Download A comparison between Polish and English transformations

A comparison between Polish
and English transformations
Deletion
Prepared by: Żaneta Chłystek
Bogumiła Plichcińska
one the basis of:
Świdziński M., Składnia
Bobrowski I., Gramatyka opisowa języka polskiego, T.2,
WSP:Kielce 1998
OUTLINE:
1. Definition of transformation.
2. General overview of Polish and English
transformations.
3. Deletion in Polish and English:
a) deleting non-lexical elements;
b) deleting lexical elements:
- deleting pronouns;
- reduction of co-ordination.
Definition of transformation
Transformations are a set of movement
rules which inter-relate S-structure and
D-structure.
General overview of Polish and
English transformations
1. Types of Polish transformations:
• movements:
– operating in simple clauses and in
subordinate clauses
– cyclic movement (przenoszenie wielokrotne)
– indirect movement (przenoszenie niebezpośrednie)
• replacing lexical elements and adding new ones:
– replacing verbs with their periphrastic forms (zasłówki)
– replacing the conjunction “i” with the preposition “z”
– nominalisation (nominalizacja)
– replacing verbs with participles
• deletion
• transformation of word order
2. Types of English transformations:
• transformations affecting Phrasal Categories:
– Topicalisation
– WH-movement
– NP-movement
– Extraposition and Heavy NP-Shift
• transformations affecting Terminal Categories:
– Affix-hopping
– V-raising
– Do-support
– Subject-Aux inversion
Deletion in Polish and English
a) deleting non-lexical elements:
all non-lexical elements (e.g. t, , ) must
be deleted before they appear in S-structure
b) deleting lexical elements:
lexical elements can, must or cannot be
deleted depending on circumstances (the
structure in which they appear and its
semantic interpretation)
Deleting pronouns
Idę.
S2

S1
S
NP
VP
N
V
ja
idę
Nominative of the pronoun ja in Polish can
always be removed in simple sentences;
its lexical meaning is determined by the
inflection ending -ę.
Deleting pronouns
I go.
S1

S
NP
VP
N
V
I
go
We cannot delete the pronoun I. It is the
subject of the sentence and according to the
Extended Projection Principle clauses must
have a subject.
Deleting pronouns
Ja idę, a ty zostajesz.
S2

S1
S
NP
Spw
VP NP
S
VP
If ja idę and ty zostajesz are parts ofNthe same
V
N
V
co-ordinate structure in which they are
connected with the conjunction
a, aboth
and ty
ja
idę
ty
zostajesz
Asia ja
zostaje
cannot be deleted.
Deleting pronouns
However, the following sentence is well-formed:
Idę, a ty zostajesz.
Other possible sentences are not correct, eg.:
*Idę, a zostajesz.
*Ja idę, a zostajesz.
Hence, there is no rule in Polish that would
completely prohibit the deletion of pronouns.
Deleting pronouns
S2
I go and you stay.

S1
S
NP
N
I
Spw
S
VP NP
V
N
go and you
VP
V
stay
We cannot delete the NPs because they are the subjects of the
clauses (EPP). It is possible to delete the second NP you,
however the meaning of the sentence is completely different.
The two verbs refer then to the same noun.
I go and stay.
Reduction of co-ordination
In Polish:
Co-ordinate structures in which the same
lexical elements appear may or must
(depending on the structure) undergo the socalled reduction of co-ordination.
E.g.: Chłopiec zdaje egzamin ustny, a
dziewczyna pisemny.
Reduction of co-ordination
(optional)
S2
S1

S
S
S
Spw
NP
V
N
NP
NP
VP
NP
N
VP
V
N
N
AP
AP
A
A
chłopiec zdaje egzamin ustny a dziewczyna zdaje
egzamin
- in this case reduction of co-ordination is
optional
pisemny
Reduction of co-ordination
In English:
We can delete the verb. The result of this deletion in
DS is a trace that functions as a normal verb
(subcategorisation).
In co-ordinate structures we cannot delete the NPs
of the same function. We can only replace them
with appropriate pro-forms (after taking into
consideration the context).
E.g.:
The boy takes the written exam and the girl takes the
oral exam.
- The boy takes the written exam and the girl takes the
oral one.
- The boy takes the written exam and the girl t the
oral one.
- The boy takes the written one and the girl takes the oral
one. (context)
-*The boy takes the written and the girl takes the oral.
-*The boy takes the written exam and the girl takes.
! Verbs are said to subcategorise into various sub-groups,
depending on whether they require a complement, and
if they do, what type of complement they require.
The verb take requires an NP complement. Its
subcategorisation frames are as follows:
take: [V;_NP]
Reduction of co-ordination in Polish
(obligatory)
In Polish
repeated co-ordinate elements in DS in
which both co-ordinate constituents are
conjoined by “spójnik przeciwstawny”
(e.g. a) must be deleted if the N directly
dominated by S preceeds the co-ordinate
VP or if there are co-ordinate clauses in
which there is the same N dominated by S.
Reduction of co-ordination in Polish
tree representation
E.g.: Chłopiec dał Ani książkę, a dziecku gazetę.
S2
S1

S
S
S
Spw
NP
VP
NP
V
NP NP
N
V N
chłopiec dał Ani
VP
NP
N
N
N
N
książkę
NP
a
chłopiec
dał dziecku gazetę
Reduction of co-ordination in Polish
examples
The lexical material that appears in both
components,
chłopiec dał, cannot be repeated. If it is, then the
sentence is incorrect:
*Chłopiec dał Ani książkę, a chłopiec dał
dziecku gazetę.
*Chłopiec dał Ani książkę, a chłopiec dziecku
gazetę.
*Chłopiec dał Ani książkę, a dał dziecku gazetę.
Reduction of co-ordination
in English
In English:
In Ordinary Coordination we can coordinate only constituents. A constituent
is a set of nodes that are exhaustively
dominated by a common node.
E.g.
The boy gave a book to the girl and (t) a newspaper to the child.
S1
S’
S” and
S
ce
ce
NP
the boy
S
NP
vP
Ie
Spec v’
Ie vP
Spec v’
v
gavel
NP
a book
VP
the boy
v
gavem
VP
NP
V’
V PP
tl
a paper
V’
V PP
tm
to the child
to the girl
In order to find correspondence between the two phrases a book to
the girl/ a paper to the child, maybe we could
Verbs like “give, put” take two complements.
Their subcategorisation frames would be
[ _NP; NP]
[ _NP; PP] eg.
(He) gave the girl a book.
(He) gave a book to the girl.
Such a verb “consists of” two components in its
deep structure:
- a light verb (v)
- an impoverished version of the verb e.g. GIVE
The whole structure is called a VP-shell.
vP
VP-shell
v'
Spec
v
VP
NP
a book V
V’
PP
GAVE
to the girl
If we accept the explanation, then the phrase “a book to the
girl” is treated as a constituent. Thus, it can undergo
coordination.
The boy [vP [GAVE]i [v] [VP[NP a book] [V’ ti [PP to the girl]]]]