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Behavioral Properties of Subjects (1):
Imperatives
• An imperative is a command.
– Close the door.
• Addressed to an agent who can carry
out the command.
– It’s hard to make an imperative with nonagentive verbs:
• ? Be tall.
• ? Know the answer by the time I get back.
Imperatives
• We know that the addressee of an imperative
has to be an agent, but does it have to be a
subject?
• Sentences such as passives have agents that
are not subjects.
– English:
• *The clothes be washed.
– Not an imperative
• Let the clothes be washed!
– Addressee is the subject of let, not the agent of wash
• The cost be damned!
– A special exclamation. Not really an imperative. Addressee
doesn’t do the damning.
Imperatives
– Malagasy (Madagascar): (Van Valin 2.39b)
• Sasao
ny lamba.
wash.passive the clothes
The clothes be washed! (imperative)
Behavioral Properties of Subjects
(2): Reflexives
(and notation for pronoun reference)
• Antecedent: What a pronoun refers to.
– Who is John(i)? He(i) is my brother.
– John(i) thought that he(i/j) would go.
• John can be the antecedent of he in both examples.
• Reflexive Pronoun:
–
–
–
–
I(i) saw myself(i/*j).
You saw yourself.
He saw himself.
Etc.
Reflexive Pronouns in English
• James(i) saw himself(i).
– Antecedent is subject.
• James(i) told Miriam(j) about himself(i).
– Antecedent is subject.
• James(i) told Miriam(j) about herself(j).
– Antecedent is direct object.
• Miriam(j) talked to/with Sam(i) about himself(i).
– Antecedent is oblique (prepositional phrase).
Reflexive Pronouns in Norwegian
• Reflexive pronoun #1:
– Jon(i) fortalte meg om seg selv(i).
John told
me
about himself.
(Antecedent is subject.)
– *Vi fortalte Jon(i) om seg selv(i).
We told
John about himself.
Antecedent must be the subject.
Reflexive Pronouns in Norwegian
• Reflexive pronoun #2:
– *Jon(i) snakker om ham selv(i).
John talks
about himself.
(Antecedent is subject.)
– Vi fortalte Jon(i) om ham selv(i).
We told
John about himself.
Antecedent cannot be the subject.
Behavioral Properties of
Subjects (3): Wh-extraction
• Who ate my sandwich?
– Who is the subject of eat.
• Who did Pat see?
– Who is the direct object of see.
• Who did Leslie give the tickets to?
– Who is the object of a preposition.
• To whom did Leslie give the tickets.
– To whom is a prepositional phrase.
• Who is Chris taller than?
– Who is the object of a comparative.
Wh-extraction
• Question words begin with wh in English.
• The question word is extracted from the position
that is normal for its grammatical relation
(subject position, object position, etc.) and is
placed at the beginning of the sentence.
• Some languages use wh-in-situ (in place):
– You saw what?
– In English this is used only for expressing surprise or
to indicate that you missed part of the previous
sentence.
Cleft Formation
• It was Pat who ate my sandwich.
– Pat is subject of eat.
• It was Pat who Chris saw.
– Pat is object of see.
• It was Pat who Leslie gave the tickets to.
– Pat is object of a preposition.
• It was Pat who Chris was taller than.
– Pat is object of comparison.
Languages with restricted whextraction
• It is not common for wh-extraction to be limited
to certain grammatical relations.
• When it is restricted, it is generally restricted to
subjects.
• Malagasy
–
–
–
–
Subject can be extracted.
Object cannot be extracted.
Recipient cannot be extracted.
Instrument and other prepositional phrases can be
extracted.
– Passive voice and other voices create subjects so
that they can be extracted.
Behavioral Properties of Subjects
(4): Relative Clauses
NP
N-bar
S-bar
S
N-bar
Det N
NP
The person who
VP
V
bought
Relative Clause
NP
the house
Head
Relative Pronoun
Components of Relative
Clauses
• Head noun: person
• Sentence from which something is
extracted.
– Bought the house.
• Relative pronoun or complementizer:
– The person who bought the house.
– The person that bought the house.
Relative Clauses
• The whole thing is an NP and can be in
any NP position.
– The person who bought the house is nice.
• Subject
– I met the person who bought the house.
• Object
– I talked to the person who bought the house.
• Object of a preposition.
Relative Clauses in English
• The extracted (relativized) can have any
grammatical relation in English.
– I met the person who saw you.
• Subject is relativized.
– I met the person who you saw.
• Direct object is relativized.
– I met the person who you talked to.
• Object of a preposition is relativized.
– I met the person who you are taller than.
• Object of comparison is relativized.
Relative Clauses in English
• If something other than the subject is
relativized in English, the relative pronoun
or complementizer can be omitted:
– The person I met.
– The person I talked to.
– The person you are taller than.
– *The person bought the house.
• Not a relative clause.
Participial clauses in English
• These are not relative clauses:
– [NP The person buying the house] is rich.
– [NP The person tormented by nightmares] couldn’t
sleep.
• Can’t have relative pronouns or
complementizers (although that is not a criterion
for being a relative clause in other languages):
– *the person who/that buying the house is rich
– *the person who/that tormented by nightmares is rich
Relative Clauses in English
• These are relative clauses:
– The person who is buying the house
– The person who is tormented by nightmares
Relative clauses in your language
• Your language here.
Relative clauses in Malagasy
•
•
•
•
Subject can be relativized.
Direct object cannot be relativized.
