Keywords - L322.3
Intermediate
Syntax
Week 3
Week 3: The Logical Structure of the Noun Phrase--Part 2.
- The phonological form is spelled out
late
- All syntactic and morphological processes
must apply first.
- These will be covered in next section.
- The default for nouns (and verbs) is
that the lexical form splits into a stem and an inflectional
suffix
- This might be considered a lexical process
called Spell-out
- The default applies to BOOK, for example:
(1)
- Singular nouns do not split into a stem
plus a derivational suffix, with the exception of a few Latinate
nouns: radi+us, radi+i).
- This analysis may be wrong. The singular
form is the root 'radi' plus the stem extender "us":
"radi+us". The stem extender disappears in the plural
and in derivational forms.
- If so, then words like radius are irregular
in their stem formation, not in their plural formation.
- FOOT expands into two lexical forms (words):
foot,
feet.
- FOOT is a set of lexical features assigned
to the lexical entry for foot.
- FOOT+[-Pl] is spelled out as foot.
- FOOT+[+Pl] is spelled out as feet
- Irregular nouns:
- Irregular nouns such as foot, feet
do not split into a stem plus a morpheme.
- Because the feature [±Plural]
may be either [-Plural] or [+Plural], the lexical entry FOOT
has two lexical items: foot, feet.
- Other nouns of this type: goose, tooth,
mouse, louse.
- Some nouns have no distinct plural form:
deer, elk, moose, sheep. There is no splitting here.
- Some nouns take the suffix '-en': ox,
oxen; child, children; brother, brethren (in the religious sense).
- The most exceptional noun is 'child'.
It has an irregular ending and an irregular stem: child, child-r+en.
Phonologically, the vowel changes in the stem.
- Discourse item
- Real World Knowledge (the sun, the dog)
- [DEFINITE] (or [DEF])
- Demonstratives
- Category: D (Det, Determiner)
- Nouns as arguments of number
- Number: [±Pl]
- Number = [+Bound, +Weak]
- [+Pl] morphemic form:
- default = '-s'.
- rare = '-en'.
- merge: mice, teeth, lice, geese, feet.
- unmarked merge: deer, antelope, sheep,
elk
- plural only: cattle, police; scissors,
pants, shears, tights
- [+Dem] = this
- [-Dem = that
- [D NULL] is [-Def]. A book <- [-Def]
ONE BOOK.
- [±Count]
- Lexically derived plural or singular.
- Quant --> [±Count]
- [+Count] --> all definite numerals
- [-Count] --> SOME, MANY, MUCH, FEW,
A FEW, SEVERAL.
- [±Prox]
- [+Prox] --> this, these
- [-Prox] --> that, those
- [+Def, -Dem] = the
- [-Def] = a/an, one, NULL
TWO |
spell out |
lexical features |
Qu |
|
category |
+ |
|
Count |
-- |
|
Plural |
+ |
|
Quantified |
+ |
|
+FV (Fixed Value) |
|
two |
|
- and so forth.
- Qu and D are both operators.
- Quantification is implicit
in all English noun phrases
- Yet to be discussed are the
non-countable quantifiers (many, few, etc.)
- No countable noun can be undesignated
for the feature of quantification.
- In Hungarian and Chinese, nouns
can be unmodified for quantification.
- Definiteness is implicit in
all English noun phrases.
- Every NP is either definite
or indefinite
- No NP can be left unmodified
for the feature of definiteness.
- Generics are special problem,
but are probably indefinite as they do not point to the existence
of a specific object.
- The argument structure for
the NP (as far as we are concerned) is the following:
- UQ < D < Qu < N >>>
(or)
- UQUANT <DEF < QUANT <
OBJECT >>>.
- This is probably the more accurate
representation.
- There are other operators,
but we probably won't find the time to cover them.
- Lexical entry for ONE:
ONE |
Spell Out |
lexical features |
Q |
|
category |
+ |
|
Ct_Inh |
+ |
|
Ct |
+ |
|
Pl_Inh |
- |
one |
Pl |
- The third operator for nouns:
Universal Quantifiers:
- There are five known ones:
- all, both, each, every, any
- We won't be concerned with
the meaning of these, just the relevant syntactic features.
- both:
- both books
- both two books
- *both rice
- *both book
- *both three books
- both = +Ct_Inh, +Ct; +Pl_Inh,
+Pl; +Dual_Inh, +Dual.
- all:
- all three books
- *all two books
- all books
- *all book
- all rice
- *all rices
- all = [-Pl_Inh, -Ct_Inh, +Dual_Inh,
-Dual].
- each:
- each book
- *each books
- *each rice
- each two books (= each set
of two books)
- each = +Ct_Inh, +Ct; -Pl_Inh,
Pl.
- every
- every book
- *every books
- *every rice
- every two books (= every set
of two books)
- every = +Ct_Inh, +Ct; -Pl_Inh,
Pl.
- any
- any book = any one book
- any books [Q -Qf]
- any rice
- any two books
- any = -Ct_Inh, -Pl_Inh
- no
- no book = no one book, no is
Neg, one = Q.
- no books = negative quantifier,
-:Pl_Inh, -Ct_Inh.
- Note: The count/plural algorthm
applies to universal quantifiers as well:
- any rice [-Pl]
- any books = ANY NULL BOOK [+Pl]
- any book = ANY ONE BOOK [-Pl]
course
outline 322
This page last updated 4 FE 2002.