AgreementNov 7, 2012 – Day 29Introduction to Syntax

ANTH 3590/7590

Harry Howard

Tulane University

Course management

http://www.tulane.edu/~howard/ANTH3590/ We need to spend our $150 from the

Provost’s Undergraduate Activities Fund.

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AGREEMENT, CASE & A-MVTRadford §7.1-4

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AGREEMENT & VALUATIONRadford §7.2-3

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Agreement What is agreement in grammar? Some data

I am happy. ~ We are happy. You are happy. ~ Y’all are happy. She/he/it is happy. ~ They are happy. There is a fly in my soup. ~ They are several flies in

my soup. Call the features of person and number that are

the basis of agreement phi/ɸ features. A verb lacks values for phi features and must find

them in order to be conjugated and so is called a probe;

a noun has values for phi features and so is called a goal (of the probe).

A probe must find its goal within its c-command domain.

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QPseveral prizes

[3-Pers][Pl-Num]

Agreement with passive be and there (2, 4), first draft

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CP

TPCø

T’

VPTBE

[Past-Tns][ -Pers][ -Num]

Vawarded

V assigns THEME to its complement

PRNthere

Probe finds a goal in its c-command

domain.

3Pl

Goal supplies phi features to probe.

Case

What is case in grammar? Remember that case in English only shows

up on pronouns Nominative: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they Accusative: me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them Genitive: my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their

Treat case as another feature, [u-Case], for agreement Nominative comes from agreement with finite T,

see next slide.

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PRNthey

[3-Pers][Pl-Num]

[ -Case]

Case with passive be (7, 9), first draft

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CP

TPCø

T’

VPTBE

[Past-Tns][ -Pers][ -Num]

Varrested

V assigns THEME to its complement

Probe finds a goal in its c-command

domain.

3Pl

Goal supplies phi features to probe.

Nom

PRNthey

[3-Pers][Pl-Num]

[Nom-Case]

---------

---------------------

------------

UNINTERPRETABLE FEATURES§7.4

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Recall the shape of the grammar

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Syntax

Phonetic form/interpretation:syntactic structure is spelled out;unvalued features cause the derivation to crash.

Semantic representation:syntactic structure is converted to a meaning; uninterpretable features cause the derivation to crash.

Uninterpretable features

Constituentinterpretable

featuresuninterpretable

features

Ttenseaspectmood

personnumber

(redundant with subject?)

Nominalpersonnumbergender

case(redundant with

context)

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Features are interpreted in the semantics, or not. (13)

How to get rid of uninterpretable features?

Feature deletion (14) An uninterpretable feature is deleted

immediately after any operation it is involved in applies and is thereafter invisible in the syntactic and semantic components (but visible in the PF component).

Simultaneity condition (18) All syntactic operations involving a given probe

apply simultaneously.

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PRNthey

[3-Pers][Pl-Num]

[ -Case]

Repeat example of passive be (16, 17)

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CP

TPCø

T’

VPTBE

[Past-Tns][ -Pers][ -Num]

[EPP]

Varrested

V assigns THEME to its complement

Probe finds a goal in its c-command

domain.PRNthey

[3-Pers][Pl-Num]

[Nom-Case]

---------

---------------------

------------

3Pl

goal supplies phi features to probe.

Nom

----------------------

-----------------

EPP: attracts the closest nominal to spec-T, so

EPP looks like EF

EXPLETIVE IT SUBJECTS§7.5

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Introduction Some data

19a) It is said that he has taken bribes. ~19b) It is difficult to cope with long-term illness. ~19c) It’s a pity that they can’t come.

The problem: what does be agree with?that

that probably doesn’t have phi features (19b) has no that

the subject of the embedded clause the embedded clause in (19b) has no subject the embedded clause in (19c) has a plural subject impenetrability prevents it from entering into a

relationship with a higher headit

OK, so what are its features? only [3-Per, Sg-Num] & these are uninterpretable; no

gender or case

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So how does be agree with it?

Sneaky assumption: only heads can be probes, not phrases. So it cannot be a probe; only a goal of agreement.

If it originates in Spec-T, it is not c-commanded by its probe.

The only solution is for it to originate in spec-V, just like any other subject, see next slide. Evidence

i. They said that he has taken bribes. (25a) active saidii. I won’t have it said that he has taken bribes. (25b)

passive said

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PRNit

[3-Pers][Sg-Num]

------------

---------------------

PRNit

[3-Pers][Sg-Num]

Expletive it (26-27)

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CP

TPCø

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VPTBE

[Pres-Tns][ -Pers][ -Num]

[EPP]

Vsaid

Probe finds a goal in its c-command

domain.

3Pl

Goal supplies phi features to probe.

V'

CPthat he has taken bribes

----------------------

-------------------------

NEXT TIMEContinue §7

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