语言学第四章要点(2011-10-11 21:15:48)说明：本章要点参考了多本教材，其中的X-bar theory, Universal Grammar, merger and move等部分仅供考研的同学参考。
其他同学不做要求。
第四章Syntax句法学1.Syntax定义is a subfield of linguistics that studies the sentence structure of language. Sentences are structured according to particular arrangement of words.2、Syntax as a system of rules. as a major component of grammar, syntax consists of a set of abstract rules that allow words to be combined with other words to form grammatical sentences3、Sentence structureSubject all language have ways of referring to some entity, such as a person , a place, a thing, an idea, or an event, this referring expression is grammatically called subject. A subject may be a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence that usually precedes the predicate.2.Type of sentence英语的句子中的三种基本类型是什么？Traditionally, three major types of sentences are distinguished. They are simple sentence, coordinate or compound sentence and complex sentence.A simple sentence consists of a single clause which contains a subject and a predicate and stands alone as its own sentence. For example, ① John reads extensively. the sentences contains a single clause and can stand structurally independent.A coordinate sentence并列句 contains two clauses joined by a linking word called coordinat ing conjunction, such as “and”, “but”, “or”. The two clauses in a coordinate sentence are structurally equal parts of the sentence; neither is subordinate to the other. For example, ③ John is reading a linguistic book, and Mary is preparing for her history exam.A complex sentence contains two or more clauses, one of which is incorporated into the other. The two clauses in a complex sentence have unequal status, one subordinating the other. The incorporated, or subordinate, clause is normally called an embedded clause子句, and the clause into which it is embedded is called a matrix sentence主句. For example, ⑤ Mary told Jane [that John liked linguistics]. In the above examples, the clauses in the square brackets are embedded clauses. Theyare subordinate to the clauses outside the brackets which are called matrix clauses.A complex sentence的特征：Some conclusions can be drawn from the complex sentence.1、an embedded clause functions as a grammatical unit in its matrix clause.2.most embedded clauses require an introductory word called a subordinator, such as “that”,” if ”.3.an embedded clause may not function as a grammatically well-formed sentence if it stands independently as a simple sentence unless it form changes.3、linearly- and hierarchically-structured.(线形结构和层次结构Language is a highly structured system of communication. Sentences are not formed by randomly(随意)combining lexical items, but by following a set of syntactic rules that arrange linguistic elements in a particular order to make a string of words not only meaningful but also linearly- and hierarchically-structured.(线形结构和层次结构)Hierarchical structure: the sentence structure that groups words into structural constituents and shows the syntactic categories of each structural constituent, such as NP and VP.5、Syntactic categories:句法类型1.lexical categories词类 (four major lexical categories and six minor lexical categories)2. Phrasal categories 短语类(lexical items have certain combinational properties that allow them to combine with words of different categories to form phrase. NP VP PP AP)6、Grammatical relations(语法关系) The structural and logical relations of constituents are called grammatical relations. It concerns the way each noun phrase in the sentence relates to the verb. (who does what do whom). Structural vs. logical subject, object. (**)7、Combinational rules组合规则1、Phrase structural rules The combinational pattern in a linear formula may be called a phrase structural rule, or rewrite rule. It allows us to better understand how words and phrases form sentences, and so on.2、Syntactic movement and movement rules Syntactic movement occurs whena constituent in a sentence moves out of its original place to a new position, the sentence involving which cannot be described by phrase structure rules. It was governed by transformational rules, the operationof which may change the syntactic representation of a sentence (句法的表达方式).3、什么是X-标杆理论?X-bar theory is a general and highly abstract schema that collapses all phrasal structure rules into a single format: X″→ (Spec) X (Compl). In this format, Spec stands for specifier while Compl stands for complement. This theory is capable of reducing the redundancies of individual phrasal structure rules and may well capture certain basic properties shared by all phrasal categories, i.e. NP, VP, AP, PP, across the languages of the world.4、Syntactic movement and movement rulesSyntactic movement occurs when a constituent in a sentence moves out of its original place to a new position, the sentence involving which cannot be described by phrase structure rules. It was governed by transformational rules, the operation of which may change the syntactic representation of a sentence (句法的表达方式).1 NP-movement and WH-movementNP-movement occurs when, for example, a sentence changes from the active voice to the passive voice (postpose, prepose).WH-movement is obligatory in English. It changes a sentence from affirmative to interrogative.2 Other types of movementAUX-movement (auxiliary)3 D-structure and S-structureThe syntactic component of the grammar:Phrase Structure Rules + the Lexicon (词汇)（generate）―――D-structure (deep structure) ―――Movement Rules （ transform）―――― S-structure (Surface structure) A sentence may not look different when it is at different syntactic levels. Since syntactic movement does not occur to all sentences, the D-structure and S-structure of some sentences look exactly the same at different levels of representation.4 Moreα-a general movement ruleThere is a general movement rule accounting for the syntactic behavior of any constituent movement, called Moveα(or Move Alpha), which means “move any constituent to any place”. The problem is Moveαis too powerful and the grammar should include some conditions which will restrain this power and stimulate tha t only “certain constituents” move to “certain positions”.7、Toward a theory of universal grammarSince early 1980s, Noam Chomsky and other generative linguists proposed and developed a theory of universal grammar (UG) known as the principles and parameters theory. According to Chomsky, UG is a system of linguistic knowledge and a human species-specific gift, which exists in the mind or brain of a normal human being. According to principles-and-parameters framework, UG consists of a set of general conditions, or general principles, that generate phrases and at the same time restrain the power of Moveα, thus preventing this rule from applying in certain cases. UG also contains a set of parameters that allow general principles to operate in certain ways, according to which particular grammar of natural languages vary。
