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Understanding Null Complementizers in Syntax: ANTH 3590/7590 Course Overview

This text outlines key concepts about null complementizers as part of Tulane University's ANTH 3590/7590 course under Harry Howard. It introduces the importance of complementizers in marking the illocutionary force of clauses and explores finite and infinitival clauses. The material emphasizes how different types of clauses (control and defective) function in syntax, supported by examples and hypotheses about case assignment. Perfect for students eager to deepen their understanding of syntactic structures and their implications in linguistic theory.

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Understanding Null Complementizers in Syntax: ANTH 3590/7590 Course Overview

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  1. Null complementizersSept. 21, 2012 – Day 11 Introduction to Syntax ANTH 3590/7590 Harry Howard Tulane University

  2. Course management • http://www.tulane.edu/~howard/ANTH3590/ • Check your quiz grades on Blackboard ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  3. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  4. Review ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  5. Diagram these two sentences • She wants to take a picture of herself. • Nobody said that they would have any fun. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  6. §3.6 NULL C IN FINITE CLAUSES ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  7. OVERVIEW • The pattern, #42 • We didn’t know [if/whether he had resigned] • We didn’t know [that he had resigned] • We didn’t know [he had resigned] • Hypothesis: all embedded clauses have a complementizer. • See tree on next slide. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  8. We would know [{if/whether/that/Ø} he had resigned] TP PRN we T’ T would VP V know CP C if/whether that that TP ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane PRN he T’ T had VP V resigned

  9. NULL C IN FINITE CLAUSES • More evidence • We didn’t know [he had resigned] or [that he had been accused of corruption] ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  10. THE CONTRIBUTION OF COMPLEMENTIZERS • What does a complementizer do? • It marks the (illocutionary) force of a clause • declarative • interrogative ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  11. CASE • What is (linguistic) case? • I am tired. (nominative) • Mary kissed him ~ Mary looked at him. (accusative) • Mary kissed his cheek. (genitive) • Case condition (#52) • A pronoun or noun expression is assigned case by the closest case-assigning head which c-commands it. • Hypothesis • A finite C assigns nominative case to the subject. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  12. §3.7 INFINITIVAL CLAUSES ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  13. What structure do we postulate for:I will arrange [for him to see a specialist] TP PRN I T’ T will VP V arrange CP C for TP ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane PRN him T’ T to VP V see QP a specialist

  14. A null C for for • She wanted [him to apologize] • She wanted [him to apologize] and [for her to receive the award] • She wanted more than anything [for him to apologize] • What she wanted was [for him to apologize] ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  15. CONTROL CLAUSES TP PRN I T’ • Hypothesis: control clauses have a null C. • What structure do we postulate for: • I will try [to see a specialist] T will VP V try CP C Ø TP ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane PRN PRO T’ T to VP V see QP a specialist

  16. §3.8 DEFECTIVE CLAUSES ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  17. alternative ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane follow material from Ex 3.2

  18. AN ORDINARY INFINITIVAL? • So what about They believe [her to be innocent]? • It looks like any other infinitival clause, but … • I believe Mary to be innocent and for John to be guilty. • I want Mary to be innocent and for John to be guilty. (cf. 55) • What I believe is (for) Mary to be innocent. (cf. 69a) • What I want is for Mary to be innocent. (cf. 58a) • She is believed to be innocent. (70a) • She is wanted to be innocent. * ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane * *

  19. CONJECTURE • The complement to believe and similar verbs is a TP, not a CP. • Without a CP, there is no null C (ø) to assign case to the embedded subject. • So the matrix verb (believe) must be able to assign case across the TP boundary to the embedded subject. • This is an exception, which is why these are often called exceptional case-marking (ECM) verbs and clauses. • Lacking a CP, they can also be called defective clauses. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  20. ECM CLAUSE CP TP C ø PRN I T’ VP T Af1stSgPres V believe TP ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane PRN her T’ T to VP V be Adj innocent

  21. PASSIVIZATION FROM AN ECM CLAUSE CP TP C ø PRN she T’ VP T is V believed TP ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane T’ PRN she T to VP V be Adj innocent

  22. IMPENETRABILITY • There is still one datum left unaccounted for, which is why the subject of CP cannot passivize. • A complete answer presupposes an analysis of passivization, which we won’t see until §9. • But let us first assume that the embedded CP is impenetrable from the matrix clause: • The domain of a complementizer is impenetrable to a higher head c-commanding the complementizer. (almost #72) • “in the domain of” means ‘c-commanded by’ • A constituent in an impenetrable domain cannot enter into a syntactic relation outside of its domain. (HH) • Now we look at the following slide for an illustration. ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane

  23. PASSIVIZATION FROM A CP CP TP C ø PRN he T’ VP T is V wanted CP ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane C ø TP T’ PRN he T to VP V apologize

  24. NEXT TIME ANTH3590/7590, Harry Howard, Tulane Q3 Null determiners

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