their predicates.

Verbal Bumili si Ben ng basi.

Adjectival Magalang si Ben.
Nominal Panday si Ben.
Prepositional Para kay Ben ang basi.
Existential May pera si Ben

Occasionally Time and Measurement predicates are sometimes considered to be

separate sentence types. More commonly, the time phrase is analyzed as a
prepositional phrase, and the measurement phrase an adjective phrase.

Time Sa Linggo ang pasko.

Measurement Tatlo ang dumating.

Sentences with a Verbal Predicate: Voice Affix as Head

The head of a verbal sentence is the voice affix. To indicate the head of the verbal
sentence, we use the same symbol T as used in English, and we call it Tinig “voice”.

Bumili si Benng basi.

Binili ni Ben ang basi. The voice suffix –in is unrealized.

Bumili ng basi si Ben

T’ T is voice “tinig”.
/ \
T VP T –um- , not the root bili,
specifies the Voice of the verb.
um / \
V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
bili ng basi
With only an aspect affix, the verb has no subject, thus:

Kabibili ni Ben ng basi.

Kabibili ni Ben ?ang basi.

Furthermore, pag-nominalizations may show aspect and mode, but it is the lack of
voice that conditions an unselected subject.

ang pag-iinom ni Ben ng basi CVr - is aspect; no voice, no subject

ang pagpakuha ni Ben ng mga affix pa- is mode; no voice no subject

Later on we will show that T carries a feature that, when satisfied, displaces the
agent si Ben to subject position.

Sentences with an Adjective Predicate: Adjectivalizer Affix as

Head
The essence of adjectival sentences is the conferment of an attribute, expressed
mainly by the adjective head of the predicate, to the subject. The adjective is an
attribute term through ma- affixation on a base. The head T of the adjectival
sentence is Tangi (from katangian) “attribute”, realized in many adjectives as ma-.

Mabilis si Ben.

TP Tangi (from katangian) Phrase

/ \
T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T AP The adjectivalizer ma- serves as T
“tangi”
ma / \
A ADV
bilis talaga + ng

The prefix ma- requires a subject. Compare the above sentence with adjectival
sentences below, which don’t carry the ma- adjective affix, and which are
subjectless.

Kabilis ni Ben.
Napakabilis ni Ben.

In the presence of a ma- affix, a subject is required, thus:

Pinakamabilis si Ben.
A few bare adjectives, for example, pandak, pangit, pikon, etc., don’t accept the
ma- affix, thus, *mapandak, *mapangit, *mapikon, but show a subject.

Pandak si Ben. *Mapandak si Ben.

Pangit si Ben. *Mapangit si Ben.

The ma- affix shows up in these adjectives in certain constructions, for example :

Mapandak-pandak si Ben. *Pandak-pandak si Ben

Mapait-pait ang gamot *Pait-pait ang gamot.

Sentences with a Locative Predicate: Locative Affix is Head

The locative marker ‘affix’ na- may also serve as head of the predicate phrase.

Talagang naroon sa bukid ang trabaho.

TP Tukoy (from pantukoy) Phrase

/ \
T’ QP
/ \ ang trabaho
T PP The ‘affix’ na- serves as T
na- / \
P’ ADV
/ \ talaga + ng
P DP
doon sa bukid

It would appear that PP alone cannot serve as predicate. One potential exception is
a PP introduced by para, as in the sentence:

Para sa bata ang pansit.

Other examples:

Nasa bukid si Ben.

Nasa kay Ben ang pera.
Nakay Ben ang pera.

Sentences with an Existential Predicate: Head is Existential

Particle
The head of an existential sentence is the existential particle may.
 May pera si Ben.

T’
/ \
T VP
may / \
V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
Ø pera

Other examples:

May pera.
May pera kay Ben.
May pera kay Obet si Ben.
Mayroong pera kay Ben.

Sentences with a Nominal Predicate: Head is the Nominalizer

Affix
Many Tagalog nominals are non-derived, for example, panday, sundalo, bundok,
atbp. But many are derived, for example, manggagamot, mangingisda, tagaluto,
tagabantay, atbp.

Bare nominals as predicate

Panday si Ben.
Sundalo si Ben.

