FALL-WINTER, 2010

CONCEPTS OF MODERN
GRAMMAR

Lecture 4

THE LEXICON

SUBCATEGORIZATION
 1.The problem
If lexical items are atomic, the grammar overgenerates.
In early PS-Grammars, lexical items are introduced by
means of context free lexical insertion rules which replace
lexical categories by lexical formatives:

N boy
V run
V put
P on

The combinatorial abilities of lexical items belonging to

the same lexical category vary considerably. There are
severe contextual restrictions on the insertion of lexical
items, which are not interchangeable, even when they
belong to the same lexical category.
 1.The problem
An example of overgeneration
(1) S

NP VP

Det N Aux MV

V NP

Det N
(2) V elapse, read, send, put, rely
N boy, Bill, milk, girl, book, table
Det the, a
 1.The problem
(3) a. The boy bought a table.
b. The girl read a book.
(4) a*. The boy elapsed a table.
b*The girl relied the boy.
c**The milk elapsed a table.
d*The Bill read a book.
(5) a.*The table bought a boy.
b.*A book read the girl.

The information regarding an item's combinatorial ability

is local, that is, it can almost always be stated in terms of
the item's close neighbours, usually its sisters, possibly
the first phrase that contains the item: [relied PP[on the
boy] vs. [*rely NP[the boy]].
 1.The problem
In "Aspects of the Theory of Syntax" (1965),
Chomsky proposed that the function
previously fulfilled by PSRs should be divided
into two:

(a) phrase structure rules: context free

categorial rules which show the constituency
of phrases;

(b) subcategorization rules: context sensitive

rules which analyse lexical categories,
converting them into sets of syntactic and
semantic features.
 1.The problem
A different conception of the lexicon is now
presupposed:

Previously lexical constituents were

represented as atomic symbols with no
internal structure or natural classification,

In "Aspects", lexical categories are viewed as

structured entities called complex symbols;
loosely speaking, complex symbols are sets of
syntactic and semantic features.
 1.The problem
Subcategorization rules are of two types:

a. strict subcategorization rules and

Strict subcategorization rules are narrowly syntactic, they

analyze a lexical category in terms of its local
distributional contexts, in terms of the 'frames' where it
can be inserted; these frames or contexts of occurrence
are stated in terms of grammatical (and lexical)
categories.

b. selectional rules. Selectional rules analyze a lexical

category in terms of its inherent or contextual semantic
features.
2. Strict subcategorization rules
and features. C-selection
A few verb subcategories in English

Complex symbols, i.e., lexical categories, are introduced

in the derivation by rules of the form ACS (e.g., VCS,
NCS), which spell out the various properties of a given
lexical category

(6) a. d aAb
b. A CS/ a - b, where aAb is of category d, and
d is the category that appears on the left in the rule d
...A, which introduces A.

This rule says that an item A can function as a complex

symbol (i.e., can be introduced) only in derivations where
it is inserted between a-b.
2. Strict subcategorization rules
and features. C-selection
(7) V CS/-- # V CS/ -- NP
V: {elapse, bark, bleet, chirp...} V: {discern, close, love,
open..}
Another month has elapsed. He cannot cut the bread.
Birds chirp. He loves music.

Parallelism transitive and intransitive predications:

(8) V CS/ -- PP V CS/ -- NP^PP

V: {brag about, look at, V: {charge smb with,
rely on, look for....} inform smb.of, absolve
smb from, rob smb of...}

He bragged about his conquests. They charged him with first

degree murder.
They looked for the child. They informed her of
*He relied. their arrival.
2. Strict subcategorization rules
and features. C-selection
(9)
V CS/----AvP [+Manner]
PP [+Time]
[+Place]
V: {act, behave, last, lie,...}
He behaved well
It lasted long/for a day.
He was lying there/in bed.
(10)
V CS/ -- PP^PP
V: {argue with smb about
smth, agree with smb on
smth...}
They argued with us on it.
V CS/ -- NP ^ AvP [+Manner]
PP [+Time]
[+Place]
V: {treat, stand, put, lay,...}
He treated her well/with care.
He stood it there/in the corner.
He put it there/on the desk.
V CS/ -- NP^AP
V:{paint, hope, kick, slam...}
He kicked the door open.
They really painted the town red.
2. Strict subcategorization rules
and features. C-selection
(11) S Comp^S
V CS/ -- S'
V:{believe, know, think, declare, assert,...}
I know that he will succeed.

