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Structures1:
Minimalist Approach
Resty M. Cena
Universidad ng Pilipinas-Diliman
restycena@gmail.com
Minimalism is the second and current approach within the Principles and
Parameters approach. Preceding Minimalism was Government and Binding theory.
1
Lecture notes in Linguistics 140, second semester, school year 2006-2007.
Our objective in this study is to bring to fore properties of Tagalog that have the
potential to contribute to the clarification of issues in minimalist studies. Going in
the other direction, we will use the minimalist framework on Tagalog data to
elucidate some of the ways the language works.
XP
/
Specifier X’
/ \
X Complement
The example below shows the x-bar structure of the prepositional phrase talagang
para diyan. The items match one-for-one the items in the schema above.
Talagang para diyan
PP
/
ADV P’ The adverb talaga serves as
specifier of para
talaga +ng / \
P PRN The pronoun diyan serves as
complement of para.
para diyan
PP
/
ADV P’ Step 2: Merge P’ and ADV to
form PP
talaga+ng / \
P PRN Step 1: Merge P and PRN to form
P’
para diyan
1. First, we merge the preposition P para and its complement, the pronoun
diyan, to form the (small) prepositional phrase P’ para diyan.
2. Then we merge the resulting structure P’ with the specifier adverb ADV
talaga+ng to form the prepositional phrase PP talagang para diyan.
The structure PP consists of two sub-structures, P’ and ADV. P’ in turn consists of two
sub-structures, P and PRN. That a syntactic structure may consist of two and only
two structures is guaranteed by the Binarity Principle.
BINARITY PRINCIPLE2
Every syntactic structure is binary-branching.
HEADEDNESS PRINCIPLE
Every syntactic structure is a projection of a head word.
The structures P’ and PP in the diagram above are projections of the head word
para.
C ONTAIN
A constituent X contains another constituent Y if there is a direct path from X to Y
and X is higher up in the structure than Y.
Hence, PP contains all the constituents underneath PP. P’ contains the constituents P
and PRN.
C-COMMAND
A constituent c-commands its sister and all its constituents.
2
Definitions are from Radford, Andrew. 1994. Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of
English. Cambridge University Press.
Thus P’ c-commands ADV because ADV is its sister. Regular c-command is a
symmetrical relation (an anti-symmetrical c-command is recognized). Hence, ADV c-
commands P’ because P’ is a sister, and ADV also c-commands P and PRN because
they are daughters of P’, which is a constituent that ADV c-commands. Neither P nor
PRN c-commands ADV because ADV is not a sister nor is it a constituent under a
constituent that P’ c-commands.
Features
Lexical items at the end of the branches of the tree include grammatical features.
Functional items can simply be a bundle of grammatical features. The orthographic
forms we see on the page are merely convenient labels. For example, the pronoun
sila will enter into the derivation with at least the following features.
P’
/ \
PRN
sila
[3-Per] 3rd person
[pl-Nbr] plural number
[u-Case] unvalued case
Agreement relations are expressed using features. Features are checked to steer
derivations in the right direction: a representation legible to both the semantic and
phonetic interpretations.
Lexical Phrases
Lexical phrases are headed by a lexical item (as opposed to functional item). Some
common lexical phrases:
Head
DP determiner phrase determiner lahat ng panday
PP preposition phrase preposition talagang para sa bata
VP verb phrase verb root bumili ng basi
AP adjective phrase adjective root sabik sa anak
NP noun phrase noun tao sa bukid
DP
/ \
D’ QP Quantifier phrase serves as specifier
/ \ lahat
D NP Determiner ng is head of the phrase
ng mga panday
The set of determiner consists of the particles ang, ng, sa, si, ni, kay, and their
plural counterparts.
Later, we will look more closely at the range of structures that come under DP, for
example:
PP
/ \
P’ ADV
/ \ talaga +ng
P DP
para sa bata
Some other words that may be used in place of para in the above are: doon, diyan,
dine, buhat, galing, tungo, … Most of these have longer forms: nandoon, nandiyan,
nandine, naroroon, naririyan, naririne, … The last three forms mentioned carry CVr
of the type that verbs use. Others like buhat, galling, and tungo show forms that
indicate states: nagbuhat, nanggaling, patungo. Many forms we call preposition
may well support a verb analysis. Even the quintessential preposition para allows a
verb form.