Derived nominals as predicate

Tagapanday si Ben.
Manggagamot si Ben.
Tagagamot si Ben.

The following diagram shows the nominlizing affix taga- as head. .

 Tagapanday si Ben.

T’
/ \
T VP
taga / \ The noun-forming affix taga serves as
T
V DP
panday si Ben

As for sentences with bare nouns as predicate, a null T variant of the nominalizer
taga is proposed. The absence of an affix is what distinguishes pure nouns from
adjectives and verbs.

Panday si Ben. cf. Tagapanday si Ben.

T’
/ \
T VP
Ø / \
V DP
panday si Ben

taga- attaches successfully with many bare nouns, thus: tagapanday, tagadoktor,
tagapangulo, taganars, tagapulis, etc., though not with many others, such as, *taga-
presidente, *taga-senador, *taga-sundalo.

Ricardo Nolasco (pers. comm.) suggests that in constructions like Panday si Ben,
panday is attributive rather than referential, hence, it is not a nominal expression.

Other Non-Derived Predicate Heads

In addition to bare adjectives and bare nouns, other word classes may serve as
head of the predicate phrase.

Bukas ang Pasko. bukas is a time word

Tatlo ang dumating. tatlo is a cardinal number

Time phrases are likely to be prepositional phrases.

Sa kinabukasan pa ang Pasko.

Sa Linggo ang Pasko.
Noong Linggo ang Pasko.

Measurement phrases are likely to be truncated noun phrases:

Tatlo ang dumating. cf. Tatlong tao ang dumating.

Summary
Heads of predicate phrases are typically affixes on the head word of the predicate.
This approach succeeds in constructions where the head word has the following
affixes:

Voice affix Uminom si Ben.

Adjectivalizer ma- Malakas si Ben.
Locative affix na- Naroon sa bukid si Ben.
Nominalizer taga-, mang- Tagagawa si Ben, Manggagawa si Ben.

The head of an existential phrase is the particle may.

Existential May pera si Ben.

For bare nominal heads, we proposed a null variant of taga-, and for bare adjectives
a null variant of ma-, thus:

Bare noun Panday si Ben. (Head is null variant of taga-.)

cf. Tagapanday si Ben.
Bare adjective Pandak si Ben. (Head is null variant of
ma-.)
cf. Mapandak-pandak si Ben.

Time expressions (e.g. Sa lingo ang pista.) are PPs if not DPs.

Subject as Specifier
Where do subjects come from?

Subject as Specifier of VP
It is standard practice in minimalist analysis to locate the agent phrase (which is the
default subject phrase in English and other languages) initially in the specifier
position of VP (spec-VP), as shown in the diagram below.

Predicate-Internal Argument Hypothesis

All the arguments of a predicate originate within a projection of the predicate.
As shown below, si Ben is under VP and within the projection of the verb bili.

Bumili si Ben ng basi

T’
/ \
T VP
um / \
V’ DP si Ben originates as
projection of V into spec-VP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
bili ng basi

Subject as Specifier of TP
On the above structure, EPP applies and copies si Ben into spec-TP, as shown in the
diagram below. The strikethrough on the original si Ben indicates that the phrase
has been copied.

TP
/ \
T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T VP
[EPP] / \
um V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
bili ng basi

“Copy / Move” creates structures, in this case, TP. It is a form of merge, since it
creates a structure by merging two structures, in this case the constituent
structures T’ and DP. The constituent structures originate inside the tree, hence it is
called internal merge. In contrast, regular merge joins structures coming from the
lexicon, hence, it is called external merge.

This process is called spec-VP-to-Spec-TP movement. It is an example of A-

movement, so called because movement is to an argument position.
The Predicate-Internal Argument Hypothesis makes it easy to map structural and
thematic arguments. For example, the DP specifier maps to the agent role, and the
DP complement to the patient role.

The feature [EPP] triggers the extension of the head um to a TP projection, and
spec-VP raises to spec-TP. The Attract Closest Principle insures that EPP moves the
right constituent.

ATTRACT CLOSET PRINCIPLE (ACP)

A head which attracts a given kind of constituent attracts the closest constituent of
the relevant type which it c-commands.

In our example, T matches the DP si Ben. (Matching is explained under the section
on Agreement).

