Oxford Surveys in Syntax and Morphology provides overviews of the
major approaches to subjects and questions at the centre of linguistic
research in morphology and syntax. The volumes are accessible, critical,
and up to date. Individually and collectively they aim to reveal the
field’s intellectual history and theoretical diversity. Each book published
in the series will characteristically contain: (1) a brief historical
overview of relevant research in the subject; (2) a critical presentation
of approaches from relevant (but usually seen as competing) theoretical
perspectives to the phenomena and issues at hand, including an
objective evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach
to the central problems and issues; (3) a balanced account of the
current issues, problems, and opportunities relating to the topic,
showing the degree of consensus or otherwise in each case. The
volumes will thus provide researchers and graduate students concerned
with syntax, morphology, and related aspects of semantics
with a vital source of information and reference.
Syntactic Categories
OX F O R D S U RV EYS I N S Y N TA X A N D M O R PH O LO G Y
general editor: Robert D. Van Valin, Jr, Heinrich-Heine University and the
University at Buffalo, State University of New York
advisory editors: Guglielmo Cinque, University of Venice; Daniel Everett,
Illinois State University; Adele Goldberg, Princeton University; Kees Hengeveld,
University of Amsterdam; Caroline Heycock, University of Edinburgh; David
Pesetsky, MIT; Ian Roberts, University of Cambridge; Masayoshi Shibatani,
Rice University; Andrew Spencer, University of Essex; Tom Wasow, Stanford
University
published
1. Grammatical Relations
Patrick Farrell
2. Morphosyntactic Change
Olga Fischer
3. Information Structure: The Syntax-Discourse Interface
Nomi Erteschik-Shir
4. Computational Approaches to Syntax and Morphology
Brian Roark and Richard Sproat
5. Constituent Structure (Second edition)
Andrew Carnie
6. Processing Syntax and Morphology: A Neurocognitive Perspective
Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky and Matthias Schlesewsky
7. Syntactic Categories
Gisa Rauh
in preparation
The Acquisition of Syntax and Morphology
Shanley Allen and Heike Behrens
The Phonology–Morphology Interface
Sharon Inkelas
Complex Sentences
Toshio Ohori
Argument Structure: The Syntax–Lexicon Interface
Stephen Wechsler
Syntactic Categories
Their Identification and Description in
Linguistic Theories
GISA RAUH
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide in
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With oYces in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and in certain other countries
Published in the United States
by Oxford University Press Inc., New York
# Gisa Rauh 2010
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
Database right Oxford University Press (maker)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,
or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate
reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction
outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,
Oxford University Press, at the address above
You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover
and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010922496
Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
Printed in Great Britain
on acid-free paper by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire
ISBN 978–0–19–928142–8 (Hbk.)
978–0–19–928143–5 (Pbk.)
