Week 03 Slides(1)

Week 3 – LECTURE 3
X-BAR THEORY
LING5410M
Foundations of Syntax
Recap on phrase structure
 Every phrase must have a head
 Heads are obligatory
 A phrase is named after its head
 A phrase may also have modifier(s) / dependent(s)
 Additional words/phrases to the head
Recap on constituents
 Constituents are the syntactic units of a sentence.
 Syntactic tests can be used to identify them:
 Replacement with a pro-form (he/she/it/there/then/etc...)
 Movement / Clefting (for NP, PP) / Pseudo-clefting (for VP)
 Independence
 Coordination
 All constituents are phrases (but not all phrases behave as

constituents), e.g.: [NP I] [VP met [NP the girl [PP from Ipanema]]
 What about: They called the man from the library? (see
homework solutions)
Today
 How powerful is our theory of phrase structure? Does it
make the right predictions? Can we make it better?
 This is the essence of the scientific method:
 Make hypotheses
 Test them (using empirical data, i.e. language)
 If your hypothesis is empirically inadequate, revise it!
 Test the new hypothesis ...
‘Flat’ structures
 We have assumed that  This predicts that all
all modifiers are sister modifiers have the
to the head: same relationship to
the head.
 But is this true?
First problem
a. [S [NP Ben] [VP found [NP a tenner] [PP on the street]]].
b. Ben found a tenner.
c. *Ben found on the street.
a. [S [NP She] [VP sang [PP at her house] [PP after dinner]]].
b. She sang.
➢ Not all modifiers have the same relationship to the head.

➢ Some modifiers are optional.
Second problem
 If all the modifiers are sisters to the head, then
anything smaller than the whole phrase shouldn’t be a
syntactic unit.
 Let’s go back to the replacement test...
I bought [NP the book of poems with the red cover] =

I bought it
I [VP eat beans with a fork] = I do
Second problem
 But we can replace part of that NP...
I bought [NP the [book of poems] with the blue cover],

not [NP the one with the red cover].
Second problem
 And we can replace part of a VP...
I [VP eat beans with a spoon], but Janet [VP [does so]
with a fork]
Second problem
 The flat structure doesn’t explain how something that
is smaller than the whole phrase (e.g. head + one
modifier) behaves as a unit within that phrase.
Conclusion (so far)
 Modifiers can enter into different relationships with the
head
 The tree structure must reflect these different relations
 The x-bar hypothesis tries to solve this problem by

positing that the structure of phrases is not flat, but
hierarchically organised.
 3 types of modifiers: specifiers, complements, adjuncts
 They have different relations to the head.

The X-bar hypothesis
 XP = any phrase
 X’ = the intermediate level(s) of that phrase
 X = the head of that phrase
 Modifiers = specifiers, complements or adjuncts
o Specifier: the highest position, daughter to the XP
o Complement: the closest modifier, sisters to the head X
o Adjunct: any optional modifier, attached to X’ nodes
 A unified template for all phrases
 Structures are binary-branching (a node can have two
branches at most)
 Some modifiers (complements) have a closer relation to the
head, while others (adjuncts) are optional.
Specifiers (spec)
 In an NP, the specifier position is for determiners.
 Specifiers are not recursive (=there is only 1)
 For other phrases (so far), we will assume that the
specifier slot is just empty.
Complements
 Complements are modifiers that have a close
relation to the head:
 They are sisters to the head (no other modifier is!)
 Explains why [head + complement] form a syntactic unit
Complements
 Semantically, they are like objects (arguments) of
that head. They complete the meaning of the head.
 [NP Taxi driver] = someone who drives taxis
 [AP Afraid of spiders] = someone who fears spiders
Adjuncts
 Adjuncts are optional modifiers
 Are recursive: we can insert as many as we want
 Attach to intermediate layers (N’, A’, V’, etc.)
 To the right or to the left
Summing up X-bar phrase structure
 Phrases (XP) are centred around a head (X)
 Modifiers can attach on the left or on the right
 These are the only two options
 Structures are binary-branching
Powerful implications!
 Now we have a schema that can capture any

kind of phrase.
 If this template is universal, the task of language
acquisition is greatly simplified.
 So this hypothesis is not only empirically better (it
captures more syntactic patterns than the flat
structure), it also explains more (it can be applied to
language acquisition + language typology).
Powerful implications!
 We can explain cross-linguistic word order patterns:

 VO vs OV
 prepositions vs postpositions
(1)[S [NP John-ga] [VP tegami-o yonda]]

John-SUBJ letter-OBJ read.PAST
‘John read the letter’
(2) [PP Hanako ni]

Hanako to
‘to Hanako’
Summing up
 Phrases conform to one single template: the X-bar
schema.
 Adjuncts attach to X’ levels
 Complements are sisters to the head
 Explains why there is a special semantic relation

between heads and complements.
Work for this week
 Seminar (this Thursday)
 Distinguishing between specifiers, complements and
adjuncts
 Drawing phrases in X’-bar theory
 Homework (with solutions)
 Please read the instructions carefully on your handout.

 Please do the seminar exercises before class
 Ask questions, work in groups

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Week 3 – LECTURE 3

 All constituents are phrases (but not all phrases behave as

➢ Not all modifiers have the same relationship to the head.

 Let’s go back to the replacement test...

I bought [NP the book of poems with the red cover] =

I bought [NP the [book of poems] with the blue cover],

 The x-bar hypothesis tries to solve this problem by

 They have different relations to the head.

 Now we have a schema that can capture any

 We can explain cross-linguistic word order patterns:

(1)[S [NP John-ga] [VP tegami-o yonda]]

(2) [PP Hanako ni]

 Complements are sisters to the head

 Explains why there is a special semantic relation

 Homework (with solutions)

 Please read the instructions carefully on your handout.

 Ask questions, work in groups

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