When the verb carries the patient voice affix, it is the complement basi and not the
agent Ben that raises (note that the determiners ang and ni are only convenient
labels used in place of the set of grammatical features representing those
determiner positions). How does Attract Closest know which is the relevant nominal
to operate on? Case marking, which we discuss under Agreement, could help.

Binili ni Ben ang basi. (Verb carries the unrealized –in voice affix)

TP
/ \
T’ DP
/ \ ang basi
T VP
[EPP] / \
in V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V DP
bili ang basi

Raising
Another example of A-movement is subject raising. In the examples below, the
italicized subject siya is raised outside of the embedded clause and into the main
sentence.

Pinilit ko [na kumain]

Pinilit ko [na kumain siya]
Below is the derivation of the second sentence.

TP
/ \
T’ PRN
/ \ siya
T VP
in / \
V’ PRN
/ \ ko
V CP
pilit / \
C TP
na / \
T’ PRN
kumain siya

More examples:

Pinilit ko ang sarili ko [na kumain]

Pinilit ko siya [na kumain]

Subjectless Sentences
Tagalog has many sentences with no ang-phrase . Since we consider here the ang-
phrase as the subject phrase, these sentences would appear to be subjectless.

Recent Perfective Sentences

In recent perfective sentences, the predicate head has the form: ka + CV + stem,
where CV is the reduplication of the first CV of the stem.

Kabibili ni Ben ng basi.

Kabibili *si Ben ng basi.
Kabibili ni Ben ?ang basi.
Kabibili ni Ben sa basi.

Kabibili ni Ben ng basi.

Asp’ Aspect (small) phrase

/ \
Asp VP
ka + bi +bili / \
 V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V DP
bili ng basi

Now, ka- is not a voice affix, it is the head of an aspect phrase. The Asp head is
weak and cannot copy Ben to serve as its specifier.

Intensive Sentences
The intensive predicate head has the form: napaka + adjective stem. Notice, as
shown in the third and fourth examples below, that the adjective form must not
carry the ma- adjectivalizer affix.

Napakasuwerte ni Ben.
Napakasuwerte *si Ben.
*Napakamasuwerte ni Ben.
*Napakamasuwerte si Ben.

The following are variants of the first two sentences above:

(Napa)kasuwerte ni Ben.
(Napa)kasuwerte *si Ben.
(Na)pakasuwerte ni Ben.
(Na)pakasuwerte si Ben.

Napakasuwerte ni Ben.

Intense’ Intensifier (small) phrase

/ \
Intense AP
napaka / \
A’ DP
/ ni Ben
A
suwerte

As with the Focus head, the Intense head is too weak to copy ni Ben to the specifier
position. Hence, the sentence ends up subjectless.

Interestingly, superlative adjective predicates have subjects.

Pinakamasuwerte si Ben.
Pinakamasuwerte *ni Ben.
*Pinakasuwerte si Ben.
*Pinakasuwerte ni Ben.

The difference between intensified (e.g., napakasuwerte) and superlative (e.g.,

pinakamasuwerte) predicates is that the former has a null T (that is, no ma-
adjectivalizer) while the later does.

Pinakamasuwerte si Ben.

TP
/ \
T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T Super’ Superlative (small)
phrase
ma + pinaka + suwerte / \
Super AP
pinaka + suwerte / \
A DP
suwerte si Ben

As with the heads Focus and Intense, Super is weak and is unable to copy si Ben to
serve as its specifier. However, during the merging of the head T ma- and Super’,
the head ma-, possessing a strong feature, is able to copy-raise si Ben to specifier.

Thus, EPP predicts the presence of a subject in Pinakamasuwerte si Ben and its
absence in Napakasuwerte ni Ben.

Exclamatives
Exclamatives don’t show a subject phrase (we don’t consider the ang-phrase, ang
likot and ang takbo in the examples below as subject).

Ang likot ni Ben. cf. Ang likot *si Ben.

Ang takbo ni Ben. cf. Ang takbo *si Ben.

These sentences appear structurally more like a noun phrase with a possessor,
thus:

Ang likot ni Ben.

DP
/ \
D’ DP
 / \ ni Ben
D N
ang likot

Sentences with Affixless Verbs

Sentences with the affixless predicates gusto, ayaw, nais, and ibig do not show a
subject when the patient is indefinite.

