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Title:
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In Search of Syntactic Symmetry: On the parallels between clausal and nominal hierarchical structure
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Author:
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Denise Douglas-Brown
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Email:
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click here to access email
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Degree Awarded:
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University of Durham
, Department of Linguistics and English Language
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Degree Date:
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1996
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Linguistic Subfield(s):
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Syntax
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Director(s):
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Joseph Emonds
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Abstract:
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This thesis is an expansion of the idea of clausal and nominal structural parallelism as orginally investigated by Abney (1987). It attempts to address some of the particular asymmetries in generative grammar concerning the specifier position and the accommodation of multiple overt morphemes in CP and in DP. Syntactic *symmetry* in the sense of this work refers to the maximal uniformity of configurational structure in X-bar theory. While structural standardisation has been a goal of GB-theory since the Barriers model of Chomsky (1986), there in fact remain a number of commonplace asymmetries concerning the morphemic *realisation* of the Spec and X0 positions in Xmax. The operating premise is that symmetry of node realisation is desirable in hierarchical structure, and that it extends across head categories. That is to say, an X0 element is constrained to occur under an X0 node, and an X2 element is constrained to occur under an X2 node. Under this premise the morphemic *content* of X-bar nodes such as Spec and X0 would be as restricted as the X-bar configurations themselves.
A central empirical problem that then arises is what is in Spec of XP, and what implications any resolution of this has for the postulation of various functional categories. Stowell's (1981, 1983) notion of subject specifiers provides the analytical starting point for this thesis, and Abney's (1987) parallelism between the clause and the nominal is considerably elaborated to explore a wide range of analogous F-categories in CP and in DP. I begin with an examination of the specifier position historically and the internal structure of NP, VP, AP, and PP with respect to the contents of Spec. In the course of examining Spec of NP, the DP-Analysis is reconsidered with respect to the D node. A case is then made for an articulated Infl in the nominal (i.e., an abstract composite consisting of a range of functional categories), coinciding with an equally elaborate and parallel Infl of CP. Specifically, I consider whether the phi-features of Agr of Infl (i.e., person, number, gender, and Case) should be broken down into independent F-categories for both the clause and the nominal, and conclude that only gender retains the status of feature. D and Num in the DP are investigated for their contents and their interaction.
The theme of structural symmetry (i.e., configurational uniformity) in Xmax revolves around three principal ideas: (i) that the specifier position of an XP is primarily a site for nominal subjects; (ii) that many elements previously hypothesised to occupy [Spec,XP] are actually in another node, *Num*; and (iii) that the phi-features of Agr of Infl are independent functional categories in their own right, with the exception of gender. Based on notions (i) to (iii), a complex hierarchy of functional categories is progressively developed for CP and DP. Nodes such as *Poss*, *Kase*, and *Num* are added to extant functional categories such as Agr, T, C, and D. Agr is redefined as the site of solely a person feature (1p, 2p, or 3p) in the clause and in the nominal. Finally, a fully articulated Infl is expounded for CP and DP.
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