AP
/ \
A’ ADV
/ \ higit + na
A DP A fully extended x-bar
structure inside an x-bar
sabik / \ structure
D’ Comparative
/ \ kaysa
D N
sa panday
The diagram may appear complex, but it is simply our basic x-bar structure (AP),
whose head takes a complement that is a fully specified x-bar structure (DP).
Complex structures are hierarchies of x-bar structures.
VP
/ \
V’ ADV
/ \ madalas
V DP
bili ng basi
The affix –um- is not part of VP. It is head of another projection that we will discuss
later.
NP
/ \
N’ AP
/ \ kalbo+ng
N PP
tao sa buwan
Sentences
English main sentences have a verb as head of the predicate. It is the finite tense in
the verb that is responsible for a subject expression.
TP Tense Phrase
/
PRN T’
he / \
T V’
[past-Tense] / \
V DP
read the book
Given a finite verb, an English sentence must have a subject. This is captured in the
following generalization.
T’ T is voice “tinig”.
/ \
T VP T –um- , not the root bili,
specifies the Voice of the verb.
um / \
V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
bili ng basi
With only an aspect affix, the verb has no subject, thus:
Furthermore, pag-nominalizations may show aspect and mode, but it is the lack of
voice that conditions an unselected subject.
Later on we will show that T carries a feature that, when satisfied, displaces the
agent si Ben to subject position.
Mabilis si Ben.
The prefix ma- requires a subject. Compare the above sentence with adjectival
sentences below, which don’t carry the ma- adjective affix, and which are
subjectless.
Kabilis ni Ben.
Napakabilis ni Ben.
Pinakamabilis si Ben.
A few bare adjectives, for example, pandak, pangit, pikon, etc., don’t accept the
ma- affix, thus, *mapandak, *mapangit, *mapikon, but show a subject.
The ma- affix shows up in these adjectives in certain constructions, for example :
It would appear that PP alone cannot serve as predicate. One potential exception is
a PP introduced by para, as in the sentence:
Other examples:
T’
/ \
T VP
may / \
V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
Ø pera
Other examples:
May pera.
May pera kay Ben.
May pera kay Obet si Ben.
Mayroong pera kay Ben.
T’
/ \
T VP
taga / \ The noun-forming affix taga serves as
T
V DP
panday si Ben
As for sentences with bare nouns as predicate, a null T variant of the nominalizer
taga is proposed. The absence of an affix is what distinguishes pure nouns from
adjectives and verbs.
T’
/ \
T VP
Ø / \
V DP
panday si Ben
taga- attaches successfully with many bare nouns, thus: tagapanday, tagadoktor,
tagapangulo, taganars, tagapulis, etc., though not with many others, such as, *taga-
presidente, *taga-senador, *taga-sundalo.
Ricardo Nolasco (pers. comm.) suggests that in constructions like Panday si Ben,
panday is attributive rather than referential, hence, it is not a nominal expression.
Summary
Heads of predicate phrases are typically affixes on the head word of the predicate.
This approach succeeds in constructions where the head word has the following
affixes:
For bare nominal heads, we proposed a null variant of taga-, and for bare adjectives
a null variant of ma-, thus:
Time expressions (e.g. Sa lingo ang pista.) are PPs if not DPs.
Subject as Specifier
Where do subjects come from?
Subject as Specifier of VP
It is standard practice in minimalist analysis to locate the agent phrase (which is the
default subject phrase in English and other languages) initially in the specifier
position of VP (spec-VP), as shown in the diagram below.
T’
/ \
T VP
um / \
V’ DP si Ben originates as
projection of V into spec-VP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
bili ng basi
Subject as Specifier of TP
On the above structure, EPP applies and copies si Ben into spec-TP, as shown in the
diagram below. The strikethrough on the original si Ben indicates that the phrase
has been copied.
TP
/ \
T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T VP
[EPP] / \
um V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
bili ng basi
“Copy / Move” creates structures, in this case, TP. It is a form of merge, since it
creates a structure by merging two structures, in this case the constituent
structures T’ and DP. The constituent structures originate inside the tree, hence it is
called internal merge. In contrast, regular merge joins structures coming from the
lexicon, hence, it is called external merge.
