Syntactic relations

Revision as of 19:45, 13 August 2013

Syntactic roles are the roles that constituents play inside a syntactic structure. The UNL^arium framework follows the X-bar approach and proposes four syntactic roles:

• HEAD is the nucleus or the source of the whole syntactic structure, which is actually derived (or projected) out of it.
• COMP (i.e., complement) is an internal argument, i.e., a word, phrase or clause which is necessary to the head to complete its meaning (e.g., objects of transitive verbs);
• ADJT (i.e., adjunct) is a word, phrase or clause which modifies the head but which is not syntactically required by it (adjuncts are expected to be extranuclear, i.e., removing an adjunct would leave a grammatically well-formed sentence);
• SPEC (i.e., specifier) is an external argument, i.e., a word, phrase or clause which qualifies (determines) the head;

Examples

Consider, for instance, the examples below:

1. Verbal Phrase (VP)

Peter gave a new book to Mary yesterday in the school.

• "gave" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole verbal phrase (because the whole structure is derived from "gave")
• "a new book" and "to Mary" are COMP (complements) of "gave" (because they are necessary to complete the meaning of "gave")^[1]
• "yesterday" and "in the school" are ADJT (adjuncts) of "gave" (because, although relevant, they are not necessary to complete the meaning of "gave")^[2]
• "Peter" is the SPEC (specifier) of "gave" (because it is the subject of "gave")

2. Nominal Phrase (NP)

a new book

• "book" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole verbal phrase (because the whole structure is derived from "book")
• "new" is an ADJT (adjunct) to "book" (because it is not necessary to complete the meaning of "book")^[3]
• "a" is the SPEC (specifier) of "book" (because it determines the reference of "book")

the construction of Babel

• "construction" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole verbal phrase (because the whole structure is derived from "construction")
• "of Babel" is a COMP (complement) of "construction" (because it is necessary to complete the meaning of "construction")^[4]
• "a" is the SPEC (specifier) of "book" (because it determines the reference of "book")

Notes

1. ↑ The sentences "*Peter gave to Mary yesterday in the school" (i.e., without "a new book") and "*Peter gave a new book yesterday in the school" (without "to Mary") will not be well-formed in the sense that something would be missing.
2. ↑ The sentence "Peter gave a new book to Mary", although less informative, would be still well-formed.
3. ↑ The phrase "a book" would be still meaningful.
4. ↑ The absence of the complement, in certain cases, does not mean that it does not exist. Sentences like "The construction failed" only makes sense when the complement of "construction", although elliptical, is known (from the context, for instance).