Gusto ni Ben ng basi.

Ayaw ni Ben ng gin.

These sentences do not have a head item that can trigger the creation of a new
structure above VP that can host a subject.

Gusto ni Ben ng basi.

VP
/ \
V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V DP
gusto ng basi

When the patient noun is definite, these affixless verbs require a subject.

Gusto ni Ben ang basi.

Ayaw ni Ben ang gin.

We will attempt to explain these facts in a later section using the concept of
“feature movement” (Chomsky 1995).

The verb gusto and its synonyms and antonym may, of course, be used like any
regular verb, that is, with verbal affixes. These sentences derive normally, with the
voice affixes serving as T.

Ginusto ni Ben si Gina.

Umayaw si Ben sa basi.

Subjectless Weather Verbs

Weather verbs inflect for voice, but, nonetheless don’t show a subject, apparently in
contradiction of EPP which guarantees that a Tagalog voiced verb will have a
subject..
Umulan.
Umulan sa Maynila.

The structure of the second example is as follows:

Umulan sa Maynila.

T’
/ \
T VP
um /
[EPP] V’
/ \
V DP
ulan sa Maynila

EPP applies and attempts to extend T to a projection with a subject. However, there
is no appropriate constituent that can serve as subject.

Weather verbs show a subject if the verb is inflected for the patient voice (not the
locative voice, even though the subject is a location), as shown below. In this case,
the voice affix –in (unrealized in the verb inulan) serves as T, and the sentence is
derived normally.

Inulan ang Maynila.

When weather-verbs are used metaphorically, they carry T and are derived in the
usual way.

Umulan si Ben ng kasinungalingan

Inulan kami ng kasinungaligan ni Ben.

So the absence of subject in Umulan and Umulan sa Maynila may simply be because
there just isn’t any nominal available to serve as specifier of –um-.

Subjectless Existential Sentences

Some forms of the existential sentences do not show a subject.

May pera. (No other argument except the existent.)

May pera kay Ben. (Second argument is locative-marked.)
May nakatagong pera kay Ben. cf. May nakatagong pera si Obet kay
Ben.

One could say that these sentences do not show a verb, thus:

May pera kay Ben.

TP
/
T’
/ \
T VP
[EPP] / \
may V’ DP
/ \ kay Ben
V DP
Ø pera

EPP applies but is unable to find the right expression, hence, nothing moves to spec-
TP.

One apparent anomaly with existential sentences is that when the existent is a verb
form, it must carry a non-agent affix, this despite the fact that the argument is
interpreted as agent.

May biniling basi si Ben. Ben is agent, but binili has a non-agent voice
affix.
May *bumiling basi si Ben. An agent voice affix renders the sentence
unacceptable.

May biniling basi si Ben.

 CP
/ \
C’ DP
/ \ si Ben
C TP
[EPP, EXIST] / \
may T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T VP
[EPP] / \
-in + bili V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
bili basi

One possible explanation is that binili is not a verb but a noun, hence, may binili is a
nominal expression, in the same sense that ang binili is a nominal. The difference is
that the [EXIST] feature in T of an

may binili si Ben

ang binili ni Ben

CP
/ \
C’ DP
/ \ si Ben
C TP
[EPP, EXIST] / \
Ø T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T D’
Ø / \
D N
may binili

This is questionable since this is the only instance of a possessor nominal (si Ben) in
the nominative rather than in the usual genitive form.

Nawala ang may binili.

Nawala ang may binili *si Ben.
Sentences with ‘Double Subjects’

Complementiser Phrase
Complementiser phrases are head by the complementiser na, kung, kaya, atbp.

Dependent Clause as CP
Consider the following :

Sinabi ni Ben [na umuwi ka].

The dependent clause na umuwi ka consists of the complementiser na and its

complement, the TP umuwi ka. The whole CP serves as complement of the verb
sabi.

Sinabi ni Ben na umuwi ka.

T’
/ \
T VP
in / \
V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V CP
sabi /
C’
/ \
C TP
na umuwi ka

Independent Clause as CP
It is convenient to regard independent clauses to be CPs as well. Independent
clauses typically do not show an overt complementiser phrase.
 Hinagip ang pusa.