Instrument cannot be relativized.
Passive and other voices create new subjects so
that they can be relativized.
• Compare to participial clauses in English.
– [NP The person [s washing the clothes]]
– * [NP The clothes [s the person washing]]
• Intendent to mean the clothes that the person is washing.
– [NP The clothes [s being washed by the person]]
Behavioral Properties of Subjects:
matrix coding as subject
Matrix Clause
S
NP
VP
V
S-bar
Embedded Clause
S
COMP
It
seems that
NP
VP
they have left.
Behavioral Properties of Subjects:
matrix coding as subject
S
NP
S
VP
V
NP
S-bar
VP
V
VP-bar
S
COMP
It
seems that
NP
VP
VP
COMP
they have left. They seem to
have left.
Behavioral Properties of Subject:
Matrix Coding as Subject
• Seem takes one semantic argument.
• Two syntactic subcategorization frames
– Dummy subject and tensed clause
– Subject and infinitive clause missing a subject
• Subject of embedded clause is coded as
subject of matrix clause
– Occurs before the matrix verb in English
– Matrix verb agrees with it
Behavioral Properties of Subject:
Matrix Coding as Subject
• What does this have to do with subjects?
• Only the subject of the embedded clause
can be removed from the lower clause and
coded as the matrix clause subject.
– * They seem I to have seen ____.
– * The knife seems I to have cut the bread
with.
What is the subject of these
sentences?
•
•
•
•
There is a problem.
There are problems.
In this village lives a wise man.
In this village live many people.
Matrix coding as subject: more
commonly known as Raising-to-Subject
Lower clause subject is raised to be
the subject of the matrix clause.
S
NP
S
VP
V
NP
S-bar
VP
V
VP-bar
S
COMP
It
seems that
NP
VP
VP
COMP
they have left. They seem to
have left.
Behavioral Properties of Subjects: Matrix
Coding as Object: a.k.a. Raising-to-Object
or Exceptional Case Marking
• Believe takes to semantic arguments.
• Two syntactic subcategorization frames:
• Subject and tensed embedded clause.
• Subject, object, and infinitive VP
• I believe that they have left.
• I believe them to have left.
Matrix Clause
S
NP
VP
V
S-bar
S
COMP
NP
I believe that they
Embedded Clause
VP
have left
S
NP
VP
V
NP
VP-bar
COMP VP
I
believe them
to have left
S
NP
Raising-to-Object: We will
use this one in this class.
VP
V
NP
VP-bar
COMP VP
I
believe them
to have left
S
NP
VP
Exceptional Case Marking: we
will not use this one.
S
V
NP
VP-bar
COMP VP
I
believe them
to
have left
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
Behavioral property of subjects
only
• 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.
Test with raising to object
• There are some problems.
• In the village live many people.
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.
I believe that Chris ate a sandwich.
I believe that a sandwich was eaten by Chris.
I believe a sandwich to have been eaten by
Chris.
Raising in Malagasy
• See handout
Behavioral Properties of Subjects:
Control by Matrix Subject
• Pat is the agent of try and the agent of
open.
• PatSis also the subject of both verbs.
NP
VP
V
VP-bar
VP
COMP
Pat tried to
open the window
Control by matrix subject: a.k.a.
Equi NP Deletion
• Pat tried Pat to open the window.
• Pat tried __ to open the window.
Control as a properties of
subjects.
• Pat tried ___ to open the window.
controller
controllee
Only the subject of the lower (embedded) clause
can be the controllee:
* Pat tried Kim to see ___
Seem and Try
(more about this later in the semester)
• 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.
Control by Matrix Object
S
NP
VP
V
NP
VP-bar
COMP VP
I persuaded Pat
to leave
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.
Believe and Persuade
• 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.
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.
Control in Malagasy
• See handout.
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?
Conjunction Reduction
• Bill saw Sam and left.
– Who left?
• Bill saw Sam and greeted him.
– Who greeted someone?
• *Bill(i) saw Sam(j) and he(i) greeted ___(j).
• What can be the controller of conjunction reduction?
• What can be the controllee of conjunction reduction?
See handout
• Conjunction reduction in Malagasy.
• Conjunction reduction and control in Tindi.
Three kinds of empty arguments
• Pro-drop: The empty argument is
understood with a definite reference: he,
she, it, they, etc.
• Optional argument with indefinite
reference.
• Semantic valency change.
Pro-drop
• English sentences almost always have a
subject noun phrase:
– She studied.
• Dummy or pleonastic subjects:
– It is raining
– There is a problem.
• Apparent exceptions due to ellipsis:
– Does he like chocolate? Seems to.
– What are you going to do? Study real hard.
Pro-drop languages
• The subject noun phrase can be missing,
but is understood as a pronoun referring to
something specific:
– Your language here.
• The direct object noun phrase (or other
noun phrases) can also be dropped in
some languages.
– Your language here.
Optional arguments in English
• The children ate chocolate.
• The children ate.
– What does this mean?
• What happened to the cake?
– The children ate it.
– *The children ate.
Optional argument vs. semantic
valency change
•
•
•
•
•
The pirates sank the boat.
The boat was sunk by the pirates.
The boat was sunk.
The boat sank.
The boat was sunk to destroy the enemy.
– Presence of a purpose clause indicates that there is
an unspecified agent. Two semantic roles: agent
and theme.
• *The boat sank to destroy the enemy.
– Inability to take a purpose clause indicates that the
sentence contains only one semantic role – theme.