Fundamentals of Syntax: Functional-Categorial Grammar as a didactic-focused theory

Xavier Frias Conde (UNED)

1. Functional Categorial Grammar (FCG) was mainly born as a didactic response to the teaching of syntax at higher levels. It is aimed to be a tool that allows students to understand the syntactic procedures affecting languages and that make up structures. Therefore FCG tries to offer an overview of syntax according to the most recent trends in linguistics, though the traditional training of students will also be required. Most of the theory has been published in our An Introduction to Functional-Categorial Grammar, then applied to specific languages, such as Galician (see biblio below) Concerning its basis, FCG is semantic-based, which means that semantics is the departure point of the whole theory (in other words, there is no syntax without a prior semantic base). This involves that hierarchization of syntax has a semantic foundation. Besides, the starting point is a functionalist approach that has been complemented with generative principles, trying to form up a new syntactic theory whose main application field is sentence-structure rather than phrase-structure. That generative concern may be found, for example, in the introduction of movements, which actually explain certain syntactic structures, though their presence in FCG is much more reduced than in GG. In a certain way, FCG is a complement of GG at sentence level. 2. The representation of sentence, regarding not only accurateness, but also didactic needs, may be performed at three levels. That means that a single sentence such as (1) John has fed the hens may be represented in its simple way as a lineal succession of tags and operators:

Moreover the components may show a hierarchical correspondence in the following parsing:

Finally a complete tree may be offered:

Probably the first and the second representation systems give a right answer to most of the phenomena. 3. The semantic basis provides the core of the syntactic representation. In generative terms, this is the inner nucleus of the sentence. Therefore hierarchy has a crucial role in the interpretation of sentences. On the one hand, it is important to translate valencies into functions. That is why the outer valencies are usually related to subjects (though not all subjects are first valencies), while inner valencies are to objects. FCG distinguishes several kinds of objects, marked from 1-4. This means that functions are a direct consequence of semantic valencies. However, it is also true that not all functions correspond to thematic roles (namely subject-objects), since adjuncts is another function that has to be taken into account when dealing with the semantic projected nucleus of the sentence. Anyway, either subjectobjects or adjuncts are all syntactic functions. A step forward requires to provide the sentence with another type of functions, though not syntactic ones, but pragmatic ones. Pragmatic functions have a syntactic representation. We are mainly referring to topicalization, focalization and interrogation, though other pragmatic functions may also have a syntactic representation. We have already mentioned two columns of FCG: syntactic and pragmatic functions, but they are not enough to build up the whole structure of a sentence in any natural language. The third item to be introduced -and which gives name to this theory- are categories. Categories are the last part of the mechanism, which tends to be different in each individual

language. Categories include negation, auxiliaries, particles, adverbials, etc. Thus the whole map of functional categorial grammar can be represented as follows:

4. One of the principles introduced in FCG are movements, taken from GG but limited to a certain number of cases. In English object movement explains constructions such as interrogations, where such rising is compulsory:

But it also allows to explain other movements, such Spanish focalization, including the presence of clitics:

Movement is also a good resource to explain Czech structures (also compulsory), where the movement is not performed by the operators, but by the tag itself (which requires another representation as well):

5. Reversibility is another way of interpretation of certain changes in word order. It helps understanding the different possibilities of English when dealing with phrasal verbs. FCG refers to this syntactic resource when movements are not suitable to explain certain changes, as in: (2) a. Ill pick the children up at school b. Ill pick up the children at school It also helps explain the frequent word order change acting in Spanish when adjuncts are placed before objects/subjects, as in: (3) Me gusta [ADJ mucho] [SUBJ el chocolate]

6. It is not an easy task to reach an accurate representation of complex sentences by means of a function-based system; nevertheless the use of categories turns out to be quite helpful, since functions can be broken down in such a way that sentences appear as compound of two or more storeys. The representation of sentences with FCG allows students to understand the real way in which sentences are embedded or attached, since the whole theory of complex sentences turns around the two forms clauses have to match: either embedding or attachment. This is an example of an embedded-OBJ clause such as it is represented in FCG:

Moreover, the projection of nouns and adjectives is also represented in FCG, as in the following example (we are actually referring to the so-called noun and adjective complements) in both English and Spanish:

7. FCG uses pro and PRO as logic operators in a similar way as GG. PRO refers to a non retrievable item, such as infinitival subjects, while pro is retrievable operator, such as subjects in null-subject languages or that-COMP. Some pro examples in Spanish are: (4) [SUBJ pro] quiero una galleta (5) Me lo regalaron [OBJ1 pro] [OBJ2 pro]

In (5) the use of pro helps explain the use of clitics in most Romance languages. 8. Such as it has been mentioned above, FCG has a clear didactic purpose, though it is easily verifiable that this syntactic approach is also valid for scientific purposes, mainly concerning comparative studies among different languages. Most research concerning FCG has been developed around English and Romance languages (even Czech in certain cases), but it is clear that it requires a larger application on different languages in order to check its validity. It is an open theory where an enormous part of its architecture is not designed yet, though the main lines have already been laid out. Anyway, general descriptions of Indo-European languages.

Bibliography FRIAS CONDE, F. X. (2008): An Introduction to Functional-Categorial Grammar. Bubok. Palma de Mallorca. FRIAS CONDE, F. X.: (2010): Compendio de sintaxe galega. Romania Minor. Pontevedra.