CP
/
C’
/ \
C T’ complementiser head is null
Ø / \
T VP
in /
V’
/ \
V DP
hagip ang pusa

A bit of support is provided by sentences introduced by exclamatives, where the

exclamatives may be considered to serve as C.

Ay, hinagip ang pusa!

Uy, nakabago tayo.

Ay, hinagip ang pusa

C’
/ \
C TP
ay / \
T’ DP
/ \ ang pusa
T V’
in / \
V DP
hagip ang pusa

The specifier of CP (spec-CP) is a position, unrealized in the above example, that will
be the locus of movement, as we will see shortly.

All clauses are CPs.

Movement
Earlier we have seen the raising of a nominal to the subject position, an example of
A-movement, which moves a constituent to an argument position. We discuss here
other types of movement processes.
V-to-C Movement
Affixes occupy a strong position, and can attract a host to attach to. In the sentence
below the affix um attracts the verb bili. Phonetic rules will give the spell-out bumili.
This process is called V-to-T movement and is an example of head-to-head
movement, so called because the constituent that moves is a head and its
destination is a head position.

Bumili ng basi si Ben

T’
/ \
T VP
um + bili / \
V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V VP
bili ng basi

DEFINITION OF ATTRACT
To say that a head H attracts a constituent C is to say that H triggers movement of C
to some position on the edge of HP (so that C may move to adjoin to H, or to
become the specifier of H).

The constituent C must be the closest head that H c-commands.

Move is a two-step process: copy then delete. In the diagram above the
strikethrough on the original bili shows that it has been copied.

Focalisation
Focalization moves an item outside of TP. Semantically the preposed constituent
receives extra emphasis.

Sa bukid uminom si Ben sa bukid.

Sa bukid ay uminom si Ben sa bukid.

We analyze the third example as follows:

Si Ben ay uminom.
 CP
/ \
C’ DP
/ \ si Ben [EPP] in C moves spec-TP si Ben to
Spec-CP.
C TP
[EPP] / \
ay T’ DP [EPP] in T moves spec-VP si Ben to
spec-TP.
/ \ si Ben
T VP
[EPP] / \
um + inom V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
inom sa bukid

For now, ay is analyzed as a complementiser. Later, when we split CP, it will serve
as head of FocP (focus phrase).

More examples:

*Si Ben, uminom.

Si Ben, uminom siya.

Topicalization
In topicalization, the preposed constituent represents old information, or an
expression that has been established earlier in the discourse

Tanong: Aalis na sina Obet. E, Sina Ben?

Sagot: Sina Ben, nauna na.

We will analyse this sentence type under Split Projections.

Clefting
In a cleft sentence, the nominative expression is preposed and separated from the
rest of the sentence with the ang particle.

Speaker A: Pulis sa baryo si Ben.

Speaker B: (Oo), si Ben ang pulis sa baryo. (cleft sentence)

We treat clefting as focalisation, where ang is the head of the projection, and where
si Ben in the above sentence is the focus phrase.
 Si Ben ang pulis sa baryo.

FocP
/ \
Foc’ DP
/ \ si Ben
Foc DP
Ø / \
D NP
ang / \
N’ DP
/ \ si Ben
N DP
pulis sa baryo

More examples:

Si Ben ang siyang pulis sa baryo.

Si Ben ay ang pulis sa baryo.
Si Ben ito.
Si Ben ay ito.

Wh-Movement
Wh refers to question words: sino, ano, kailan, saan, bakit, kangin, etc. Sino and
ano questions the nominative expression

Ano ang binili ni Ben? cf. Binili ni Ben ang basi.

Sino ang bumili ng basi? cf. Bumili si Ben ng basi.

The rest are used to question non-nominative expressions.

Saan lumangoy si Ben? cf. Lumangoy si Ben si ilog.

Kailan umuwi si Ben? cf. Umuwi si Ben kahapon.
Bakit madalas ang ulan? cf. Madalas umulan dahil tag-ulan.
Kangino lumapit si Ben? cf. Lumapit si Ben kay Obet.

