October 15, 2007 Non-finite clauses and control

1. October 15, 2007 Non-finite clauses and control 11-721: Grammars and Lexicons Lori Levin

2. S NP VP I V S-bar think C S that John saw Mary Phrase structure and lexical entries for embedded clauses I think that John saw Mary. think < cognizer theme > SUBJ COMP see < perceiver perceived > SUBJ OBJ Matrix clause or main clause An embedded clause that is an argument of a verb is called a complement. A word like “that”, which marks a clause as a complement clause, is called a complementizer. Embedded clause

3. Complement clauses and adjunct clauses • Complements • I think that it is raining. • You told me that it is raining. • Adjuncts • I read the book while it was raining. • I read the book before it rained.

4. C S S-bar S that linguistics is fun NP VP I V S-bar think C S that linguistics is fun Complementizer S VP bothers me Main clauses don’t have complementizers: *That it is raining.

5. IP NP VP I V CP think C IP that linguistics is fun S-bar, CP, and IP • S is currently called IP (inflectional phrase) and S-bar is currently called CP (complementizer phrase).

6. S NP VP VS-bar S COMPNPVP It seemsthat they have left. Matrix clause and embedded clause Matrix Clause Embedded Clause

7. S S NP VP NP VP VS-bar VVP-bar S VP COMPNPVP I It seemsthat they have left. They seemto have left. Matrix coding as subject

8. S NP VP VS-bar S COMPNPVP It seemsthat they have left. Also known as “Raising to Subject” Lower clause subject is raised to be the subject of the matrix clause. S NP VP VVP-bar VP COMP They seemto have left.

9. Matrix Coding as Subject • Subject of embedded clause is coded as subject of matrix clause • Occurs before the matrix verb in English • Matrix verb agrees with it

10. Matrix coding as a test for subjecthood • Only the subject of the embedded clause can be removed from the lower clause and coded as the matrix clause subject. • It seems that I have seen them. • * They seem I to have seen ____. • * The knife seems I to have cut the bread with.

11. Matrix coding as a test for subjecthood • Start with “It seems that S” • It seems that the bear ate a sandwich. • Delete “that” and change the embedded verb to an infinitive • It seems [the bear to eat a sandwich]. • Identify the phrase you want to test. • It seems [the bear to eat a sandwich]. • Replace “it” with the phrase you want to test: • The bear seems to eat a sandwich. • If “seem” doesn’t agree with the phrase, make it agree. • It seems that the bears ate a sandwich. • It seems the bears to eat a sandwich. • The bears seems to eat a sandwich. • The bears seem to eat a sandwich. • It’s ok to make the lower verb into a perfect (have/had V-ed) or progressive (BE V-ing) to make it sound better. • The bear seems to have eaten a sandwich. • The bear seems to be eating a sandiwich.

12. What is the subject of these sentences?(Use raising to subject as a test) • There is a problem. • There are problems. • In this village lives a wise man. • In this village live many people.

13. Two Hypotheses • An embedded subject can be coded as the matrix subject. • The first element of the embedded clause can be coded as the matrix subject. • Can you think of examples to test differentiate between these two hypotheses?

14. Using passive to make patients raisable • It seems that Chris ate a sandwich. • It seems that a sandwich was eaten by Chris. • A sandwich seems to have been eaten by Chris.

15. Raising in Malagasy • See handout

16. S NP VP VVP-bar VP COMP Pat tried to open the window Control by Matrix Subject • Pat is the agent of try and the agent of open. • Pat is also the subject of both verbs.

17. Control by matrix subject: a.k.a. Equi NP Deletion • History of Equi NP Deletion: • Pat tried Pat to open the window. • Pat tried __ to open the window. • (Deletion in this case is obligatory.) • A meaning preserving transformation deletes the second occurrence of Pat.

18. Control as a test for subjecthood • Pat tried ___ to open the window. controllee controller Only the subject of the lower (embedded) clause can be the controllee: * Pat tried Kim to see ___

19. The cat seems to be out of the bag. There seems to be a problem. That seems to be my husband. The doctor seemed to examine Sam. Sam seemed to be examined by the doctor. The cat tried to be out of the bag. *There tried to be a problem. That tried to be my husband. The doctor tried to examine Sam. Sam tried to be examined by the doctor. Seem and Try

20. Seem and Try seem < theme > try < agent theme >

21. Try try < agent theme > SUBJ XCOMP XCOMP • Argument of a verb (not an adjunct) • Non-finite • Does not have an overt subject • Its understood subject is one of the arguments of the main clause. • Infinitives and participles in subject and oblique positions are not xcomps. • To open the window is hard. • I thought about opening the window. • Anaphoric or arbitrary control

22. Seem seem < theme > SUBJ XCOMP Seem has one semantic argument that is split into two syntactic pieces, a SUBJ and an XCOMP.

