LING 301

Clause structure – CP & TP

September 28, 2020

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 Today’s Class
• Terminology – clause vs sentence
• Complementizers and CPs
• Tense and TPs
A blueprint for phrases

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 Homework
• Reading: Chapter 4
• Assignment 1 due 4pm on Friday, Oct. 2nd
• Quiz 3 due at 4pm on Monday, Oct. 5th

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 Today’s Class
• Terminology – clause vs sentence
• Complementizer (C) and CP
• Tense (T) and TP
• A blueprint for phrases

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 Terminology
CLAUSE:
A syntactic constituent consisting of a
subject and a predicate.
1. Sam left.
2. The kid in the back row might have left
their coat here.

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 Terminology
SENTENCE:
a syntactic constituent consisting of a ROOT clause, and possibly
one or more EMBEDDED clauses – each with its own subject and
a predicate.
1. Sam left.
2. The kid in the back row might have left their coat
here.
3. a. Mikka said that Sam left.
b. [Mikka said that Sam left].
c. Mikka said [that Sam left].

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 Today’s Class
• Terminology – clause vs sentence
• Complementizer (C) and CP
• Tense (T) and TP
• A blueprint for phrases

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 Clauses are constituents
Mikka said [that Sam left]
• Stand alone
Q: What did Mikka say?
A: [that Sam left]

• Substitution
Mikka said [that Sam left] but Yoshi didn’t believe it.

• Coordination
Mikka said [that Sam left] and [that Yoshi stayed]

• Pseudocleft
What Mika said was [that Sam left].

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 What is the head of the clause?
• Every syntactic constituent has a HEAD
• the HEAD is the element that
o determines the category & its properties
o may be selected by a higher head
o selects (the head of) its complement1

?P

that John left

1Complement = sister phrase

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 The Complementizer is the head of the clause

• The head determines the category & its properties

• Complementizer (C) determines clause type:

– assertion 1. I said [that Lee was late].

– Indirect question 2. I asked [whether Lee was late].
3. I asked [if Lee was late].
– request 4. I asked [for Lee to arrive on time].

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 The Complementizer is the head of the clause

• The head of a constituent may be selected by a higher head

• Different types of C are selected by different verbs:

1. a. I wonder [if Lee was late].

b. *I wonder [that [Lee was late]

2. a. *I believe [if Lee was late].

b. I believe [that [Lee was late]

3. a. I want very much [for them to win].

b. *I want very much [if they will win]

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The Complementizer is the head of the clause

I know that Mohammad sang.

V CP
know
C
that
Mohammad sang

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 C that vs. D that
1. Kim said that you were sick.
2. Lee likes that dog.

Test #1: D that can be replaced by the; C that cannot:

3. *Kim said the you were sick.
4. Lee likes the dog.

Test #2: What follows C that can be a stand alone TP

5. Kim said that you were sick. à a well-formed TP
6. Kim likes that dog. à not a TP

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Complementizers vs. Complements
• Complementizer CP
– is a syntactic category
– Is abbreviated as C (or COMP) C …
– Is always the head of CP

• Complement
– Is any phrase that is SELECTED by a head XP
– Is represented as the sister of the head
X YP

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 Summary
• C is the head of CP
– Different Vs select CP complements...by selecting the head C

Vs CP complement C
type
think/believe/know/ assertion that
…
wonder/ask/know/… question if, whether,
…
ask/want/… request for

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 Today’s Class
• Terminology – clause vs sentence
• Complementizer (C) and CP
• Tense (T) and TP
• A blueprint for phrases

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 The complement of C
• The complement (sister) of C is also a constituent:

1. a. I know that [Mohammad sang].

b. I know that [[Mohammad sang] and [Sara danced]].

• What is the category of [Mohammad sang]?

• What is the head of [Mohammad sang]?

