Exploring Structure II

Prof: A. Elhaloui
 3 things have been shown so far:
1. A sentence is NOT just a string of words but
a structure.
2. Some word strings can be shown to be self-
contained constituents.
3. We have seen how Substitution and
Displacement (e.g., Movement) can be used
as diagnostics (tests) for constituency.
 Today,
• We want to explore some more diagnostics
of constituency:

1. Question Formation
2. Ellipsis
3. Clefting, and
4. Co-ordination
Answers for (3):
(1):
1. some
John apples
2. My
some
friend
delicious apples
• Invent answers for the following questions:
3. My
some
friend
delicious
from college
apples from the south
I- Question Formation
4. 1.some
MyWho
friend
delicious
fromyou
have college
apples of
from
invited mineral
tothe
thesouth
sciences
of Morocco
party?
2. Who has invited you to the meeting?
• Each one of these answers constitutes a
3. What have you
self-contained bought?
constituent.
4. •An Indian meal or
A Wh-question fish,
asks which
about do you prefer?
a constituent.
• So, Question Formation can be used as
another diagnostic for constituency.
Remark:
CompareWhen we ask a wh-question,
an interrogative sentence with we don’t only
its canonical
move a wh-word form its canonical position to the initial
counterpart.
position of the sentence.

• What have you bought?

• You have bought some apples?

1. Subject-Aux Inversion (SAI)

2. In the interrogative sentence, “what” is not
placed in its canonical position.
3. In the interrogative sentence, some information
is missing and the speaker wants to know it.
• Ask a wh-question about each one of the
underlined words:

The customer in the corner will order the drinks before the meal.

• Each one of these bracketed word strings

constitutes a self-contained constituent
because you can ask a question about it.
• Question formation can be used as another
diagnostic for constituency.
What are we asking a question about in each of the
VP = V + …
VP = V + …
following examples:

1. I think that would be the worst thing in the

world for him, a family holiday! What’s he
going to do? Sit on the beach?!
2. What is Sylvia to do? What are we all mean to
do? Hang our cars from the trees? Throw them
away?
3. A: We need fewer people.
B: What would you do? Eliminate them?
Wh-question formation supports layered VP
analysis.
• Ask a wh-question about each one of the bracketed word strings:
The customer in the corner will order the drinks before the meal.

What will the customer do?

What will the customer do before the meal?
The customer in the corner will order the drinks before the meal.

order the drinks

VP before the meal
Layer 1
order the drinks PP
VP
Layer 2

V NP
order the drinks before the meal
 VP
It is• up
Supply the teams
to us other words to that havetobeen
take steps rectify our
omitteddeficiency,
performance in the following sentences.
and we will.
VP
When he first ran for office four years ago, Gov.
Gray Davis vowed to save California’s old growth
II- Ellipsis
forests. He hasn’t, as Moloney sees it.
VP
After all, Francesca’s hardly news any more. We are
all trying to forget her. As if we could. Although we
should, I can’t.
VP
Only those who were in the room know the absolute
truth of this story. No one else probably will.
• Is the omitted string of type (1) or type (2):

1. VP = V + NP VP does not include Aux.

2. VP = AUX + V + NP Aux is independent from VP

• How do you know?

When
It is up
After he
all, first ran for
toFrancesca’s
us other office
teams tofour
hardly take
newsyears
anyago,
steps Gov.
to rectify
more. Weour
are
Only
Gray those
Davis
performance who
vowed wereto in the
save
deficiency, and room knowold
California’s
we will. thegrowth
absolute
all trying to forget her. As if we could. Although we
truth of this
forests. He story. No
hasn’t, as one else probably
Moloney sees it. will.
should, I can’t.
 What is the right structure then?

Sentence Sentence
… …
VP VP

aux V …
aux V …
 Ellipsis supports layered VP analysis.
Which string is omitted in the questions below?
A: The customer in the corner will order the drinks before the meal
B: Are you sure he will before the meal?

A: The customer in the corner will order the drinks before the meal.
B: Are you sure he will?
The customer in the corner will order the drinks before the meal.

order the drinks

VP before the meal
Layer 1
order the drinks PP
VP
Layer 2

V NP
order the drinks before the meal
 • Let us compare this cleft
sentence to its canonical
counterpart.
• Clefting is a way of foregrounding the
III- Clefting
information we want to promote in a sentence

John drove your car to work.

It was your car that John drove to work today.

New Information old Information

Cleft sentence
• The point is that only constituents can be
clefted.
• So, Clefting can be used a s a diagnostic for
constituency.
• Which constituents are clefted in the following sentences?

The customer in the corner will order the drinks before the meal.

1. It is the customer in the corner who will order the drinks before the meal.
2. It is before the meal that the customer in the corner will order the meal.
3. It is the drinks that the customer in the corner will order.
• Clefting does NOT affect VP but there is a
special type of clefting which does:
Pseudo-clefting.
 Pseudo-clefting
Which constituent is focused on in the following examples?

NP
a. I don’t need the equivalent of another car loan.
b. What I don’t need is the equivalent of another car loan.

a. You are seeing the Biblical law of reciprocity in Prince

George’s Country. NP
b. What you are seeing in Prince George’s country is the
Biblical law of reciprocity.
 Pseudo-clefting
Which constituent is focused on in the following examples?

NP
a. She needed someone to talk to.
b. What she needed was someone to talk to.
VP
a. They will force them underground.
b. What they will do is force them underground.
VP does not include Auxs
 What is the right structure then?

Sentence Sentence
… …
VP VP

aux V …
aux V …
 Pseudo-clefting
Which constituent is focused on in the following examples?

VP
• Contacting his relatives will cause mayhem in his family.
• What contracting his relatives will do is cause mayhem in his
family.

VP does not include Auxs

 What is the right structure then?

Sentence Sentence
… …
VP VP

aux V …
aux V …
Why is sentence (3) ungrammatical while (1) and (2)
grammatical?
1. What the customer in the corner will do
before the meal is order the drinks.
2. What the customer in the corner will do is
order the drinks before the meal.
3. * What the customer in the corner will do is
will order the drinks before the meal.
VP

aux V …
 What is the right structure then?

Sentence Sentence
… …
VP VP

aux V …
aux V …
Identify the pseudo-clefted constituent in the following
examples.

1. In the lower 48 states, people consider the

deer as pets, so the last thing they would do
is eat them.
2. All Pastor Edgar Chacon wanted to do, he
says now, was protect the children.
3. All we can do is do it well.
 IV- Coordination
• Two constituents can be co-ordinated:

• The customer in the corner will order the drinks

and the dessert before the meal.
1- Say which constituents are coordinated in the following examples.
2- Identify the category of each of the co-ordinated constituents.

1. Many parents with children in these schools have

felt the impact and seen the point.
2. Jones said urban sprawl and heightened
environmental concerns were imposing increased
limits on U.S military activities in Western Europe
and driving up costs.
1- Say which constituents are coordinated in the following examples.
2- Identify the category of each of the co-ordinated constituents.

1. Being in Europe does not tend to mean that public

transport is functional, that public health care is
not considered a dangerous pipe-dream, and that
education is valued.
2. Among the larger issues here are why this
happened at all, who allowed it to happen and
why the law re-enforcement refused to intervene
even after it was clear that a great injustice was
occuring.
 Summary
• Some strings of words are constituents.
• Here are the diagnostics we use to check if a string
of words is a constituent:
1. Substitution
2. Displacement
3. Question Formation
4. Clefting
5. Ellipsis
6. Coordination