RESUMEN SYNTAX.

HAEGEMAN.
CHAPTER 1: AIMS AND METHODS.
Syntax: determining the relevant component parts of a sentence and
describing these parts (constituents) grammatically. The goal of a syntactic
analysis is to break down the sentence into its constituents and assigning some
grammatical label to each constituent, stating its grammatical category (what
type of constituent is) and what grammatical function it has.
We analyse the sentence from the largest to the smallest unit:
Sentence↔Clause↔Phrase↔Word↔Morpheme (hierarchical scale of constituents).
CLEFTING.
We call clefting to the process in which we connect what is already understood
to what is new to the reader. In a cleft sentence, a single message is divided
(or cleft) into two clauses. This allows us to focus on the new information.
Depending on the element we want to focus, we can write sentences in many
different ways.

CLAUSE It is X that CLAUSE

[With X] [without X]

Normal sentence: Alice gave this book to Bill on Saturday morning.

Clefting:
 X = on Saturday morning.
It was on Saturday morning that Jane gave this book to Bill.
 X = to Bill.
It was to Bill that Jane gave this book on Saturday morning.
 X = this book.
It was this book that Jane gave to Bill on Saturday morning.
 X = Alice.
It was Alice that gave this book to Bill on Saturday morning.
It is not possible to make a cleft sentence by putting just anything in the
position of X.
PSEUDO-CLEFTING.
We call pseudo-clefting to the sentences in which we involve the use of what
to make the emphasis on the element we want to focus. Pseudo-clefting affects
whole constituents.
What Alice did was give this book to Bill on Saturday morning.
What Alice gave to Bill was this book.
PASSIVISATION.
We call passivisation to a process in which we rearrange the information in
the sentence in order to make the Patient (whoever or whatever undergoes
the activity) more prominent. In passives, the Agent (whoever or whatever
performs the activity) role is no longer obligatorily expressed. The Patient
precedes and the Agent, if any, follows. Passivisation also affect whole
constituents.
The math exams were revised by the teacher.
◆In passivisationn, the complementiser that is not deletable.
PRONOMINALISATION.
We call pronominalisation to the process in which we substitute the subject
by a pronoun (pro-form), mostly because we already know about who are we
talking about or it was mentioned before and we don’t want to be repetitive.
Pronominalisation affects whole constituents.
Mary accepted to help him. After all, she knew a lot about mechanics.
FRONTING.
We call fronting or preposing to any construction in which a word group that
customarily follows the verb is placed at the beginning of a sentence. Fronting
is a type of focus strategy often used to enhance cohesion and provide
emphasis. Only certain elements can be fronted, and these elements must be
constituents.
Normal sentence: Tasar is produced in a humid and dense belt of tropical forest
in India.
Fronted sentence: In a humid and dense belt of tropical forest in India, tasar is
produced.

CHAPTER 2: CONSTITUENTS.
The words of a sentence are strictly organised internally: there is an underlying
pattern. Sentences are hierarchically organised into different constituents.
SENTENCES.
Interrogative sentences: used to ask questions.
Declaratives sentences: used to supply information.
YES-NO QUESTION.
Used to know if something happened or didn’t happen.
Did you take your medicine, Juan Carlos?
◆ When Yes-No questions are embedded, the subordinator is whether or if,
not that.
WH-QUESTION.
Questions which ask for a particularly piece of information, rather for simply
yes-no answers. We call them wh-questions because they are often introduced
by a word or phrase beginning with wh-.
Where did you put my glasses?
What did she say?
The wh-word doesn’t always open the question. It may also appears inside the
first constituent.
For what reason are you doing this?
At what distance is his car?
◆ The wh-question may also be embedded in other sentences and there is no
need to use a special subordinator. The wh-word itself serves as a linking
device.
The policeman asked me what I had seen there.

TYPES OF SENTENCES.
SIMPLE SENTENCE.
We call simple sentence to a sentence which is made up of one main clause
only.
[(Harvey waited for the train).]
[(Samantha looked through the window).]
The boundaries of a sentence and a clause coincide.
COMPOUND SENTENCE.
A clause which is coordinated with another clause through special punctuation
or coordinators such as and, but and or is called conjoin. We call compound
sentence to a sentence which consists of coordinated clauses (conjoins). Two
main clauses can be linked by a coordinating conjunction. There is only
coordination.
The coordinator and the second conjoin are two separated constituents which
cannot move together.
[(Carmen is a teacher) and (she loves music).]
[(Frank had an interview yesterday) but (the company didn’t call him back).]
Coordination conjunctions may link main clauses but also other units like
phrases or words. They can denote addition, contrast, alternative or choice.
The coordinator always appears in a position between two coordinated clauses.

Common coordinators:
↳And: cumulative coordinating conjunction
↳But: adversative coordinating conjunction
↳Or: alternative coordinating conjunction.

Coordination with any of these coordinators allows deletion of the subject of

thee second conjoin if it is co-referential to the subject of the firs conjoin.

