6 research outputs found
Insight into English Non-Finite Complements from Adverb Climbing
Peer reviewedPostprin
Syntax of adverb distribution
The distribution of adverbs is particularly difficult to account for, given the amount of
variation it encompasses. Not only are adverbs typically optional, but any adverb may
also appear in several different positions relative to other constituents, with placement
differing according to adverb type and language. As a result, although adverbs are not
essential clausal mainstays, the way they are incorporated into the syntax has crucial
implications for an overall understanding of clause structure.
Some recent accounts of adverb distribution, most notably Cinque (1999), require a
highly articulated clausal cartography, where each adverb fits into a specific syntactic
position. The placement of adverbs is determined by their semantic properties inasmuch
as their specified positions correspond to semantic classes. The ordering of these positions
is syntactically predetermined, supposedly with no little or no semantic input. More
semantics-based accounts of adverb distribution, as exemplified by Ernst (2002), do not
restrict adverbs to specific positions. Rather, any adverb may adjoin to any projection, as
long as its individual semantic requirements are satisfied. Such theories of distribution
thus depend on adverbsâ semantic interactions with each other and other constituents.
The differences between these âsyntacticâ and âsemanticâ approaches have led to questions
about the nature of verb movement, functional projections, and adjunction. The
debate over adverb distribution also raises the issue of what contribution semantics makes
to the syntax, and what is syntactically primitive.
The aim of this dissertation is to develop an account of adverb distribution that neither
requires the introduction of new functional projections, nor attempts to shoehorn
an external semantic hierarchy onto a pre-existing syntactic one. It will focus on the
position of adverbs in relation to other constituents rather than their order with respect
to each other. In this thesis I will review previous theories of adverb distribution, giving
special attention to Cinqueâs (1999) âfunctional specifierâ approach and Ernstâs (2002)
âsemantic adjunctionâ approach, as well as some alternatives, especially the VP-remnant
analysis proposed in Nilsen (2003). I will then look at the little-discussed phenomenon
of âAdverb Climbingâ (AC), in which an adverb precedes a verb that takes an infinitival
complement, but is interpreted as modifying the embedded rather than the matrix verb.
Taking the varying availability of AC with Control and Raising verbs as a starting point,
I will develop a theory of adverb licensing that determines where an adverb may adjoin
according to its location in relation to a particular projection. Specifically, I will propose
that an adverb must c-command the projection it modifies, and must have access to that
projection either in the same phase or at the edge of a lower phase. Based on this analysis I will argue that AC is in fact an indicator of restructuring, and that control
and raising verbs take different sizes of infinitival complement. I will also examine the
distribution of âverb-modifyingâ adverbs. Drawing on previous âsplit VPâ proposals (e.g.
Ramchand 2008; Travis (2010)), I will contend that the varying distribution of agentive,
subject-oriented, and manner adverbs indicates that each is distributed in relation to a
different projection within the vP, and that some postverbal adverbs are complements
of VP. This proposal will require the introduction of crosslinguistically parameterised
restrictions on the order in which adverbs and feature-checking elements may be merged
to a single projection. Moreover, I will argue that the array of positions available to
agentive adverbs indicates that English has head movement within the vP which bypasses
a head, violating Travisâs (1984) Head Movement Constraint (HMC). I will then posit a
new analysis of head movement which allows for this violation while still precluding
the instances of ungrammaticality that the HMC was meant to rule out. I will finally
discuss the distribution of adverbs and negation in the IP range, giving special attention
to Pollockâs (1989) classic data from English and French. I will develop an analysis
of negation which will allow me to explain the distribution of both sentential adverbs
and negation without splitting the IP. Further refinement of the ordering restrictions on
multiple merge will also provide an explanation for the ungrammaticality of an adverb
between a subject and the highest verb in French, and between do and not in English.
This dissertation will serve to situate the study of adverb distributionwithin Chomskyâs
(1995) Minimalist framework while providing fresh insight into the extent to which
adverb distribution may be used as an indicator of clause structure and movement of
other constituents
Knowledge-Driven Intelligent Survey Systems Towards Open Science
Open Access via Springer Compact Agreement. Acknowledgements: We are grateful to all of our survey participants, and to Anne Eschenbruecher, Sally Lamond, and Evelyn Williams for their assistance in participant recruitment. We are also grateful to Patrik Bansky for his work on refinement of the survey system.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
A Knowledge Graph Based Approach to Social Science Surveys
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Artropolis 93 : Public Art and Art About Public Issues
Contains 12 texts and documents works by nearly 300 Canadian artists in a Vancouver-based public art project. Includes artist's statements. 7 bibl. ref