(12)
V CS/ ---PP^S'
V: {argue, agree...}
They argued with us that
they were innocent.
They agreed with us that it
had been a mistake.
V ---NP^S
V: {inform, persuade,
convince...)
They informed me that I was late.
They persuaded me that he was right.
 Strict subcategorization
features
The rules mentioned above are part of the base
component (and of derivations, therefore).
Each of these rules defines a feature that
characterizes some verb subcategory.
A subcategorization feature, also called c-seletion
feature, indicates the (minimal) frame in which some
lexical item may be inserted. The subcategorization
features are in the lexicon, as parts of an item's lexical
entry. Strict subcategorization features are syntactic;
remember that a feature is syntactic when it mentions a
distributional context/ property.
(13) eat rely chirp inform
read depend bark charge
[+V ] [+V ] [+V ] [+V ]
[+ -- NP] [+ -- PP] [+ - #] [+ -- NP PP]
Properties of subcategorization
rules and features
1) Subcategorization rules take into account DS contexts

(14) a. He was writing a letter. a'. He was writing .

b. He likes music. b'. *He likes.
c. He is still breathing.

What was he writing ?

*What was he breathing?
Properties of subcategorization
rules and features
2) Subcategorization takes into account the first phrase that
contains the analysed category: it is local. In our analysis we
have taken into account MV constituents, Subcategorization (c-
selection) refers to items which are selected by a particular verb
and are essential for the syntactic and semantic well-formedness
of any sentence containing that verb.
There are also many sorts of constituents, such as locative and
temporal PPs or adverbs, manner adverbs, etc., whose
occurrence is neither required nor excluded by the choice of a
particular verb.
(15) a. He obviously relied on her in the past.
b. He obviously relied on her.
c. He relied on her.
d. *He relied.
(16) a. He [saw her]MV[yesterday]AvP
b. He has been [waiting for her]MV[for three weeks]PP
c. He had [decided on the boat]MV[on the train]PP

PSR: VP Aux MV PP/AvP

Properties of subcategorization
rules and features
3) Strict subcategorization features (and rules) are finite
in number. The range of possible subcategorization
features is entirely determined by PSRs. Strict
subcategorization rules/features are typical examples of
syntagmatic relations, relations in praesentia.
4) Strict subcategorization features are not entirely
predictable from the meaning of an item. Nearly
synonymous verbs in one language (e.g., await, wait for
in English) may exhibit different frames; translational
equivalents may also have different subcategorial
features (e.g., wait [-- PP] vs. a astepta [-- NP]).
This is why strict subcategorization pertains to the formal
/ syntactic meaning of an item; a subcategorization
feature indicates a mode of construction for a
syntagm/sentence containing the respective lexical item.
5) Strict subcategorization applies to all parts of
speech.
 3. Selectional rules and selectional
restriction features (S-selection
features)

Semantic features may be:

a. inherent features characterize the meaning of a given
item without reference to a context: water [+liquid], milk
[+liquid], teacher [+Person], realize [+achievement],
etc.

b. contextual features impose limitations on the semantic

context where an item can be inserted. These contextual
features refer to the combinatorial power of the lexical
items and are of immediate interest to the grammar.
These are the so-called selectional restrictions (s-
selection features). There are s-selection rules as part of
derivations, as well as features as part of the lexicon.
 3. Selectional rules and
selectional restriction features
(S-selection features)
Selectional rules apply after strict subcategorization
rules and further refine the partition of verbs, nouns, etc.
achieved by means of strict subcategorization; they do
this by progressively introducing inherent and contextual
semantic features, thus converting the frame of
grammatical categories into a frame of semantic features.