Wh-question is represented as the feature [WH] on question words and the C head
of an interrogative sentence. This feature attracts the closest item that C c-
commands that also has the [WH] feature, in the example below, the PP saan, and
raises it to the C position.
Saan lumangoy si Ben.

C’
/ \
C TP
[WH] / \
saan T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T V’
um + langoy / \
V PP
/ [WH]
langoy saan
In the next example, the question word sino ends up in the specifier position of CP.

Ano ang binili ni Ben?

CP
/ \
C’ DP
/ \ ano
C DP
[EPP, WH] / \ C as probe finds the spec-TP
ano as goal and raises it
Ø D TP to become spec-CP
ang / \
T’ DP
/ \ ano
T VP
[EPP, WH] / \
in V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V DP
bili [WH]
ano

At the highest C level of derivation, [EPP] needs to be satisfied, hence, ACP looks for
the closest c-commanded nominal that has a [WH] feature, and that is the DP that is
specifier of TP.

Wh-movement is an example of A-bar movement, which moves an argument or an

adjunct expression to an argument position.

Examples to think about:

Sino ang ano ang binili?

Ano ang sino ang bumili?

Successive Move
What appears to be ‘long-distance’ movement is actually an instance of successive
local movements. In the examples below, the subject si Pat of the lowest sentence
moves successively to the next higher sentence until it reaches the matrix
sentence.
Sinabi ni Ben na ibinalita ni Obet na itinatuwa ni Ming na umuwi si Pat.
Sinabi ni Ben na ibinalita ni Obet na itinatuwa ni Ming si Pat na umuwi.
Sinabi ni Ben na ibinalita ni Obet si Pat na itinatuwa ni Ming na umuwi.
Sinabi ni Ben si Pat na ibinalita ni Obet na itinatuwa ni Ming na umuwi.

Agreement
Agreement is a relationship between a probe and a goal. The head of a projection is
probe and a c-commanded expression is goal. When a head merges with its
complement, and the head contains unvalued features, the head probes its
complement for a c-commanded goal that has matching features.

In the following examples, the verb is marked for an affix that requires a plural
subject, hence the plural pronoun sila but not the singular pronoun siya can serve
as subject.

Nagsikuha sila ng mga lapis.

Nagsikuha *siya ng lapis. (Verb a ffix nagsi- requires a plural subject)

Function words like the particle ng and the pronoun sila as well as affixes like nagsi-
do not go into merging already spelled out as such, but as bundles of grammatical
features. They are given spell-out in the PF component. We use these spellings in
our discussion merely as convenient labels.

Let us briefly discuss feature valuation.

Feature Valuation
Features are either valued or unvalued as they enter derivation. Consider the
following dialogue. Sila refers back to nina Ben, hence, it is known beforehand that
it carries plural number and third person. Likewise, since the event happened in the
past, the affix nagsi-
you are here
Tanong: Ano ang ginawa nina Ben?
Sagot: Nagsikuha sila ng mga lapis.

In the derivation shown below, as the pronoun sila enters the derivation, it carries
the features plural number [pl-Nbr] and third person [3-Pers]. Its case is still
unvalued, as it can turn out either sila or nila. The affix magsi- carries unvalued
number and person features, and a valued case feature. By the EPP convention, T
carries the [EPP] feature.
 T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case]
[u-Pers]
[u-Nbr]
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
[u-Case]
sila

Now the head T magsi- merges with VP kuha ng lapis to form V’. T agreement
applies at this point, and the probe nagsi- finds a match for its uninterpretable
features matches with Agreement involves a c-command relation between a probe
and a goal. Unvalued φ-features on the probe are valued by the goal, and unvalued
case feature on the goal is valued by the probe. The highest head, in this case, T,
serves as probe. It searches for a c-commanded goal with an unvalued case feature,
and locates the pronoun sila, and an agreement relation is established between
nagsi- and sila.

Now the unvalued person and number features of nagsi- are valued by the goal sila,
involving a Feature-Copying operation, defined as follows, where α and β are two
different constituents contained within the same structure and where one is a probe
and the other a goal:

FEATURE-COPYING
If α is valued for some feature [F] and β is unvalued for [F] and if β agrees with α,
the feature-value for [F] on α is copied onto β.

