Syntax 1 Wiki: Week 6

Types of Phrases

Head-Complement Phrases

A head-complement phrase can be formed by combining a word [= the head daughter] with 1 or 2 signs [= the non-head daughter(s)] whose syntactic categories can be unified with the syntactic categories on the word’s comps list.

Scheme 1: The head licenses 1 complement

This schema licenses the following structure:
XP -> X + COMPS
Examples:

• [PP [H of][C Lilly]]
• [AP [H fond][C of Lilly]]
• [VP [H likes][C Fido]]
• [VP [H speaks][C to Fido]]

Scheme 2: The head licenses 2 complements

This schema licenses the following structures:
VP -> V N(P) N(P)
VP -> V N(P) PP
Examples:

• [VP [H show][C me][C Frankfurt]]
• [VP [H give][C the book][C to the student]]
• [VP [H put][C the book][C on the table]]

Head-Specifier Phrases

A head-specifier phrase can be formed by combining a sign [= the head daughter] with a second sign [= the non-head daughter] whose syntactic category can be unified with the syntactic category on the word’s spr list:

This schema licenses the following structures:

• NP -> D N(P)
  • [NP [SPR the][H student]]
  • [NP [SPR those][H apples]]
• S -> N(P) V(P)
  • [S [SPR Lilly][H smokes]]
  • [S [SPR Lilly][H likes Fido]]
  • [S [SPR The student][H showed a cat to Fido]]

Head-Modifier Phrases

There are 3 kinds of head-modifier phrases.
Scheme 1. A Head-modifier phrase can be formed by combining an adjectival sign [= the non-head daughter] with a nominal sign [= the head daughter] which is COMPS-complete but is sill looking for its specifier.

This schema licenses the following structure:

• NP -> A N(P)
  • [NP [MOD happy][H student]]
  • [NP [MOD big][H cat]]
  • [NP [MOD huge][H interest in languages]]

Scheme 2. A Head-modifier phrase can be formed by combining a nominal sign [= the head daughter]which is COMPS-complete but is sill looking for its specifier with a PP [= the non-head daughter]

This schema licenses the following structure:

• NP -> N(P) PP
  • [NP [H student][MOD with red hair]]
  • [NP [H professor][MOD from Frankfurt]]

Scheme 3. A Head-modifier phrase can be formed by combining a verbal sign [= the head daughter] which is COMPS-complete but is sill looking for its specifier with a PP [= the non-head daughter].

This schema licenses the following structure:

• VP -> V(P) PP
  • [VP [H works][MOD at the university]]
  • [VP [H saw Lilly][MOD with a cat]]

Phrase Formation

Link to the Online Grammar

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