synta的x 2.pptVIP

 Session 2 Categories and Structure Coming... 1. Grammatical categories 2. Argument structure 3. Theta Theory 4. The subject and object theta roles A grammatical category is a class of expressions which share a common set of grammatical properties. 1. Grammatical categories How about “to”? It is important for John to make a proposal. In the late 1970s, Chomsky suggested that there are significant similarities between infinitival “to” and a typical auxiliary like “should”. E.g. It’s vital that John should show an interest. It’s vital for John to show an interest. Furthermore, infinitival to, like typical auxiliaries but unlike typical nonauxiliary verbs, allows ellipsis of its complement: I don’t really want to go to the dentist’s, but I know I should. I know I should go to the dentist’s, but I just don’t want to. I know I should go to the dentist’s, but I just don’t want.＊ The fact that to patterns like the auxiliary should in several respects strengthens the case for regarding infinitival to and auxiliaries as belonging to the same category. But what category? Chomsky (1981) suggested that resulting category be labeled INFL or Inflection, and in his later work he replaced INFL by the single-letter symbol I. The general idea behind this label is that finite auxiliaries inflect for tense/agreement, and infinitival to serves much the same function in English as infinitive inflections in languages like Italian. complementizer Abbreviated to COMP in earlier work and to C in more recent work This is a term used to describe a special kind of (italicized) word which is used to introduce complement clauses such as those bracketed below: a. I think [that you may be right.] b. I doubt [if you can help me.] c. I’m anxious [for you to receive the best treatment possible.] Complementizers in these structures serve three grammatical functions: 1. They mark the fact that the clause they introduce is the complement of some other word (think, doubt, an