The feature [EPP] triggers the extension of the head um to a TP projection, and
spec-VP raises to spec-TP. The Attract Closest Principle insures that EPP moves the
right constituent.
In our example, T matches the DP si Ben. (Matching is explained under the section
on Agreement).
When the verb carries the patient voice affix, it is the complement basi and not the
agent Ben that raises (note that the determiners ang and ni are only convenient
labels used in place of the set of grammatical features representing those
determiner positions). How does Attract Closest know which is the relevant nominal
to operate on? Case marking, which we discuss under Agreement, could help.
Binili ni Ben ang basi. (Verb carries the unrealized –in voice affix)
TP
/ \
T’ DP
/ \ ang basi
T VP
[EPP] / \
in V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V DP
bili ang basi
Raising
Another example of A-movement is subject raising. In the examples below, the
italicized subject siya is raised outside of the embedded clause and into the main
sentence.
TP
/ \
T’ PRN
/ \ siya
T VP
in / \
V’ PRN
/ \ ko
V CP
pilit / \
C TP
na / \
T’ PRN
kumain siya
More examples:
Subjectless Sentences
Tagalog has many sentences with no ang-phrase . Since we consider here the ang-
phrase as the subject phrase, these sentences would appear to be subjectless.
Now, ka- is not a voice affix, it is the head of an aspect phrase. The Asp head is
weak and cannot copy Ben to serve as its specifier.
Intensive Sentences
The intensive predicate head has the form: napaka + adjective stem. Notice, as
shown in the third and fourth examples below, that the adjective form must not
carry the ma- adjectivalizer affix.
Napakasuwerte ni Ben.
Napakasuwerte *si Ben.
*Napakamasuwerte ni Ben.
*Napakamasuwerte si Ben.
(Napa)kasuwerte ni Ben.
(Napa)kasuwerte *si Ben.
(Na)pakasuwerte ni Ben.
(Na)pakasuwerte si Ben.
Napakasuwerte ni Ben.
As with the Focus head, the Intense head is too weak to copy ni Ben to the specifier
position. Hence, the sentence ends up subjectless.
Pinakamasuwerte si Ben.
Pinakamasuwerte *ni Ben.
*Pinakasuwerte si Ben.
*Pinakasuwerte ni Ben.
Pinakamasuwerte si Ben.
TP
/ \
T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T Super’ Superlative (small)
phrase
ma + pinaka + suwerte / \
Super AP
pinaka + suwerte / \
A DP
suwerte si Ben
As with the heads Focus and Intense, Super is weak and is unable to copy si Ben to
serve as its specifier. However, during the merging of the head T ma- and Super’,
the head ma-, possessing a strong feature, is able to copy-raise si Ben to specifier.
Thus, EPP predicts the presence of a subject in Pinakamasuwerte si Ben and its
absence in Napakasuwerte ni Ben.
Exclamatives
Exclamatives don’t show a subject phrase (we don’t consider the ang-phrase, ang
likot and ang takbo in the examples below as subject).
These sentences appear structurally more like a noun phrase with a possessor,
thus:
DP
/ \
D’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
D N
ang likot
These sentences do not have a head item that can trigger the creation of a new
structure above VP that can host a subject.
VP
/ \
V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V DP
gusto ng basi
When the patient noun is definite, these affixless verbs require a subject.
We will attempt to explain these facts in a later section using the concept of
“feature movement” (Chomsky 1995).
The verb gusto and its synonyms and antonym may, of course, be used like any
regular verb, that is, with verbal affixes. These sentences derive normally, with the
voice affixes serving as T.
Umulan sa Maynila.
T’
/ \
T VP
um /
[EPP] V’
/ \
V DP
ulan sa Maynila
EPP applies and attempts to extend T to a projection with a subject. However, there
is no appropriate constituent that can serve as subject.
Weather verbs show a subject if the verb is inflected for the patient voice (not the
locative voice, even though the subject is a location), as shown below. In this case,
the voice affix –in (unrealized in the verb inulan) serves as T, and the sentence is
derived normally.
When weather-verbs are used metaphorically, they carry T and are derived in the
usual way.
So the absence of subject in Umulan and Umulan sa Maynila may simply be because
there just isn’t any nominal available to serve as specifier of –um-.