As a result of this operation, the person and number features of nagsi- are valued to
3rd and plural, respectively.
 T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case]
[3-Pers] Values of underlined features
of the probe
[pl-Nbr] are copied from …
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers] … values of similar features of
the goal
[pl-Nbr]
[u-Case]
sila

The unvalued case feature of PRN sila is copied from the valued nominative case
feature of T nagsi-, thus:

T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case] Value of a bolded feature
copied to …
[3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
[nom-Case] … underlined feature
sila

The [EPP] feature of T will then raise the PRN sila to the specifier of TP.
Uninterpretable Features
Items may enter derivation with some of their features already valued and others as
yet unvalued.

Valued and unvalued features correlate with interpretable and uninterpretable

features. Interpretable features play a role in semantic interpretation, and
uninterpretable features do not contain any meaning that the semantic component
(SC) will need to interpret. The pronoun sila in the above diagram requires
interpretable person and number features because a first person pronoun like ako is
clearly different from 2nd person ikaw; similarly pronouns that differ in number will
have different interpretation. Nominals enter derivation with unvalued case
because whether a nominal is nominative or accusative has no effect on meaning.
By contrast, the person / number features of Ts are uninterpretable in that they
serve purely to mark agreement with a particular nominal. The case feature of T,
however, is interpretable since case carries modality in many constructions in
Tagalog (Nolasco 2003), and it is important for SC to be so informed.

FEATURE VALUE CORRELATION

(i) Interpretable features enter the derivation already valued.
(II) Features which enter the derivation unvalued are uninterpretable.

An item with an uninterpretable feature is active. Only an active item may serve as
probe or goal.

Illegible Features
Structures generated by the syntactic component are sent to the PF component of
the grammar for spell out. The PF component cannot process an unvalued feature,
and derivation will crash. Thus every unvalued feature must be valued in the course
of the derivation.

Structures are also sent to the semantic component where they are converted into
appropriate semantic interpretations. Uninterpretable features will appear illegible
to the semantic component, and derivation will crash. To avoid this, derivation will
mark uninterpretable features as deleted, in the sense that they will be invisible
to the semantic component while remaining visible to the syntax and the PF
component.

FEATURE VISIBILITY CONVENTION

Any uninterpretable feature deleted in the syntax is invisible to the semantic
component, but remains visible in the syntactic component and in the PF
component.

FEATURE DELETION CONVENTION

α deletes any uninterpretable (person/number/case) feature(s) carried by β if α is
phi-complete and if the value(s) of any phi-feature(s) carried by β match those of
the corresponding phi-feature(s) of α.

α and β are two different constituents contained within the same structure, and one
is a probe and the other a goal. For β to delete the person/number/case features of
α, the phi-features of β must match the phi-features carried by α.

THE RELATION ‘MATCH’

α and β match in respect of some feature [F] either if both have the same value for
[F], or if one is valued for [F] and the other unvalued for [F] – but not if they have
different values for [F].

Consider our previous example:

Nagsikuha sila ng lapis.

T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case]
[3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
[nom-Case]
sila

Both nagsi- and sila are φ-complete. φ-complete nagsi- can delete the
uninterpretable case feature carried by sila, and similarly φ-complete sila can delete
the uninterpretable person and number features of nagsi-. The deleted items are
the features in strikethrough in the diagram below.
 T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case]
[3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
[nom-Case]
sila

FEATURE INACTIVATION HYPOTHESIS

An uninterpretable feature becomes inactive in the syntax (and invisible to the
semantic component) immediately it is deleted.

Phase
Syntactic structures are built up one phase at a time. Phases are propositional in
nature. They include CPs, TPs, and transitive VPs.

PHASE IMPENETRABILITY CONDITION (PIC)

Any goal in the (c-command) domain of a phase head is impenetrable to a probe
outside the phase.

Consider the sentence:

Sinabi [na binugbog ni Ben si Obet]

This sentence cannot be interpreted to mean Sinabi ni Ben [na binugbog si Obet].
That is to say, the verb sabi cannot serve as probe to the goal ni Ben to assign the
role of agent of sabi. This is because ni Ben is outside of the c-command domain of
sabi.
 T’
/ \
T VP
in / The probe –in- cannot establish an
agreement
V’ relation with any expression inside
CP as
/ \ the CP phase is already complete.
V CP
sabi /
C’
/ \
C TP
na / \
DP T’
/si Obet \
T VP
in / \
V’ DP
/ ni Ben
V
bugbog

PIC insures locality of syntactic operations.

