A New Outlook of Complementizers (original) (raw)
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Reanalysis of Overt and Null Complementizers
Shim Ji Young & Tabea Ihsane, 2017
This paper investigates clausal complements of factive and non-factive predicates in English, with particular focus on the distribution of overt and null that complementizers. Most studies on this topic assume that both overt and null that clauses have the same underlying structure and predict that both overt and null that clauses show (nearly) the same syntactic distributions, contrary to fact: a well-known fact is that the complementizer that is freely dropped in non-factive clausal complements, it is required in factive clausal complements by many native speakers of English. To account for several differences between factive and non-factive clausal complements, we propose that overt that clauses and null that clauses have different underlying structures responsible for their different syntactic behaviors. Adopting Rizzi’s (1997) split CP structure with two C heads, Force and Finiteness, we suggest that null that clauses are FinPs under both factive and non-factive predicates, whereas overt that clauses have an extra functional layer above FinP, lexicalizing either the head Assert under non-factive predicates or the light demonstrative head d under factive predicates.
Notes on Null-That Clauses in English
ENGLISH LINGUISTICS, 2001
, and two anonymous EL reviewers for invaluable comments on earlier versions of this paper. 1 In this paper we will focus on that-less embedded complements which follow verbs.
English Text Construction 7 (2): 290–299, 2014
This review evaluates Mindt’s (2011) monograph, which presents a corpus-driven study of adjectives followed by that-clauses in present-day British English. Drawing on an analysis of more than 50,000 examples from the British National Corpus (BNC), Mindt addresses a number of problems in grammatical analyses and descriptions of adjectival constructions. As briefly explained in Chapter 1, these pertain to (i) the classification of adjectives complemented by that-clauses, (ii) constructions with objects occurring between the verb and the adjective (e.g. Labour made it clear that ...), (iii) constructions with result clauses (e.g. the answer is so obvious that ...), (iv) the relation between the semantics of the adjective and the verb form in the that-clause, and (v) the omission of that. Crucially, the study does not impose any restrictions in terms of syntax or semantics to include or exclude cases, which is a true merit. The book consists of 9 chapters, each of which is discussed in detail in the review.
Regional variation in the syntactic distribution of null finite complementizer
Language Variation and Change, 2007
This article explores syntactic and regional variation in the choice between declarative (nonrelativizer) that and zero complementizer. Using a corpus of contemporary prose from New Zealand, Australian, American, and British newspapers, the study examines complementizer choice in complements to verbs and adjectives, extraposed complements to verbs, it-subject constructions (It is obvious (that)), and copula constructions (The trouble is (that), It could be (that), What matters is (that), It was only later (that)). The form of the embedded subject (pronoun, short NP (noun phrase), long NP) is also taken into account. It is shown that significant regional differences in zero rates are to some extent syntactic. The New Zealand and Australian data show less inhibition of zero in clauses that are not adjacent to the clause-selecting lexical head than the American and British data.
Language Sciences, 2015
In this article we look at a case of secondary grammaticalization in English which entails the development of originally adverbial subordinators into complement-clause connectives. The study systematizes our earlier findings regarding the adverbial links but, if, though, lest, as if, as though, and like, which over time have come to realize a subsidiary function as equivalents (or near-equivalents) of the major declarative complementizers that and zero in certain specific contexts. We show that minor declarative complementizers are typically associated with the expression of subjectivity and irreality. As such, they are usually attested in complementation structures in which subjectivity is also at hand (e.g. they are complements to specific predicate-types occurring in non-assertive environments). The development discussed here illustrates grammaticalization both at the level of clause links and at the level of clause-combining.
Cross-linguistic patterns in the structure, function and position of (object) complement clauses
The present contribution examines object complement clauses from the perspective of constituent-order typology. In particular, it provides the first principled empirical investigation of the position of object clauses relative to the matrix verb. Based on a stratified sample of languages, we establish that there is an overall crosslinguistic preference for postverbal complements, due largely to the heterogeneous ordering patterns in OV-languages. Importantly, however, we also show that the position of complement clauses correlates with aspects of their structural organisation: Preverbal complement clauses are significantly more likely to be coded by morphosyntactically 'downgraded' structures than postverbal complements. Given that previous research has found a parallel correlation between structural downgrading and the semantics of the complement-taking predicate (Givón , Cristofaro ), one needs to analyse how positional, structural and semantic factors interact with one another. Our data suggest that the correlation between clause order and morphosyntactic structure holds independently of semantic considerations: All predicate classes distinguished in the present study increase their likelihood of taking downgraded complements if they are preceded by the complement clause. We thus propose that, in addition to the well-known 'binding hierarchy', a second correlation needs to be recognised in the typology of complementation: the co-variation of linear order and morphosyntactic structure.
On the syntax and pragmatics of English "that" (with Mireia Llinàs-Grau)
2011
This paper deals with the phenomenon of that-deletion, a process by which the complementizer may be optionally dropped in embedded complement clauses in English. Treating it as an optional phenomenon, though, is problematic for linguistic models like the Minimalist Program, which rely heavily on notions of economy and optimality. We wish to provide further support to the claim that thatdeletion is not optional and that its occurrence is favoured by pragmatic factors. Ultimately, we believe that a better insight into the pragmatics of that-deletion can help us account for it syntactically.
2014
The objective of this work is to examine the formal and informal universal features of complementize r in the mandative subjunctive structure used in English, Modern Standard Arabic and German with reference to Chomsky’s (1981 and1995) and Radford's (1988) views on Modern Linguistic Theory. This article is restricted to explaining such features of the category complementizer phrase which is selected by a verb and initiated by the complementizer ‘that’, an ‘that’ and dass ‘that’ for the three languages respectively. The researchers prove that the formal features of the languages are tense phrase, noun phrase, verb phrase and complementizers that serve as mood-force indicators are universal. They also find out that there are informal universal features, namely, (i) the nominative case, (ii) the theta marking of complementizer phrase and (iii) agreement –subject. Both features are unpredictable; thus, they constitute problems to the grammaticality of the sentence if they are not ch...
On the Syntax and the Pragmatics of 'Optional' that (with Javier Fernández-Sánchez)
2011
This paper deals with the phenomenon of that-deletion, a process by which the complementizer may be optionally dropped in embedded complement clauses in English. Treating it as an optional phenomenon, though, is problematic for linguistic models like the Minimalist Program, which rely heavily on notions of economy and optimality. We wish to provide further support to the claim that thatdeletion is not optional and that its occurrence is favoured by pragmatic factors. Ultimately, we believe that a better insight into the pragmatics of that-deletion can help us account for it syntactically.