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CAS LX 522 Syntax I

CAS LX 522 Syntax I. Week 9.5. Relative clauses. Finishing up from last week…. Last week, we covered wh -movement in questions like: What i did Bill buy t i ? and What i did Mary think Bill bought t i ?

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CAS LX 522 Syntax I

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  1. CAS LX 522Syntax I Week 9.5. Relative clauses

  2. Finishing up from last week… • Last week, we covered wh-movement in questions like: • Whati did Bill buy ti? • and • Whati did Mary think Bill bought ti? • And we looked at conditions on wh-movement, including Subjacency (you can’t move out of two bounding nodes in a single step) and the ECP (the trace of wh-movement must be licensed).

  3. Relative clauses • Another place where we see wh-movement, besides in explicit questions (either in the main clause or embedded) is in relative clauses. • The book which I read • The woman who(m) I met • These consist of a head noun (book, woman) and then what appears to be a wh-question that further specifies the referent of the head noun.

  4. Relative clauses • Relative clauses serve to modify the head noun. • Kind of like adjectives, or PP modifiers. • The unhappy students. • The students from Vancouver. • The students who solved the problem. • So where would you put them?

  5. Relative clauses DP D SS • The structure of a relative clause is like this. • A [+Q, +WH] CP is adjoined inside the NP, like an adjective, or a PP modifier. D NP the N N CP N DPi C man who C TP [+WH][+Q] I met ti

  6. Quirks • The “question” inside a relative clause has a couple of odd properties, not shared with regular main clause or embedded questions. • *The problem what I solved. • The problem which I solved. • The problem which I will solve. • The problem I solved. • The problem that I solved.

  7. Which/that/Ø • In addition to being able to say • The book which Mary read • We can also say • The book that Mary read • and • The book Mary read • And they all mean the same thing. So we expect that they would all have basically the same structure (they all have a question adjoined in the NP)—so where is the wh-word in the last two?

  8. Op • The secret to these last two kinds of relative clauses is Op, the silent wh-word. • That is, the book which Mary read and the book Mary read are really exactly the same except that in one case you pronounce the wh-word, and in the other, you don’t. • the book [CP whichi Mary read ti ] • the book [CPOpi Mary read ti ]

  9. Op • It is also possible to pronounce that with Op, giving us: • the book [CPOpi that [TP Mary read ti ]] • Why can’t we pronounce that with which? • *the book [CP whichi that [TP Mary read ti ]]

  10. Doubly-Filled COMP filter • The Doubly-Filled COMP filter is the traditional “explanation”. • Doubly-Filled COMP filter:*[CPwh-word if/that/for…] • You can’t pronounce both a wh-word and (a base-generated) C at the same time. Thus: • the book [CPOpi [TP Mary read ti ]] • the book [CPOpi that [TP Mary read ti ]] • the book [CPwhichi [TP Mary read ti ]] • *the book [CPwhichi that [TP Mary read ti ]]

  11. Op • Skeptical of Op? Is there really wh-movement of Op, a silent wh-phrase? • I read the book [CP whichi [TP Mary said [CP that [TP Bill bought ti ]]]]. • *I read the book [CP whichi[TPMary wonders [CP who[TPbought ti]]]]. • I read the book [CPOpi (that) [TP Mary said [CP that [TP Bill bought ti ]]]]. • *I read the book [CPOpi (that)[TPMary wonders [CP who[TPbought ti]]]].

  12. Op • So if we have a silent wh-phrase, why can’t we ask questions with it? • Wherei did Mary buy this book ti ? • Wheni did Mary buy this book ti ? • Whyi did Mary buy this book ti ? • Howi did Mary buy this book ti ? • *Opi did Mary buy this book ti ? • See why?

  13. Op • Recoverability condition:The content of a null category must be recoverable. • the place [Opi (that) Mary bought that book ti ] • the day [Opi (that) Mary bought that book ti ] • the reason [Opi (that) Mary bought that book ti ] • the way [Opi (that) Mary bought that book ti ] • In each case, we can tell what the wh-phrase is by looking at the head noun.

  14. Comment on C DP D SS • Notice that when you use Op, the C—despite being [+Q]—can be pronounced as that. • This seems to mean that that is just a way you can pronounce C if it would otherwise be unpronounced and pronouncing it wouldn’t violate the DFC filter. D NP the N N CP N DPi C man Op C TP [+WH][+Q] I met ti

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