23. Seem It seems that Sam left. Seem < theme > SUBJ COMP

24. Seem and Try: accounting for the differences • Verbs impose selectional restrictions on their semantic arguments. • Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. • The house woke up. • The subject of try must be interpretable as an agent. • It cannot be a dummy element. • It cannot be an idiom chunk. • Changing the subject of try changes its agent and gives it a different meaning.

25. Thematic Paraphrase • The same noun phrases fill the same semantic (thematic) roles for the same verbs. • It seems that Sam ate a sandwich. • Sam seems to have eaten a sandwich. • A sandwich seems to have been eaten by Sam.

26. Controllers and Controllees • Van Valin uses the terms controller and controllee only with try-type verbs (equi verbs). • We will use the terms controller and controllee with seem-type verbs (raising verbs) as well.

27. S NP VP V VP-bar C VP V VP-bar C VP V VP-bar C VP Are raising and control long distance dependencies? • Sam seemed to appear to try to eat a sandwich. Is “Sam” a filler, and is there a gap before “eat”? Sam seemed to appear to try to ____eat a sandwich

28. Control and raising are not long distance dependencies • The long distance with raising and control is a sequence of local operations. • “Sam” is raised locally from “eat” to “try”, from “try” to “appear”, and from “appear” to “seemed”. “Sam” is understood as the subject of each verb. • With a true filler and gap, there are no other gaps intervening between the filler and gap. • Who did you think he said she told him she saw ___.

29. Control and raising are not long distance dependencies • A true gap can go with any verb. • Who did you see __? • What did you read__? • What did you sing __to her? • A true gap can be subj, obj, obl, etc. • Who __ saw you? • Who did you talk to __? • “Understood” subjects only occur in the subject position of infinitive clauses that are complements of certain verbs like “seem” and “try.”

30. Matrix Coding as Object: a.k.a. Raising-to-Object or Exceptional Case Marking • I believe that they have left. • I believe them to have left.

31. S NP VP V NPVP-bar I VP I believethem to have left S Matrix Clause NP VP V S-bar COMP S Embedded Clause NP VP I believethat they have left

32. S NP VP V NPVP-bar I VP I believethem to have left Raising-to-Object: We will use this one in this class. S NP VP Exceptional Case Marking: we will not use this one. S V NP VP-bar I VP I believe them to have left

33. Evidence that them is direct object of the matrix clause • It is in the accusative case. • It can be the subject of the passive of the matrix verb. • They are believed to have left. • Tests for constituency: • Class participation • Coordination • Movement • Pronoun substitution

34. Raising to object as a test for subjecthood. • Only the subject of the lower (embedded) clause can be raised up to be the object of the matrix clause. • Leslie believes that the police have arrested Chris. • Leslie believes the police to have arrested Chris. • *Leslie believes Chris the police to have arrested.

35. Test with raising to object • There are some problems. • In the village live many people.

36. S NP VP V NPVP-bar I VP I persuadedPat to leave Control by Matrix Object

37. Control by Matrix Object • Pat is the direct object of persuade and the subject of leave. • The matrix object (controller) and embedded subject (controllee) are the same. • Only the embedded subject can be the controllee. • *Pat persuaded Sam the doctor to examine.

38. I believe the cat to be out of the bag. I believe there to be a problem. I believe that to be my husband. I believe Pat to have opened the window. I believe the window to have been opened by Pat. I persuaded the cat to be out of the bag. *I persuaded there to be a problem. I persuaded that to be my husband. I persuaded Pat to have opened the window. ? I persuaded the window to have been opened by Pat. Believe and Persuade

39. Using passive to make patients controllable • I believe that Sam opened the window. • I believe the window to have been opened by Sam. • I believe the window to have been opened by Sam. • I perusaded the doctor to examine Sam. • I persuaded Sam to be examined by the doctor.

40. Control in Malagasy • See handout.

41. Control of Adjunct Clauses • Having just arrived in town,Sam called his mother. • Having just hurt herself, Sam called his mother. • What can be the controller? • Matrix subject? • Matrix object? • What can be the controllee? • Embedded subject? • Embedded object?