One could say that these sentences do not show a verb, thus:
TP
/
T’
/ \
T VP
[EPP] / \
may V’ DP
/ \ kay Ben
V DP
Ø pera
EPP applies but is unable to find the right expression, hence, nothing moves to spec-
TP.
One apparent anomaly with existential sentences is that when the existent is a verb
form, it must carry a non-agent affix, this despite the fact that the argument is
interpreted as agent.
May biniling basi si Ben. Ben is agent, but binili has a non-agent voice
affix.
May *bumiling basi si Ben. An agent voice affix renders the sentence
unacceptable.
One possible explanation is that binili is not a verb but a noun, hence, may binili is a
nominal expression, in the same sense that ang binili is a nominal. The difference is
that the [EXIST] feature in T of an
CP
/ \
C’ DP
/ \ si Ben
C TP
[EPP, EXIST] / \
Ø T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T D’
Ø / \
D N
may binili
This is questionable since this is the only instance of a possessor nominal (si Ben) in
the nominative rather than in the usual genitive form.
Complementiser Phrase
Complementiser phrases are head by the complementiser na, kung, kaya, atbp.
Dependent Clause as CP
Consider the following :
T’
/ \
T VP
in / \
V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V CP
sabi /
C’
/ \
C TP
na umuwi ka
Independent Clause as CP
It is convenient to regard independent clauses to be CPs as well. Independent
clauses typically do not show an overt complementiser phrase.
Hinagip ang pusa.
CP
/
C’
/ \
C T’ complementiser head is null
Ø / \
T VP
in /
V’
/ \
V DP
hagip ang pusa
C’
/ \
C TP
ay / \
T’ DP
/ \ ang pusa
T V’
in / \
V DP
hagip ang pusa
The specifier of CP (spec-CP) is a position, unrealized in the above example, that will
be the locus of movement, as we will see shortly.
Movement
Earlier we have seen the raising of a nominal to the subject position, an example of
A-movement, which moves a constituent to an argument position. We discuss here
other types of movement processes.
V-to-C Movement
Affixes occupy a strong position, and can attract a host to attach to. In the sentence
below the affix um attracts the verb bili. Phonetic rules will give the spell-out bumili.
This process is called V-to-T movement and is an example of head-to-head
movement, so called because the constituent that moves is a head and its
destination is a head position.
T’
/ \
T VP
um + bili / \
V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V VP
bili ng basi
DEFINITION OF ATTRACT
To say that a head H attracts a constituent C is to say that H triggers movement of C
to some position on the edge of HP (so that C may move to adjoin to H, or to
become the specifier of H).
Move is a two-step process: copy then delete. In the diagram above the
strikethrough on the original bili shows that it has been copied.
Focalisation
Focalization moves an item outside of TP. Semantically the preposed constituent
receives extra emphasis.
Si Ben ay uminom.
CP
/ \
C’ DP
/ \ si Ben [EPP] in C moves spec-TP si Ben to
Spec-CP.
C TP
[EPP] / \
ay T’ DP [EPP] in T moves spec-VP si Ben to
spec-TP.
/ \ si Ben
T VP
[EPP] / \
um + inom V’ DP
/ \ si Ben
V DP
inom sa bukid
For now, ay is analyzed as a complementiser. Later, when we split CP, it will serve
as head of FocP (focus phrase).
More examples:
Topicalization
In topicalization, the preposed constituent represents old information, or an
expression that has been established earlier in the discourse
Clefting
In a cleft sentence, the nominative expression is preposed and separated from the
rest of the sentence with the ang particle.
We treat clefting as focalisation, where ang is the head of the projection, and where
si Ben in the above sentence is the focus phrase.
Si Ben ang pulis sa baryo.
FocP
/ \
Foc’ DP
/ \ si Ben
Foc DP
Ø / \
D NP
ang / \
N’ DP
/ \ si Ben
N DP
pulis sa baryo
More examples:
Wh-Movement
Wh refers to question words: sino, ano, kailan, saan, bakit, kangin, etc. Sino and
ano questions the nominative expression
Wh-question is represented as the feature [WH] on question words and the C head
of an interrogative sentence. This feature attracts the closest item that C c-
commands that also has the [WH] feature, in the example below, the PP saan, and
raises it to the C position.
Saan lumangoy si Ben.
C’
/ \
C TP
[WH] / \
saan T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T V’
um + langoy / \
V PP
/ [WH]
langoy saan
In the next example, the question word sino ends up in the specifier position of CP.
