Generative Grammar: Core Concepts and Syntactic Theories

Posted on Mar 26, 2025 in English Studies. Language, Literature, and Culture

Unit 1: Introduction to Generative Grammar

Basic Syntactic Notions

Constituency & Hierarchical Structure: Sentences consist of smaller units (constituents) forming hierarchical structures, represented through tree diagrams or bracketing. Constituents are groups of words that function as a single unit.

Phrase Structure Rules (PSRs): Define how words form phrases and sentences.

NP → (D) (AdjP+) N (PP+)

VP → (AdvP+) V (NP) ({NP/CP}) (AdvP+) (PP+)

TP → {NP/CP} (T) VP

Constituency Tests:

• Replacement: A phrase can be substituted with a pronoun (e.g., “The big dog” → “It”).
• Stand-alone test: If a phrase can answer a question, it forms a constituent (e.g., “What did you see?” → “A cat.”).
• Movement: If a phrase can move within a sentence while keeping meaning (e.g., “John saw a dog” → “A dog was seen by John”).
• Coordination: If a phrase can be linked with ‘and’ or ‘or’, it is a constituent.

Embedded Clauses: Subordinate clauses within main clauses, often introduced by complementizers (e.g., that, if, whether).

Headedness: English is a head-initial language, meaning the head precedes its complements (e.g., “ate the apple” rather than “the apple ate”).

Recursion: The ability of language to embed structures within structures indefinitely (e.g., “the book on the table in the room in the house…”).

Types of Syntactic Categories:

• Lexical categories: Noun (N), Verb (V), Adjective (Adj), Adverb (Adv), Preposition (P).
• Functional categories: Determiner (D), Complementizer (C), Tense (T), Negation (Neg).

Unit 2: X-Bar Theory

Introduction: X-Bar Theory refines phrase structure rules by introducing intermediate projections (X’) between the head (X) and the phrase (XP). This ensures a more uniform structure across different phrase types.

Core Components:

Head: The core element of a phrase, determining its type (e.g., N, V, Adj, P). Specifier: An optional element that precedes the head, often determiners (e.g., “the” in “the book”). Complement: Provides essential information about the head (e.g., “of syntax” in “a book of syntax”). Adjunct: Non-essential modifiers that provide additional information (e.g., “with a red cover” in “the book with a red cover”).

Generalized X-Bar Schema:

XP → (Specifier) X’

X’ → X (Complement)

X’ → X’ (Adjunct)

Key Features:

• Specifier Rule: XP → (YP) X’
• Adjunct Rule: X’ → X’ (ZP) (Recursive rule allowing multiple adjuncts)
• Complement Rule: X’ → X (WP) (Only applies once per phrase)

Tests for Constituency in X-Bar Theory:

• One-replacement (NP replacement): “I bought the big red book” → “I bought the one.”
• Do-so replacement (VP replacement): “She sings beautifully” → “She does so too.”
• So-replacement (AdjP, AdvP, and PP replacement): “He is very smart” → “He is so.”

Cross-Linguistic Variation: Some languages, like Japanese, are head-final, meaning that the complement precedes the head. English is head-initial, meaning the head precedes the complement (e.g., “read the book”).

Adjunct vs. Complement: Complements are obligatory for the meaning of the phrase, whereas adjuncts provide extra information and can be removed. E.g., “John gave [a book] to Mary” (Complement), vs. “John gave a book [yesterday]” (Adjunct).

Unit 3: Theta Theory

Introduction: Theta Theory (Θ-Theory) explains how verbs assign thematic roles to their arguments. Every argument must receive exactly one theta role, and every theta role must be assigned.

Theta Roles:

Define the semantic roles of arguments in a sentence:

• Agent: The initiator of an action (e.g., “John” in “John kicked the ball”).
• Experiencer: One who perceives or feels something (e.g., “She” in “She loves ice cream”).
• Theme: The entity undergoing an action (e.g., “the ball” in “John kicked the ball”).
• Goal: The endpoint or recipient (e.g., “the library” in “She went to the library”).
• Source: The starting point of an action (e.g., “from the house” in “He ran from the house”).
• Instrument: The means by which an action is performed (e.g., “with a hammer” in “He hit the nail with a hammer”).
• Beneficiary: The entity benefiting from an action (e.g., “for Mary” in “He bought a gift for Mary”).

Theta Criterion: Each argument must receive exactly one theta role. Each theta role must be assigned to exactly one argument. Ensures that sentences are semantically and syntactically well-formed.

Extended Projection Principle (EPP): Every sentence must have a subject, even if it is not semantically necessary (e.g., “It is raining”).

Expletive Insertion Rule: When no subject is present, expletives (dummy subjects like “it” or “there”) are inserted (e.g., “There is a book on the table”).

Thematic Hierarchy: Some roles are more structurally privileged than others. Agents are typically higher than themes in syntactic structure. Used to predict argument structure and movement in passives and raising constructions.

Unaccusative vs. Unergative Verbs:

• Unaccusative Verbs: The subject is actually an underlying object (e.g., “arrive,” “fall,” “die”). “John arrived” → [Arrive John] (underlying structure)
• Unergative Verbs: The subject is the true initiator of the action (e.g., “run,” “talk,” “sing”).