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Contents
General Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
1 Introduction
1.1 Categories and categorization in linguistics
1.2 Subject matter, aims, and outline
2 The traditional parts of speech
Introduction
The grammar of Dionysius Thrax
The parts of speech in the Tékhnē grammatikē
The traditional parts of speech in selected grammars of the
nineteenth century
2.5 Parts of speech as semantic categories
2.6 Problems with the traditional parts of speech
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
3 The American Structuralists’ approach: Syntactic categories as
distributional classes
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
Introduction
Language as an object of scientific study
Towards a description of the structures of languages
Identifying syntactic categories
Inconsistencies and problems concerning the identification of
syntactic categories
4 Syntactic categories in early Generative Grammar
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
Introduction
Aspects of the Chomskyan theory of language
On the organization of a Generative Grammar: two examples
Syntactic categories and universal grammar
Reducing the set of categories
Universal vs. language-specific syntactic categories
5 Categories, features, and projections
x
xi
xiii
1
1
8
13
13
14
17
20
24
28
31
31
34
36
41
48
54
54
57
60
68
73
76
82
5.1 Introduction
82
5.2 A modular theory of grammar: the Theory of Principles and
Parameters
84
vi
contents
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3
5.2.4
General theoretical considerations
On determining the D-structure of sentences
On deriving S-structure, LF, and PF
Some important questions
5.3 X-bar theory: on X
5.3.1 The origin of X-bar theory and the identification of
major (lexical) categories
5.3.2 Towards a motivation of the categorial features
5.3.3 Including minor categories
5.3.4 Identifying functional categories
5.4 Lexical and functional categories and the licensing of
constituents
5.4.1 Licensing complements and specifiers of lexical heads
5.4.2 Licensing specifiers of functional heads
5.4.3 Licensing complements of functional heads vs.
licensing functional heads in extended projections of
lexical heads
5.4.4 A modified u-theory and the licensing of functional
heads and adjuncts in projections of lexical heads
5.5 Morphosyntax and syntactic categories
5.5.1 Morphosyntax, word order, and the splitting of IP
5.5.2 Splitting CP and yet more functional categories
5.5.3 Consequences for the identification and description of
syntactic categories
5.6 Features, checking, and syntactic categories
5.6.1 Introductory remarks
5.6.2 An outline of the MP
5.6.3 Syntactic categories in the MP
5.7 Feature-based representations of syntactic categories in the
PPT and the MP
6 Syntactic categories, functional features, and feature structures
84
87
89
92
93
93
96
98
102
107
108
110
113
115
120
120
124
127
129
129
131
136
141
150
6.1 Introduction
150
6.2 A lexical-functional approach to language
153
6.2.1 Considering language universal and language
particular needs
6.2.2 On generating annotated c-structures
153
155
contents
6.3 Syntactic categories in LFG
6.3.1 Functional features and the description of lexical and
functional categories
6.3.2 Conditions on c-structures and their impact on the
description of syntactic categories
6.4 HPSG as a system of signs
6.4.1
6.4.2
6.4.3
6.4.4
Feature structures
On deriving feature structures of type word in the lexicon
Syntactic principles and rules
Instead of transformations
6.5 Syntactic categories in HPSG
6.5.1 Feature structures and the description of syntactic
categories
6.5.2 Some examples as illustration
6.6 Feature structures and syntactic categories in LFG and HPSG
7 Notional approaches to syntactic categories and Cognitive
Grammar
vii
161
162
165
169
171
175
178
183
186
186
190
196
206
7.1 Introduction
206
7.2 Parts of speech, syntactic categories, and notionally-based
categorization
209
7.3 Cognitive Grammar as a usage- and meaning-based alternative
to formal grammars
214
7.3.1 General assumptions
7.3.2 Grammatical constructions: symbolization,
categorization, and integration
7.3.3 Prototypical and non-prototypical component and
clause structures
7.4 Towards an identification of syntactic categories in Cognitive
Grammar
7.4.1 Basic and non-basic grammatical categories
7.4.2 Grammatical constructions and distribution
7.5 Some problems in the identification of syntactic categories
8 A notional-feature basis for syntactic categories in a Localist
Case Grammar
8.1 Introduction
215
220
229
237
237
250
257
264
264
viii
contents
8.2 Notional features and the description of word classes
268
8.2.1 Basic word classes or ‘primary categories’
8.2.2 Intermediate primary categories
8.2.3 Secondary categories
269
271
274
8.3 Subcategorizations and redundancies in the lexicon
279
8.3.1 Categorial selection of complements and by
retro-complements
8.3.2 Functor features specifying valencies
8.4 Building syntactic structures
8.4.1 Syntactic projection
8.4.2 Building surface structures
8.5 Syntactic categories in a Localist Case Grammar
280
282
288
289
290
298
8.5.1 General assumptions, inconsistencies, and problems
8.5.2 Extensions and revisions
299
305
8.6 Notional approaches to syntactic categories and the question
of category structure
313
9 Syntactic categories and language typology
322
9.1 Introduction
322
9.2 Investigating linguistic categories in language typology
325
9.2.1 Parts of speech or ‘word classes’
9.2.2 Syntactic categories or parts of speech?
9.2.3 Lexical and syntactic categories
9.3 A grammatical model for language typology: Dik’s
Functional Grammar
9.3.1 General assumptions, aims, and architecture of the
grammar
9.3.2 Deriving underlying clause structures
9.3.3 Expression rules
9.3.4 Syntactic categories in FG
9.4 An alternative approach: Role and Reference Grammar
9.4.1
9.4.2
9.4.3
9.4.4
Syntactic structures
Logical structures and semantic representations
The linking system
Syntactic vs. lexical categories in RRG
325
332
339
345
346
348
351
355
359
359
369
374
378
contents
9.5 The special situation of language typology
10 Syntactic categories and parts of speech: Two types of
linguistic categorization
10.1 Syntactic categories in linguistic theories: results
and conclusions
10.2 Parts of speech as cognitive lexical categories
References
Author Index
Subject Index
ix
383
389
389
396
401
425
428
General Preface
Oxford Surveys in Syntax and Morphology provides overviews of the
major approaches to subjects and questions at the centre of linguistic
research in morphology and syntax. The volumes are accessible, critical, and up to date. Individually and collectively they aim to reveal the
field’s intellectual history and theoretical diversity. Each book published in the series will characteristically contain: (1) a brief historical
overview of relevant research in the subject; (2) a critical presentation
of approaches from relevant (but usually seen as competing) theoretical perspectives to the phenomena and issues at hand, including an
objective evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach
to the central problems and issues; (3) a balanced account of the
current issues, problems, and opportunities relating to the topic,
showing the degree of consensus or otherwise in each case. The
volumes will thus provide researchers and graduate students concerned with syntax, morphology, and related aspects of semantics
with a vital source of information and reference.
