Syntactic relations

Revision as of 20:39, 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
• COMP (i.e., complement)
• ADJT (i.e., adjunct)
• SPEC (i.e., specifier)

HEAD

The HEAD is the nucleus or the source of the whole syntactic structure, which is actually derived (or projected) out of it.
In the UNL^arium framework, there are 8 different possible heads:

• N = nouns and nominals: personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, nominalizations, etc
• V = verbs
• J = adjectives
• A = adverbs^[1]
• P = prepositions
• D = determiners: articles, demonstrative determiners, possessive determiners, quantifiers
• I = auxiliary verbs
• C = conjunctions

SPEC

SPEC (specifier) is an external argument, i.e., a word, phrase or clause which qualifies (determines) the head. They include:

• articles: the (book), a (book), etc.
• possessive determiners: my (book), your (book), etc.
• demonstrative determiners: this (book), that (book), etc.
• quantifiers: no (answer), every (hour), etc.
• intensifiers (emphasizers, amplifiers, downtoners): very (expensive), quite (well), nearly (under), etc.

COMP

COMP (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). They may be:

• direct objects: (do) something, (give) something
• indirect objects: (laugh at) something, (give to) someone
• complement of deverbals (i.e., nouns deriving from verbs): (construction of) the city, (arrival of) Peter
• complement of adjectives: (loyal) to the queen, (interested) in Chemistry
• complement of adverbs: (contrarily) to popular belief, (independently) from her
• complement of prepositions: (under) the table, (after) today
• complement of conjunctions: (and) Peter, (I don't know if) he'll come

ADJT

ADJT (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):

• adjectives: beautiful (table)
• adverbs: (speak) slowly
• prepositional phrases: (table) of wood

Examples

Consider, for instance, the examples below:

Verbal Phrase (VP)

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

• "gave" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole VP (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")^[2]
• "yesterday" and "in the school" are ADJT (adjuncts) of "gave" (because, although relevant, they are not necessary to complete the meaning of "gave")^[3]
• "Peter" is the SPEC (specifier) of "gave" (because it is the subject of "gave")

Nominal Phrase (NP)

a new book

• "book" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole NP (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")^[4]
• "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 NP (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")^[5]
• "the" is the SPEC (specifier) of "book" (because it determines the reference of "book")

Adjective Phrase (JP)

very beautiful

• "beautiful" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole JP (because the whole structure is derived from "beautiful")
• "very" is the SPEC (specifier) of "beautiful" (because it intensifies the meaning of "beautiful")

loyal to the King

• "loyal" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole JP (because the whole structure is derived from "loyal")
• "to the King" is a COMP (complement) of "loyal" (because it is necessary to complete the meaning of "loyal")^[6]

Adverbial Phrase (AP)

very sadly

• "sadly" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole AP (because the whole structure is derived from "sadly")
• "very" is the SPEC (specifier) of "beautiful" (because it intensifies the meaning of "sadly")

contrarily to popular belief

• "contrarily" is the HEAD (nucleus) of the whole AP (because the whole structure is derived from "contrarily")
• "to popular belief" is a COMP (complement) of "contrarily" (because it is necessary to complete the meaning of "contrarily")

Notes

1. ↑ In the X-bar theory, differently from the UNLarium approach, adverbs are subsumed by prepositions and are not considered to be an independent lexical category.
2. ↑ 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.
3. ↑ The sentence "Peter gave a new book to Mary", although less informative, would be still well-formed.
4. ↑ The phrase "a book" would be still meaningful.
5. ↑ 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).
6. ↑ The absence of the complement, in certain cases, does not mean that it does not exist. Sentences like "He is loyal" only makes sense when the complement of "loyal", although elliptical, is known (from the context, for instance).