English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

The Constituent Structure of VPs (1)

FIRST APPROXIMATION: The constituent structure of
(1)
The young linguist will meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch.
is
(2)

a.

[NP The young linguist] will [VP meet [NP his friend] [PP in the local
gallery] [PP after lunch]]

The Constituent Structure of VPs (1)

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

b.

NP

AUX

VP

V
The young linguist

will

NP

PP

PP

meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch

AUX is not part of the VP.

The structure of VP is flat: NP and the two PPs are all sisters to V, its
complements. Adequate?

The Constituent Structure of VPs (1)

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

Pseudo-clefting
Principle
Only a constituent may occur in the focus of a pseudo-cleft.
Whatever occurs in the focus of a pseudo-cleft is a constituent.
(1)
(3)

The young linguist will meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch.
a. What the young linguist will do is meet his friend in the local
gallery after lunch.
b. What the young linguist will do after lunch is meet his friend in the
local gallery.
c. What the young linguist will do in the local gallery after lunch is
meet his friend.
Conclusion: the following are all constituents of (1).
(4)
a. meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch
b. meet his friend in the local gallery
c. meet his friend
The Constituent Structure of VPs (1)

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

Substitution by do so
Rationale: Whatever do so replaces is a constituent.
(1)
The young linguist will meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch.
(5)
a. He will do so indeed. (=meet his frd in the local gy after lunch)

(6)

b.

He will do so before lunch. (=meet his friend in the local gallery)

c.

He will do so at the university before class. (=meet his friend)

a.

The young lt will meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch and
the President will do so, too.
The young lt will meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch but
the President will do so after dinner.
The young lt will meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch but
the President will do so in the lobby after dinner.

b.
c.

The Constituent Structure of VPs (1)

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

Do so replaces
(7)
a. meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch
b. meet his friend in the local gallery
c. meet his friend
Conclusion: the following are all constituents of (1).
(8)
a. meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch
b. meet his friend in the local gallery
c. meet his friend
Substitution by do so and pseudo-clefting lead to the same conclusion: (8)=(4).
(8a) is a constituent of (1). (8a) contains (8b), also a constituent of (1). One
constituent may contain another.
(8b), part of (8a), contains (8c), also a constituent of (1). A constituent may
contain another, which may contain another, and so on.
(9)

The constituent structure of VP is not flat but hierarchic.

(The first approximation is rejected.)

The Constituent Structure of VPs (1)

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

The Constituent Structure of VPs (2)

SECOND APPROXIMATION (ALMOST FINAL VERSION): VPs have a
hierarchic internal constituent structure
(10)
S
NP

AUX

VP
V'
V'
V

PP
PP

NP

The young linguist will meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch

NP is complement of V in V. The local PP is adjoined to V under a higher V, the same category. The second PP modifies the higher V under VP. Neither
PP relates directly to V. The local PP modifies the V meet his friend and the temporal PP modifies the extended V meet his friend in the local gallery.
The Constituent Structure of VPs (2)

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

The Constituent Structure of VPs (3)

THIRD (FINAL) VERSION: VP ADJUNCTS IN GENERAL ARE VPADJOINED.

Sentence-medial adverb phrases

(11)

John will very often buy novels.

Facts to consider and account for:

1. The AdvP very often modifies the entire VP buy novels.
2. We must ensure that the AdvP precedes the VP buy novels.
3. Both buy novels and very often buy novels appear to be VPs, since either
may occur in the focus of a pseudo-cleft, and either may be replaced by do
so, cf.:
(12)
(13)

a.
b.
a.
b.

What John will very often do is buy novels.

What John will do is very often buy novels.
John will very often buy novels and Mary will very often do so, too.
John will very often buy novels and Mary will do so, too.

The Constituent Structure of VPs (3)

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

The simplest way to ensure that an AdvP both modifies a VP and is itself a
constituent of a VP (along with the VP that it modifies) is to assume that
sentence-medial AdvPs are left-adjoined to VP.
Therefore we conclude that sentence-medial adverb phrases are VP-adjoined.
(14)

S
NP AUX

VP
AdvP

VP
V

NP

John will very often buy novels

The Constituent Structure of VPs (3)

English Syntax 1

(15)

The Constituent Structure of VPs

Mary will probably always remember this story.

S
NP AUX

VP
AdvP

VP
AdvP

VP
V

NP

Mary will probably always remember this story

The Constituent Structure of VPs (3)

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

Some AdvPs may occur either medially, as in (14), or finally:

(16)

Mary will read this book very often.

S
VP

NP AUX
VP
V
Mary will

AdvP
NP

read this book very often

On the simplest assumption, they are adjoined to VP too.

In general, VP-adverbials (AdvPs modifying a VP) are adjoined to VP.

The Constituent Structure of VPs (3)

10

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

(17)

S
NP

AUX

VP
VP

PP
PP

VP
V'
V

NP

The young linguist will meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch

The Constituent Structure of VPs (3)

11

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

A sentence may contain both medial and final AdvPs. They are all adjoined to
VP in a layered hierarchic structure. Sentence-medial AdvPs are left-adjoined,
sentence-final AdvPs are right-adjoined to VP.
S
(18)
NP

AUX

VP
VP

AdvP
VP

PP
PP

VP
V'
V

NP

The young linguist will very often meet his friend in the local gallery after lunch
The Constituent Structure of VPs (3)

12

English Syntax 1

The Constituent Structure of VPs

References
. Kiss, Katalin and Anna Szabolcsi. 1992. Grammatikaelmleti bevezet. In
Kiefer 1992: 2177.
Kiefer, Ferenc (ed.). 1992. Strukturlis magyar nyelvtan. Vol. 1, Mondattan.
Budapest: Akadmiai Kiad.
Haegeman, Liliane and Jacqueline Guron. 1999. English Grammar: A
Generative Perspective. Blackwell Textbooks in Linguistics. Oxford:
Balckwell.
Cowper, Elizabeth A. 1992. A Concise Introduction to Syntactic Theory: The
Government-Binding Approach. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

References

13