CP
/ \
C’ DP
/ \ ano
C DP
[EPP, WH] / \ C as probe finds the spec-TP
ano as goal and raises it
Ø D TP to become spec-CP
ang / \
T’ DP
/ \ ano
T VP
[EPP, WH] / \
in V’ DP
/ \ ni Ben
V DP
bili [WH]
ano
At the highest C level of derivation, [EPP] needs to be satisfied, hence, ACP looks for
the closest c-commanded nominal that has a [WH] feature, and that is the DP that is
specifier of TP.
Successive Move
What appears to be ‘long-distance’ movement is actually an instance of successive
local movements. In the examples below, the subject si Pat of the lowest sentence
moves successively to the next higher sentence until it reaches the matrix
sentence.
Sinabi ni Ben na ibinalita ni Obet na itinatuwa ni Ming na umuwi si Pat.
Sinabi ni Ben na ibinalita ni Obet na itinatuwa ni Ming si Pat na umuwi.
Sinabi ni Ben na ibinalita ni Obet si Pat na itinatuwa ni Ming na umuwi.
Sinabi ni Ben si Pat na ibinalita ni Obet na itinatuwa ni Ming na umuwi.
Agreement
Agreement is a relationship between a probe and a goal. The head of a projection is
probe and a c-commanded expression is goal. When a head merges with its
complement, and the head contains unvalued features, the head probes its
complement for a c-commanded goal that has matching features.
In the following examples, the verb is marked for an affix that requires a plural
subject, hence the plural pronoun sila but not the singular pronoun siya can serve
as subject.
Function words like the particle ng and the pronoun sila as well as affixes like nagsi-
do not go into merging already spelled out as such, but as bundles of grammatical
features. They are given spell-out in the PF component. We use these spellings in
our discussion merely as convenient labels.
Feature Valuation
Features are either valued or unvalued as they enter derivation. Consider the
following dialogue. Sila refers back to nina Ben, hence, it is known beforehand that
it carries plural number and third person. Likewise, since the event happened in the
past, the affix nagsi-
you are here
Tanong: Ano ang ginawa nina Ben?
Sagot: Nagsikuha sila ng mga lapis.
In the derivation shown below, as the pronoun sila enters the derivation, it carries
the features plural number [pl-Nbr] and third person [3-Pers]. Its case is still
unvalued, as it can turn out either sila or nila. The affix magsi- carries unvalued
number and person features, and a valued case feature. By the EPP convention, T
carries the [EPP] feature.
T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case]
[u-Pers]
[u-Nbr]
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
[u-Case]
sila
Now the head T magsi- merges with VP kuha ng lapis to form V’. T agreement
applies at this point, and the probe nagsi- finds a match for its uninterpretable
features matches with Agreement involves a c-command relation between a probe
and a goal. Unvalued φ-features on the probe are valued by the goal, and unvalued
case feature on the goal is valued by the probe. The highest head, in this case, T,
serves as probe. It searches for a c-commanded goal with an unvalued case feature,
and locates the pronoun sila, and an agreement relation is established between
nagsi- and sila.
Now the unvalued person and number features of nagsi- are valued by the goal sila,
involving a Feature-Copying operation, defined as follows, where α and β are two
different constituents contained within the same structure and where one is a probe
and the other a goal:
FEATURE-COPYING
If α is valued for some feature [F] and β is unvalued for [F] and if β agrees with α,
the feature-value for [F] on α is copied onto β.
As a result of this operation, the person and number features of nagsi- are valued to
3rd and plural, respectively.
T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case]
[3-Pers] Values of underlined features
of the probe
[pl-Nbr] are copied from …
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers] … values of similar features of
the goal
[pl-Nbr]
[u-Case]
sila
The unvalued case feature of PRN sila is copied from the valued nominative case
feature of T nagsi-, thus:
T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case] Value of a bolded feature
copied to …
[3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
[nom-Case] … underlined feature
sila
The [EPP] feature of T will then raise the PRN sila to the specifier of TP.
Uninterpretable Features
Items may enter derivation with some of their features already valued and others as
yet unvalued.
An item with an uninterpretable feature is active. Only an active item may serve as
probe or goal.