Link to Case Theory: Arguments must receive case as well as theta roles. Subjects usually receive nominative case, and objects receive accusative case. In passive structures, the theme moves to subject position to satisfy case requirements (e.g., “The book was read by John”).

Unit 4: Tense, Aspect, Voice, and Mood

Tense: Marks time (past, present, future). English primarily uses morphological markers (-ed for past, -s for third-person singular present, etc.). Future Tense: Expressed using modal verbs like “will” or “shall” (e.g., “She will go tomorrow”). Past and Present Perfect: Used to describe actions with relevance to the present (e.g., “She has lived here for years”).

Aspect:

• Perfect Aspect: Expresses completed actions (e.g., “I have eaten” implies the action is done). Formed with “have” + past participle (e.g., “She has finished her work”).
• Progressive Aspect: Expresses ongoing actions (e.g., “She is studying“). Formed with “be” + present participle (e.g., “They were running“).
• Perfect Progressive: Combines perfect and progressive aspects to show continuous actions leading to a point in time (e.g., “She has been studying for hours”).

Voice:

• Active Voice: The subject performs the action (e.g., “John wrote the book”).
• Passive Voice: The subject receives the action (e.g., “The book was written by John”). Formed using “be” + past participle (e.g., “The door was opened by the wind”). Some passive structures omit the agent (e.g., “The door was opened.”)

Mood: Expresses attitude towards an event.

• Indicative: Statements (e.g., “He studies syntax.”).
• Imperative: Commands (e.g., “Study hard!”).
• Subjunctive: Hypothetical/contrary-to-fact (e.g., “If I were you, I’d study”). Often appears in “if” clauses and formal suggestions (e.g., “It is necessary that she be there”).

Modality: Expresses possibility, necessity, or permission (e.g., “can,” “must,” “may”). Modals do not inflect for tense and take bare infinitives (e.g., “She must go now”).

Temporal Hierarchies: Tense and aspect interact with syntax to define event structures. Different languages encode tense and aspect distinctions differently, influencing syntactic structure.

Unit 5: Movement

Head-to-Head, DP, WH-Movement

Head-to-Head Movement: Heads move to higher positions (e.g., V moves to T in some languages).

V-to-T Movement: Movement of auxiliary verbs to T position (e.g., “She has read” → “Has she read?”).

T-to-C Movement: Happens in questions (e.g., “Did she go?”). English requires inversion of auxiliary and subject in interrogatives (e.g., “Will she come?”). In embedded questions, T-to-C movement does not occur (e.g., “I wonder if she will come.”).

Do-Support: ‘Do’ insertion when no auxiliary is present (e.g., “I do not know”).

DP Movement: Raising of noun phrases to fulfill case requirements (e.g., “It seems John left” → “John seems to have left”). Passivization involves DP movement (e.g., “The police arrested the suspect” → “The suspect was arrested by the police”).

WH-Movement: Movement of WH-words to the front (e.g., “What did she say?”). Can cross clauses (e.g., “What do you think she said?”). Subject vs. object WH-movement (e.g., “Who saw Mary?” vs. “Who did Mary see?”).

Constraints on Movement:

• Islands: Phrases where movement is restricted (e.g., “Who did you meet a man that saw?” is ungrammatical).
• That-Trace Filter: Prevents subject extraction after ‘that’ (e.g., “Who do you think left?” is fine, but “Who do you think that left?” is ungrammatical).
• The Minimal Link Condition: Elements must move to the closest available position.
• Superiority Condition: In multiple WH-questions, one WH-word moves higher (e.g., “Who did you say saw what?” is grammatical, but “What did you say who saw?” is not).

Unit 6: Locality Constraints and Case Theory

Case Theory: Ensures that noun phrases (DPs) are assigned case (nominative, accusative, dative, etc.).

Case Filter: All noun phrases must be assigned a case (e.g., nominative for subjects, accusative for objects). Structural vs. inherent case (e.g., “She gave him a book” → “him” receives dative case inherently).

Burzio’s Generalization: Verbs that do not assign an external argument cannot assign accusative case.

Minimal Link Condition: Movement must be to the closest available position.

Binding Theory:

• Principle A: Reflexives (e.g., “himself”) must be bound within their local domain (e.g., “John sees himself” is grammatical, but “John thinks that Mary sees himself” is ungrammatical).
• Principle B: Pronouns (e.g., “he, she”) must be free in their domain (e.g., “John likes him” must refer to someone other than John).
• Principle C: R-expressions (e.g., names) must always be free (e.g., “He said that John left” → “he” cannot refer to John).

Control Structures: Differentiation between raising and control verbs. Raising verbs (e.g., “seem”) allow movement (e.g., “John seems to be happy” = “It seems that John is happy”). Control verbs (e.g., “want”) require a subject (e.g., “John wants to leave” = “John wants [himself] to leave”). PRO subject in control structures (e.g., “She promised PRO to leave early”).

Long-Distance Dependencies: Dependencies between elements across clauses (e.g., “What do you think she said?”). Wh-Movement, DP-movement, and topicalization involve dependencies that must adhere to locality constraints.