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 The complement of C
• The head selects (the head of its) complement

• Different Cs select different Tenses:

Tense
1. a. I know [if/that [ Mohammad sang] [+ past]
b. I know [if/that [Mohammad is singing] [- past]
c. *I know [if/that [Mohammad to sing] [- tense]

2. a. I want very much [for Mohammad to sing] [- tense]

b. *I want very much [for Mohammad sang] [+ past]
c. *I want very much [for Mohammad is singing] [-past]

à C selects TP as its complement

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 The complement of C is TP

I know that Mohammad sang.

V CP
know
C TP
that
Mohammad sang

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 The distribution of TP
• A Root declarative clause is a TP:
1. [TP Mohammad sang].

• The complement of C is a TP:

2. I said [CP that [TP Mohammad sang]].

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 The head of TP
T: [+tense] [+past], [-past], modals
[-tense] to

• modals: - are NOT verbs

- lack V inflection: e.g.*mays/*maying/*mayed
- constitute a closed class:
will would
can could
shall should
may might
must

:
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 The head of TP
T: [+tense] [+past], [-past], modals
[-tense] to

• modals: - are NOT verbs

- lack V inflection: e.g.*mays/*maying/*mayed
- constitute a closed class
... but they are specified for tense features:
[-past] [+past]
will would
can could
shall should
may might
must must
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 Modals are [+Tense]
Evidence #1: Modals never occur in infinitival TP

1. I want[ for BIll to leave].

2. *I want [for Bill to can leave].
3. *I want [for Bill can to leave].
4. *I want [for Bill can leave].

Like [±past], modals are in complementary distribution with to.

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 Modals are [+Tense]
Evidence #2: English has sequence of tense (SOT):
à embedded T is optionally [+tense, +past] if matrix T is [+tense, +past]
... even if refers to present time

1. John said that [Mary was pregnant].

= Mary was/is pregnant.

• modals also show SOT effects:

2. John said that [Mary would come].
= M would/will come.

CONCLUSION: TP headed by modal is specified as

[+tense, +past] OR [+tense, -past]

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 Modals are T
• Modals are Merged in T

TP

DP T’

I T VP
could
sleep all day

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 infinitival to is T
• Infinitival to is Merged in T,
e.g. I want very much for [TP Mohamad to sing]

TP

DP T’

Mohamad T VP
to
sing

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 [+ past] & [-past] are Ts
• Inflected verbs (e.g. slept) are bundles of V+T
• If no modal, abstract tense feature [+past] or [-past] is Merged in T

TP

DP T’

I T VP
[+past]
sleep all day

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 Evidence that T is outside VP
• S fragment
Q What did you do?
A1 I slept all day. full sentence answer, includes T
A2 sleep all day sentence fragment answer, no T (untensed V)

• Pseudocleft
I slept all day.
à What I did was sleep all day no T in pseudoclefted VP (untensed V)

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 Evidence that T is outside VP
• VP Ellipsis
[That Bill would [sleep all day]] was to be expected but I can’t
believe [that you would [sleep all day]]

*[That Bill would [sleep all day]] was to be expected but I

can’t believe [that you would [sleep all day]]

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 Summary
• C is the head of CP
– C encodes clause type & this is expressed by choice of C
– C selects its complement TP...by selecting its head

C CP type TP complement
that assertion [+ tense]
if question [+ tense]
for request [- tense]

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 Summary
• T is the head of TP
– T encodes whether clause is tensed or untensed
– T selects its complement VP... by selecting its head

T TP type TP complement
[+past]/[-past] tensed tensed V, e.g. walked/walks
modals tensed bare V, e.g. walk
to untensed bare V, e.g. walk

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 Today’s Class
• Terminology – clause vs sentence
• Complementizer (C) and CP
• Tense (T) and TP
• A blueprint for phrases

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 A blueprint for phrases
• All syntactic constituents are endocentric, i.e. they have a head
•
maximal projection

XP intermediate projection

… X’

X …

head

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 A blueprint for phrases
• All syntactic constituents have the same basic structure…because they are
built in the same way

XP

(YP) X’
specifier

X (ZP)

head complement

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 Subjects & Predicates
• The subject of a clause is the specifier of TP
• The predicate of a clause is the rest, i.e. T’

TP

DP T’
specifier predicate

T VP

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