In Syntactic Categories: Their Identification and Description in Linguistic Theories, Professor Gisa Rauh surveys a wide range of linguistic
theories, investigating and discussing their identification and description of syntactic categories – the building blocks of sentences and the
units of grammatical analysis. Her critical examination offers a systematic account of syntactic categories, provides insights into the
functioning of various grammatical models, and deals with formal as
well as functional theories of language and with language typology.
Robert D. Van Valin, Jr
General Editor
University at Buffalo,
The State University of New York
Heinrich Heine University,
Düsseldorf
Acknowledgements
This book owes its existence to a number of people who have directly
or indirectly contributed to the making of it. The first person to be
mentioned is Robert D. Van Valin, Jr, the general editor of the series,
who decided on its topic and its author. I am grateful to him for giving
me the opportunity to write this book. It was quite a challenge but a
rewarding one. Next I would like to thank Hans Thilo Tappe, whose
wide-ranging and at the same time detailed knowledge of linguistic
theories made him the best discussion partner I could have had
concerning all linguistic matters. He has accompanied every section
of this book with valuable comments and suggestions which without
doubt have contributed to its quality.
My thanks also go to Leah Bauke, Stephanie Goethe, and the members of various advanced linguistics classes in the English department
at the University of Wuppertal who studied selected chapters of this
book and in particular ensured that my discussions were clear and
convincing. The comments they made were very valuable. The book
has also profited from the expertise of Helga Helmich and above all
Colin Foskett. Thank you for your support. For the preparation of the
final version of the manuscript, my thanks go to Matthias Naumann
and in particular to Boris Kühne. It was a relief to know these matters
were in good hands.
I would also like to thank John Davey, the consultant editor for linguistics at Oxford University Press, for his friendliness, empathy, patience,
support, and helpful advice while I was preparing and writing this book.
I am extremely grateful to the rheumatologist Helmut E. Stierle, who
immediately realized what the problem was when my right hand
painfully and mysteriously refused its services. Without his successful
therapy I would not have been able to physically finish this book.
Last but not least, there are two men to whom I am indebted and
who deserve my warmest thanks. The first is my husband, Klaus Peters.
He never complained that I had to spend what must have seemed an
interminable length of time at my desk. In fact, he encouraged and
supported me whenever necessary and wherever possible. His interest
in my work has been a constant source of the energy needed
to complete a book like this in addition to my duties as a professor.
xii
acknowledgements
The second man I must thank is my former academic teacher, the late
Thomas Jefferson Gardner of the University of Göttingen. He was
much more to his students than just a professor of linguistics, and it
is unfortunate that he did not live to see this book published. I dedicate
it to the honour of his memory.
Gisa Rauh
University of Wuppertal
List of Abbreviations
A
abl
abs
Acc, ACC, acc
Act
Adj, adj
Adv, adv
AdvP
a-fns
Ag
Agr
AgrO
AgrOP
AgrS
AgrSP
agt
anim
AP
A-P
Arg, ARG
argmkp
ARG-ST
ARP
ASP
ATN
Aux
BV
C
CH
Adjective
Ablative
Absolutive
Accusative
Active
Adjective
Adverb
Adverb Phrase
Argument Functions
Agent
Agreement
Object Agreement
Object-Agreement Phrase
Subject Agreement
Subject-Agreement Phrase
Agent
Animate
Adjective Phrase
Articulatory-Perceptual System
Argument
Argument-Marking Preposition
Argument Structure
Argument Realization Principle
Aspect
Augmented Transition Network
Auxiliary
Bound Variable
Complementizer
Chain
xiv
list of abbreviations
CHL
C-I
cn
cntn
Comp, comp
COMPS
conj
const
CP
CS
c-selection
CSR
c-structure
D, Det
Decl
DEF, def
Deg
deic
d-fns
dim
dir
DP
D-structure
dtv
E
ECP
EPP
erg
EVID
F
F0
F1
F2
Computational System of the Human Language
Conceptual-Intentional System
Common Noun
Count Noun
Complementizer
Complements
Conjunction
Constant
Complementizer Phrase
Complex Symbol
Categorial Selection
Canonical Structural Realization
Constituent Structure
Determiner
Declarative
Definite
Degree
Deictic
Discourse Functions
Dimension
Directive
Determiner Phrase
Deep Structure
Ditransitive Verb
Event(uality)
Empty Category Principle