Illegible Features
Structures generated by the syntactic component are sent to the PF component of
the grammar for spell out. The PF component cannot process an unvalued feature,
and derivation will crash. Thus every unvalued feature must be valued in the course
of the derivation.
Structures are also sent to the semantic component where they are converted into
appropriate semantic interpretations. Uninterpretable features will appear illegible
to the semantic component, and derivation will crash. To avoid this, derivation will
mark uninterpretable features as deleted, in the sense that they will be invisible
to the semantic component while remaining visible to the syntax and the PF
component.
α and β are two different constituents contained within the same structure, and one
is a probe and the other a goal. For β to delete the person/number/case features of
α, the phi-features of β must match the phi-features carried by α.
T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case]
[3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
[nom-Case]
sila
Both nagsi- and sila are φ-complete. φ-complete nagsi- can delete the
uninterpretable case feature carried by sila, and similarly φ-complete sila can delete
the uninterpretable person and number features of nagsi-. The deleted items are
the features in strikethrough in the diagram below.
T’
/
T
[EPP]
[nom-Case]
[3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
nagsi
VP
/ \
V’ PRN
kuha ng lapis [3-Pers]
[pl-Nbr]
[nom-Case]
sila
Phase
Syntactic structures are built up one phase at a time. Phases are propositional in
nature. They include CPs, TPs, and transitive VPs.
This sentence cannot be interpreted to mean Sinabi ni Ben [na binugbog si Obet].
That is to say, the verb sabi cannot serve as probe to the goal ni Ben to assign the
role of agent of sabi. This is because ni Ben is outside of the c-command domain of
sabi.
T’
/ \
T VP
in / The probe –in- cannot establish an
agreement
V’ relation with any expression inside
CP as
/ \ the CP phase is already complete.
V CP
sabi /
C’
/ \
C TP
na / \
DP T’
/si Obet \
T VP
in / \
V’ DP
/ ni Ben
V
bugbog
Once a phase is completely formed, a transfer operation sends the domain of the
phase head, which is its complement, to the semantic component and the PF
component for interpretation. Thereafter, no constituent in the domain is able to
undergo any further syntactic operations.
In our example above, si Obet is in the completed TP phase and cannot serve as
goal to the probe –in.
Split Projections
Si Ben ay uminom.
Sinabi ko [CP na si Ben ay [TP uminom si Ben ]]
To accommodate this and other facts, CP has been split into a number of
projections: ForceP, TopP (topic phrase), FocP, and InfP (infinitive phrase).
ForceP
/ \
Force FocP
na / \
Foc’ DP
/ \ si Ben
Foc TP
ay um + inom si Ben
Another projection above TP is TopP (topic phrase). The topic phrase expresses old
information. In the example below, the reference to ang mga bata is assumed to
have been established earlier in the discourse.
Sinabi ni Ben [na ang mga bata, kahapon ay sumakay sa kalesa ang mga bata
kahapon]
ForceP
/ \
Force TopP
na / \
Top’ DP
/ \ ang mga bata
Top FocP
Ø / \
Foc’ Adv
/ \ kahapon
Foc TP
ay um + sakay sa kalesa ang mga bata
kahapon
Still another projection above TP is FinP (finite phrase). This marks a clause as
either finite or non-finite. The head Fin is performed by prepositions like para which
signals a following non-finite clause.
FinP
/ \
Fin TP
para bumili PRO ng basi
When TopP and FocP are absent, ForceP and FinP syncretised onto a single head.
Causatives contain two actions: the injunction and the core action expressed in the
lexical verb. In our example, the injunction is expressed in an intransitive
construction on the causative morpheme pa-. The core action is expressed as a
transitive construction around the lexical verb.
vP vP is Outer VP
/ \
v’ DP
/ \ si Ben
v VP VP Inner VP
pa / \
V’ DP
/ \ kay Obet
V DP
luto ng pansit
To this structure, the head T nag- is merged, giving rise to the following structure:
TP
/ \
T’ DP
/ \ si Ben
T vP
nag + pa + luto / \
v’ DP
/ \ si Ben
v VP
pa +luto luto ng pansit kay Obet
As we will see in a later section, this solution works well for other constructions:
Summary
The above discussion should provide an understanding of elementary operations of
minimalism and of basic minimalist structures in Tagalog. We will now examine
more intricate structures in Tagalog,