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Keywords: Week 4
Keywords - L322.4 F97
Intermediate
Syntax
Week 4: Raising, Case, and the Passive Voice
Case
- Special property of NP
- Case Filter
- First strategy - raise-
- to VP (adjoin, or sister to v-bar)
- to TP (etc.)
- nominative Case assign to left to subject NP (Chomsky and his gaggle)
Two arguments
- Let's return to structure (9)
- It has two arguments <theme: he piano> and <agent: Liberace>
- Neither of these arguments have been formally placed in the syntax.
- One of them is realized as the direct object--the theme.
- Here, the theta role theme is crucial.
- Now we have the VP 'play the piano'.
- What about the agent?
- There is no agreement on this, but some linguists believe it is adjoined
to VP -
- or alternatively in the X-bar format, it becomes a sister of V-bar:
- this is account for by the theta hierarchy.
- This, too, is controversial:
(18) agent > theme.
- We will add to the theta hierarchy during the course.
- The lowest member in the hierarchy is assigned to the complement.
- The highest member is assigned to the external argument (the subject).
The passive voice and raising
- In the passive the theta hierarchy is overridden
- the theme is raised to the external argument (the subject)
(19) Liberace played the piano.
(20) The piano was played by Liberace.
- Tense is the first operator we have seen
- Voice is the second operator.
- Next tentative step:
- In propositional structure, the argument of voice is V-proposition.
- [VOICE [±Passive]].
- Argument of voice is E-proposition.
- [TENSE [+Past] < [VOICE [+Passive] < PLAY <theme: PIANO>
<agent: LIBERACE> ] > ] >.
- D-structure.
- The fun begins here.
course outline.322
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