Once a phase is completely formed, a transfer operation sends the domain of the
phase head, which is its complement, to the semantic component and the PF
component for interpretation. Thereafter, no constituent in the domain is able to
undergo any further syntactic operations.

In our example above, si Obet is in the completed TP phase and cannot serve as
goal to the probe –in.

Split Projections

Split CPs: Force, Topic, Focus, and Finiteness Projections

Earlier, we suggested that preposed constituents like si Ben in the first example
below is put into focus and serves as specifier of a FocP projection. Where does FocP
stand in relation to CP? Consider the second example below. Clearly the FocP si Ben
is positioned between CP and TP.

Si Ben ay uminom.
Sinabi ko [CP na si Ben ay [TP uminom si Ben ]]

To accommodate this and other facts, CP has been split into a number of
projections: ForceP, TopP (topic phrase), FocP, and InfP (infinitive phrase).

Complementisers, because they specify whether a clause is declarative,

interrogative, imperative or exclamative in force, are analyzed as Force markers.
They serve as head of a ForceP (force phrase) projection.

[na si Ben ay uminom]

ForceP
/ \
Force FocP
na / \
Foc’ DP
/ \ si Ben
Foc TP
ay um + inom si Ben

Another projection above TP is TopP (topic phrase). The topic phrase expresses old
information. In the example below, the reference to ang mga bata is assumed to
have been established earlier in the discourse.

Sinabi ni Ben [na ang mga bata, kahapon ay sumakay sa kalesa ang mga bata
kahapon]

ForceP
/ \
Force TopP
na / \
Top’ DP
/ \ ang mga bata
Top FocP
Ø / \
Foc’ Adv
/ \ kahapon
Foc TP
ay um + sakay sa kalesa ang mga bata
kahapon
Still another projection above TP is FinP (finite phrase). This marks a clause as
either finite or non-finite. The head Fin is performed by prepositions like para which
signals a following non-finite clause.

Inutusan si Ben [para bumili PRO ng basi]

FinP
/ \
Fin TP
para bumili PRO ng basi

When TopP and FocP are absent, ForceP and FinP syncretised onto a single head.

Split VPs: VP Shells

Consider the causative sentence below:

Nagpaluto si Ben ng pansit kay Obet.

Causatives contain two actions: the injunction and the core action expressed in the
lexical verb. In our example, the injunction is expressed in an intransitive
construction on the causative morpheme pa-. The core action is expressed as a
transitive construction around the lexical verb.

pa- si Ben Intransitive construction with pa- as verb

luto Obet ng pansit. Transitive construction on the lexical verb luto.

An obvious way to handle this double-verb scenario is to split the usual VP

component into two parts: an inner VP that expresses the core action, and an outer
VP that captures the injunction. VP is split into two parts: a small vP and the big VP.
vP is a projection of the causative affix pa-, and VP the projection of the lexical verb,
as usual. VP serves as complement of v’. Thus, the bracketed materials in the
example below, which represent the complete verbal component, are given the
representation as shown.

Nag[paluto si Ben ng pansit kay Obet]

vP vP is Outer VP
/ \
v’ DP
/ \ si Ben
v VP VP Inner VP
pa / \
V’ DP
 / \ kay Obet
V DP
luto ng pansit

To this structure, the head T nag- is merged, giving rise to the following structure:
TP
/ \
T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T vP
nag + pa + luto / \
v’ DP
/ \ si Ben
v VP
pa +luto luto ng pansit kay Obet

As we will see in a later section, this solution works well for other constructions:

Nakigapas si Ben ng palay kay Obet. (commitative predicate)

Pinuno ni Ben ng palay ang kariton. (‘loaded with’ predicate)
Pipintahan ni Ben ang bahay ng pula. (resultative predicate)
Inihalal ni Ben si Obet na pangulo. (double-object predicate)

Summary
The above discussion should provide an understanding of elementary operations of
minimalism and of basic minimalist structures in Tagalog. We will now examine
more intricate structures in Tagalog,