COMPLEX SENTENCE.
We call complex sentence to a sentence which consists in a main clause with
a subordinate clause embedded on it. It has at least one subordinate clause,
but it could be more than one. There is only subordination. The subordinator
and the main clause form one constituent.
[(<Because my coffee was too cold>, I heated it in the microwave).]
[(She returned the computer <after she noticed it was damaged>).]
Subordinate clauses are introduced by subordinators: when, before, because, if,
since, although, that, etc. The subordinator is always part of the subordinate
clause. Deletion of the subject is generally impossible in subordinate clauses.
◆Fronting is a very common process for subordinate clauses.
A complex sentence contains at least two clauses.
COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE.
We call compound-complex sentence to a sentence which has both
coordination and subordination. There may be subordinate clauses within
conjoins and subordinate clauses may also be coordinated. It contains at least
two clauses.
[(<When I grow up,> I want to be a ballerina), and (my mom is proud of
me).]
[(We won the game), but (my uniform was muddy <because it rained the
entire time>).]
 CLAUSES.
We say a clause is a structure of predication. The clause is predicating
something about someone or something else. It is made up of phrases. A
sentence can contain one or more clauses. There are many types of clauses:
independent, dependant, subordinate, etc.
We can also say that clauses are sentences which are constituents of other
sentences or of phrases. A clause may be coordinated with one or more
constituent sentences (compound sentences) or it may be embedded in a main
clause (complex sentence).
◆That is a complementiser and it can be omitted. Whether and if are also
complementisers but they cannot be omitted.
◆If the verb phrase is finite or non-finite, the embedded sentence coincides.
Non-finite clauses may also contain a bare infinitive (infinitive without to) or
they may contain –ing participle or an –ed participle.

We saw Mary leave. The highlighted part is a non-finite

We saw Mary leaving.
I do not mind Mary’s leaving.
We found all seats occupied.
bare infinitive clause.
The highlighted part is a non-finite –
ing participle clause.
The highlighted part is a gerund
clause.
The highlighted part is a non-finite –
ed participle clause.

VERBLESS CLAUSES.
We call verbless clauses to those clauses in which the verb and sometimes
other elements have been deleted.
I considered him a good person.
In this sentence, we can found a reduced version of the to-infinitive original
clause: I considered him to be a good person.
◆Non-finite clauses and verbless clauses are always embedded/subordinate.

PHRASES.
NOUN PHRASES.
The noun is the most important element. If a constituent has as its central
(non-omissible) element an N, then such constituent will be labelled NP. The
noun is the Head of the NP.
 The girl read the diary.
Specifiers: words as a and the are useful devices for making more precise
what the NP means. They help to specify what person or thing is indicated by
the NP. What or who is referred to by an NP is its referent. Possessive pronouns
and genitives can also work as Specifiers. Demonstrative pronouns, numerals
and items like some, many, any, what, whose, each, etc may also have a
Specifier function.
 Determiners: items which precede directly the Head. Depending on
their position relative to each other, determiners may be
predeterminers (half, both, all, double), central determiners (the, a,
this, that, my, his, etc) or postdeterminers (numerals, for example).
Determiners function as Specifiers in the NP. The function of Specifier is
realised by the fairly limited collection of items which we call
determiners.
Premodifiers: the function of premodifiers is usually realised by adjective
phrases or other open class elements (elements which cannot be listed all in a
single class, such as adjectives, nouns, verbs). This element precedes the Head
of the NP and premodifies it. Premodifiers follow determiners.
About nouns:
 Ns may be preceded by determiners, but also by AdjPs to form NPs.
 Nouns may vary in form. Girl > girls. The contrast between singular and
plural is one of number.
 Proper nouns: they do not normally take an article and usually occur in
the singular only. If it is a proper noun, the classification ends up in
there.

PRONOUNS.
NUMBER PERSON NOMINATIVE/SUBJECTIVE ACCUSATIVE/OBJECTIVE GENITIVE
CASE CASE /POSSESIVE
CASE
SINGULA 1ST I Me Mine
R
SINGULA 2ND You You Yours
R
SINGULA 3RD He/She/It Him/Her/It His/Hers/Its
R
PLURAL 1ST We Us Ours
PLURAL 2ND You You Yours

PLURAL 3RD They Them Theirs

Personal pronouns are used whenever repetition of the full NP is unnecessary.

They are classified by person (first, second, third), number (singular or
plural), gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and case (nominative,
accusative, genitive).
In case of the possessive case, these pronouns can be used to replace a
complete NP and can occur on their own.
This is your bicycle. Mine is over there.
The demonstrative pronouns can also occur on their own.
This is my mother and that is my father.
◆One-word noun phrases also exist.
The young German girl was offering chocolate.
Postmodifier: this is what we call the element that goes after the head.