Extended Projection Principle
Ergative
Evidential
Functor
Functional Head
First Functional Projection
Second Functional Projection
list of abbreviations
f-description
FG
FI
Fin
Foc
f-selection
f-structure
G
Go
GP
GPSG
HPSG
I
IF
I-language
Imp
infl
INT, Int
IP
LDD
LDP
LF
LFG
loc
LP
LS
LSC
lxm
M
masc
massn
max
MLC
Functional Description
Functional Grammar
Full Interpretation
Finite
Focus
Functional Selection
Functional Structure
Grade
Goal
General Principle
Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar
Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar
Inflection
Illocutionary Force
Internal Language
Imperative
Inflecting
Interrogative
Inflection Phrase
Long-Distance Dependencies
Left-Detached Position
Logical Form
Lexical-Functional Grammar
Locative
Linear Precedence Constraint
Logical Structure
Layered Structure of the Clause
Lexeme
Modal Auxiliary
Masculine
Mass Noun
Maximal
Minimal Link Condition/Constraint
xv
xvi
list of abbreviations
Mod
MOD
MP
MP
MR
N
N
Neg
NOM
non-a-fns
non-d-fns
NP
NPIP
ntr
NUC
Num, NUM
Obj, OBJ
OBLG
ocv
P
P
PART
pass
PER, PERS
PF
piv
Plu
pn
PoCS
PP
PPT
PrCS
Pred, PRED
Modality
Modifier
Minimalist Program
Modifier Phrase
Macrorole
Noun
Referentiability
Negation
Nominal
Non-Argument Functions
Non-Discourse Functions
Noun Phrase
NP-Initial Position
Neuter
Nucleus
Number
Object
Obligation
Object-Control Verb
Predicability
Preposition
Participle
Passive
Person
Phonological Form
Prepositional Intransitive Verb
Plural
Proper Noun
Postcore Slot
Preposition Phrase
Principles and Parameters Theory
Precore Slot
Predicate
list of abbreviations
PredP
predp
prep
PRES
proj
Pron, pron
prox
prp
Prt
prt
PSA
psp
ptv
Q, QNT
QUE, ques
R
RDP
Rec
REF, ref
RESTR
R-expression
RLN
RP
RRG
S
scv
SEM
Sg, SG, sg
siv
SoA
SOV
SP
Spec, SPR
Predicate Phrase
Predicational Preposition
Preposition
Present
Projection
Pronoun
Proximal
Present Participle
Particle
Partitive
Privileged Syntactic Argument
Past Participle
Prepositional Transitive Verb
Quantifier
Question
Referent
Right-Detached Position
Recipient
Reference
Restriction
Referential Expression
Relation
Reference Phrase
Role and Reference Grammar
Sentence
Subject-Control Verb
Semantics
Singular
Strict Intransitive Verb
State of Affairs
Subject Object Verb
Specific Principle
Specifier
xvii
xviii
list of abbreviations
srv
s-selection
S-structure
stv
sub
Subj, SUBJ
SVO
SYN
T
TOP, Top
TP
Tr
tu
tv
UG
V
VAL
VP
Subject-Raising Verb
Semantic Selection
Surface Structure
Strict-Transitive Verb
Below
Subject
Subject Verb Object
Syntax
Tense
Topic
Tense Phrase
Transitivity
Second Person
Transitive Verb
Universal Grammar
Verb
Valence
Verb Phrase
1
Introduction
1.1 Categories and categorization in linguistics
This book is concerned with syntactic categories and thus with a
speciWc type of categorization of linguistic items. It seems therefore
appropriate to start the introductory chapter with some remarks on
categories and categorization, both in general and speciWcally in
linguistics.
Categorizing is a fundamental aspect of how humans process reality.
The formation of categories gives structure to the enormous amount of
sensory input. Items that share properties are combined to form
groups, and it is these groups that deWne categories. Because of the
shared properties of their members, categories enable us to formulate
generalizations. In the human perception of reality, the formation of
categories thus serves cognitive economy. Insights and statements no
longer refer to individual items, but can be generalized to whole groups
which are subsumed under categories.
Because of their generalizing nature, categories are indispensable in
any area of scientiWc study. Any science will quite naturally systematize
its object of study. This means, above all, forming categories and
describing the relations between them, thereby providing a structure
and thus yielding insights into the object of study. When forming
categories, it is necessary to establish the basis for their formation
and also what purpose they serve, thus showing what generalizations
follow from the formation of categories and how these generalizations
yield insights into the object of study.
However, when considering what linguists say about categories, no clear
picture emerges. What is immediately obvious is a variety of terminology, including the terms ‘parts of speech’, ‘word classes’, ‘form classes’,
‘lexical categories’, ‘grammatical categories’, and ‘syntactic categories’.
What often remains unclear is whether these terms refer to diVerent
kinds of categories or whether they are more or less synonymous.
- Xem thêm -