GROUP 4

Class: A

Shanti Rachmawati Afrilya A 121 20 004

Faradilla Enteding A 121 20 016

Sriwangi A 121 20 014

CHAPTER 5

HOW STRUCTURE AFFECTS PRONOUN REFERENCES

A. The Concept of Constituent Command (C-Command)

 Constituent
Constituent is a set of terminal nodes dominated by some other node.
The function is as a single unit within a hierarchical structure.
Example: NP1, VP, and NP2 are the constituent
S

NP1 VP

D N V NP2

D N
There are three terms that are usually used to describe the positions of constituents
in a tree diagram: mother, daughter, and sister.
A mother constituent is said to immediately dominate her daughter if there is a
straight in interrupted line connecting the mother and the daughter. The relations
among daughters of a mother are called sisters.
From the tree diagram above we know that:
-Mother: S is the mother of NP1 and VP
NP1 is the mother of D, N.
VP is the mother of V, NP2, D, and N.
-Daughter: D, N is the daughter of NP1
V, NP2, D, and N are the daughter of VP.
-Sister: NP1 is the sister of VP.

 Dominance
X dominates Y if X is higher in the tree diagram and you can trace a path from X
down to Y. The function is to describe the relation between a mother and her
daughter.
 Constituent Command (C-Command)
C-Command is a very important concept of tree diagram. It’s not fundamentally
complicated, but it turns out to be very useful in characterizing natural language
syntax. The function is to describe the relation between a node in a tree diagram
and its sibling/sister nodes and all the sibling node’s children.
X C-Commands Y and everything is dominated by Y if X and Y are sisters.

 Example:
S

NP1 VP1

N VP2 PP

V NP2 P NP3

D N D N

Dave put the glasses on the desk

a) Dominance relation:
-S dominates NP1 and VP1 and everything contained by NP1 and VP1.
-VP1 dominates VP2 and PP and everything contained within VP 2 and PP.
-VP2 dominates V and NP2 and everything contained within V and NP2.
-PP dominates P and NP3 and everything contained within P and NP3.
b) C-command relation:
-S does not c-command anything because it has no sister.
-NP1 c-commands VP1 and everything dominated by VP1.
-VP2 c-commands PP and everything dominated by PP.
-PP c-commands VP2 and everything dominated by VP2.
 c) C-command domain:
C-command domain of an X constituent is X’s sister and every constituent
dominated by its sister.
-The c-command domain of NP1 is VP1 and everything dominated by VP1.
-The c-command domain of VP2 is PP and everything dominated by PP.
-The c-command domain of V is NP2 and everything dominated by NP2
-The c-command domain of P is NP3 and everything dominated by NP3.

B. Negative Polarity Items (NPI)

Negative polarity items is an expression that only restricted to negative context.
Among others are any, ever, and red cent. NPI is used to describe sentences which are
commanded by negative elements no or not (n’t).
One of the example: No student has any answer to the question.
Consider the tree diagram below:
S

NP1 VP

D N V NP2

NPI PP

No student has any answer to the question

As we can see in the tree diagram that NP1 that contains the negative element ‘no
student’ c-commands the NP2 that contains NPI ‘any answer’. So the sentence is well-
formed (i.e grammatical)
 Ill Formedness
Ill formedness is a form that violates grammar rule or called ungrammaticality. In
contrast, ill formedness doesn’t constitute part of language.
Example: The student said any words to the teacher.
Consider the tree diagram below:
 S

NP1 VP

D N V NP2

NPI PP

The student said any words to the teacher

Ungrammaticality of this sentence is caused by the absence of negative elements that c-

commands the NPI ‘any words’. In other word there is no negative expression that licenses
the NPI ‘any word’. That is why the sentence is ill-formed.

C. Co-reference Relations
A relationship between two words or phrases in which both refer to the same person or thing
and one stands as a linguistic antecedent of the other, as the two pronouns. Co-reference
relations plays a vital role is in the interpretations of nominal expressions such as reflexives
(myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc), pronominals (I, you, she, he, they, her, him, them,
etc.). Example: She taught herself.

NP1 VP

N V NP

ProNP

She taught herself

D. Reflexives or anaphors

The reflexives myself, yourself, ourselves, himself, herself, themselves, etc. Are usually
called anaphors. They are nominal expressions whose references are controlled by their
antecedents. An antecedent is a subject that will be renamed by another word later in a
sentence. Most often the word replacing the antecedent is a pronoun, though it can also be a
noun or noun phrase. The function of antecedent is gives meaning to a proform.
Examples:

1. If you see Alice, give her my pen.

(antecedent: Alice, anaphor: her)
2. She ran into her room.
(antecedent: she, anaphor: her)
3. John injured himself playing cricket.
(antecedent: John, anaphor: himself)

Now have look at sentences where c-comanding and co-indexing fail, which result in
sentence ill-formedness.

a. Bayu killed himself

S

NP1 VP

N V NP 2

ProNP

Bayu Killed himself

b. The friend of Bayu killed himself

S

NP1 VP

NP2 PP V NP 4

D N P NP3 ProNP

The friend of Bayu killed himself

Sentence (a) is grammatical because NP1 that dominates the antecedent Bayu c-commands
NP2 that dominates the anaphor himself. In (b) the PP that dominates Bayu doesn’t c-
command NP4 that dominates the anaphor himself. Therefore the sentence is ungrammatical.