VERB PHRASES.
The verb is the Head of the verb phrase. In a sense, the NP completes the VP
and is therefore called a Complement of the verb.
The girl read the diary.
Verb Complements are elements which obligatorily follow the verb in the VP.
While the Head of the VP is the verb, the Complement may have functions like
Direct Object, Indirect Object, Predicative Complement, etc.
A verb occurs inside a certain frame, and it is obligatory followed by certain
classes of categories. These certain frames express what elements are required
by the verb according to its transitivity or intransitivity.
Intransitive verbs: may or may not take a complement, but that complement
is not a direct object.
 IVs of CP: Intransitive verbs of complete predication. These verbs
do not require any complement. IV + (Adjuncts). Adjuncts are elements
which are not lexically required by the verb but they add some meaning
related to time, place, condition, etc. We put it in brackets because they
are not obligatory constituents.
 Tom works every day.
Carol is jogging.
The window has broken.
The boy is sobbing.
 IVs of IP: Intransitive verbs of incomplete predication. These
verbs do not take a direct object, but they need another complement:
predicative or adverbial.
Transitive verbs: they require a complement direct object and, in some other
cases, some other complements.
 MONO-TVs: Mono-transitive verbs. These verbs require only one
object.
 Bi/Di-TVs: Bi-transitive or di-transitive verbs. These verbs require a
direct object and an indirect object.
 Complex TVs: They require two complements, one being a complement
Direct Object and other either being a predicative complement or an
adverbial complement.
The form of the verb can also be affected for the time reference. If a VP is
marked for tense, it is said to be finite. Finite VPs contain an obligatory
element. Non-finite VPs are those which show no contrast between past and
present tense.
Pre-verbal elements.
 Modal auxiliaries or just modals: will, shall, may, must, could, might,
etc. they must be added in front of the verb, after the tense element.
 Perfect aspect: we use have as an auxiliary for the perfect aspect +
the past participle of the main verb.
She had given him no chocolate.
 Progressive aspect: we use be as an auxiliary for the progressive
aspect + the verb in the present participle form (with the –ing suffix).
He was unfolding his magazine.
 Passive voice: it is expressed by the auxiliary be + the verb in the past
participle.
The thief was arrested by the police.
If there is no auxiliary available, the dummy element do must be inserted.
Do is then also called an auxiliary. This applies to Yes-No questions and
negative sentences. Negative sentences always need an auxiliary in front of
not.
◆Tense, the modal auxiliaries and the auxiliaries have and be function as
Specifiers of the VP.
About verbs:
 The Head Vs are called main verbs or lexical verbs. As they are the Head
of the VP, they are the only verb in a sentence. Lexical verbs can be
preceded by one or more auxiliaries.
 Auxiliaries cannot normally occur on their own, although in some cases
they can, but it is not relevant for Guillotina.

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES.
Phrases consisting of a preposition (in, about, under, to, with, etc) followed by
an NP or an S are called prepositional phrases. The preposition is the Head of
the PP, and what follows the Head is its Complement (Prepositional
Complement). This Complement is also deletable at times.
In the corner.
With five parts.
About this topic.
To my arms.
The preposition may be preceded by an element which specifies it. These
specifiers can be NPs or ADVPs.
Right on the spot.
Straight to the wall.
◆Sometimes the preposition of the PP is followed by another PP: since after,
from behind.
◆PPs may occur within VPs, NPs, etc.
About prepositions:
 They may consist in only one word or on more than one word as in
relation to, with respect to, because of, in favour of, in aid of.
 Prepositions may be separated from their Complements in certain cases:
What is this in aid of?
 Postpositions: they typically follow their complements: three weeks
ago, all joking aside. They also serve as the Head of the PP.

ADJECTIVE PHRASES.
The Head of an AdjP is an adjective. Sometimes it can consist of a Head
adjective only, but sometimes the Head is preceded by a Specifier (such as an
AdvP).
The Head of an AdjP may also be followed by a PP or a Subject which serves as
a Complement.
Worried about the future.
Afraid that she may die.
◆Words like only as in an only child, and utter, as in an utter fool are also
AdjPs. These AdjPs can only be used attributively, not predicatively. Other
AdjPs can only be used predicatively and not attributely (as awake or alone).
About adjectives:
 They do not change in form to show number.
 Some adjectives may have different forms depending on the degree of
the quality they express. Nice > nicer > nicest. Base, comparative and
superlative are the three degrees of comparison. Longer adjectives
cannot be graded by adding a morpheme. We put more or most in front
of them. There are also irregular degrees of comparison.

ADVERB PHRASES.
As you may know now, the Head of an AdvP is an adverb. AdvPs may occur in a
VP or in an AdjP.
He arrived rather unexpectedly. (AdvP inside a VP)
◆AdvPs take no Complements.
About adverbs:
 Like adjectives, adverbs may be put in the comparative and the
superlative degrees. Early > earlier.

CHAPTER 3: FUNCTIONS.
◆Verbs may consist of only one word or be multi-word. Verbs express activities
of some kind which involve one or more participants. It is important that we
have

[(I didn’t know <you worked at the company <where these products are made>>).]
Personal pronoun in the nominative case, first person singular, common gender.
common: both gender
neuter: no gender
auxiliary finite – main verb non-finite
be is intransitive of ip