(18) a. eat CS/ [+Animate]NP----[+edible]NP

b. assert CS/ [+Animate,+Person]NP----[Proposition]S

 3. Selectional rules and
selectional restriction features
(S-selection features)
Some examples of lexical entries:
(19) a. eat
[ +V]
[ + --- NP]
[ + (accomplishment)]
[ + <[(+Animate)]NP -- [(+edible)NP]>

b. assert
[ +V]
[ + ---S]
[+(event)]
[ + <[+animate, personal]NP -- [proposition]S >
 3. Selectional rules and
selectional restriction features
(S-selection features)
Properties of selectional rules/features
1) One of the two categories which contract the selectional
relation is said to be selectionally dominant, which means
that this category transfers its inherent semantic properties
on to the category it combines with. It is assumed that
predicates (i.e., verbs, adjectives) are selectionally
dominant, imposing restrictions on their objects and
subjects.
2) While strict subcategorization features enumerate
admissible sequences of lexical categories, selectional
restrictions deal with selecting members belonging to the
specified lexical categories. Given a V^NP sequence and
some verb which is [ -- NP], selectional features determine a
paradigmatic set of nouns that may be objects of that verb.
Hence, selectional rules establish paradigms of semantically
compatible items in an "either-or" relation. They are best
viewed as means of establishing paradigmatic relations, in
absentia, and paradigmatic classes (cf. Bruck,1978).
 4. The lexical entry and lexical
insertion in Aspects
Complex Symbols. Lexical entries

The lexical entry of a lexical formative is described as a

complex symbol offering the following types of information
about an item:
a) The phonological information about an item takes the form of
a phonological matrix; e.g., cat /kt /.
b) The morphological information may indicate that a certain
noun or verb is irregular, whether a certain formative is a free
or a bound morpheme, etc.
c) Semantic information - i.e., information about a word's
(descriptive) meaning may be viewed as a set of (inherent and
contextual) semantic features which are true of the referent of
that lexical item: bachelor [+male] and [+adult] and [married].
d) Syntactic information has the form of a set of syntactic
features, including a categorial feature (e.g., +N, +V) and one
or more than one subcategorial features (e.g., [+ - NP]).
 4. The lexical entry and
lexical insertion in Aspects
Complex Symbols. Lexical entries

The lexical entry of a lexical formative is described as a

complex symbol offering the following types of information
about an item:
a) The phonological information about an item takes the form of
a phonological matrix; e.g., cat /kt /.
b) The morphological information may indicate that a certain
noun or verb is irregular, whether a certain formative is a free
or a bound morpheme, etc.
c) Semantic information - i.e., information about a word's
(descriptive) meaning may be viewed as a set of (inherent and
contextual) semantic features which are true of the referent of
that lexical item: bachelor [+male] and [+adult] and [married].
d) Syntactic information has the form of a set of syntactic
features, including a categorial feature (e.g., +N, +V) and one
or more than one subcategorial features (e.g., [+ - NP]).
 4. The lexical entry and
lexical insertion in Aspects

(19) a. eat
[ +V]
[ + --- NP]
[ + (accomplishment)]
[ + <[(+Animate)]NP -- [(+edible)NP]>

b. assert
[ +V]
[ + ---S]
[+(event)]
[ + <[+animate, personal]NP -- [proposition]S >
 4. The lexical entry and lexical
insertion in Aspects
4.1. An example of derivation including subcategorization rules:
S

NP VP

N Aux MV

[+N] T M V NP
[+ - # ] ed may [+V] Det N
[+Common ] [+ - NP] [+Det] [+N]
[+Abstract] [+accomplishment]that [+Det-- ]
[+<[Abstract] ---] [+Common]
sincerity +--[Animate]NP >] [+Animate]
[+Human]
frighten [+Male]
[-Adult]
a boy
 5. Two exercises in
subcategorization
5.1. A second look at transitivity: Unergative,
Transitive, and Unaccusative verbs.
(21) a. unergative intransitive NP--

NP V
a

VP

NP V
 5. Two exercises in
subcategorization
b. unaccusative intransitive (ergative) -- NP
S S

NP VP NP VP

V NP a V NP
a t

VP

V NP
 5. Two exercises in
subcategorization
c. transitive NP1 -- NP2
S VP

NP VP NP V

a V NP2 V NP
b

(22) unergative verbs: cry, cough, exercise,

fly, laugh, run, swim, etc.
unaccusative (ergative) verbs: burst, collapse,
fall, come, appear, swell, vanish, etc.
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
Auxiliary selection
Unaccusative predicates select BR G. sein/ D. zijn/ I.
essere(=be), while unergatives select HAVE G. haben/ D.
hebben/ I. avere(=have) just like transitive verbs.

(23) Dutch. a.dat Jan valt

that Jan falls
b.dat Jan gevallen is
that Jan fallen is
Italian. a.Giovanni arriva
Giovanni arrives
b.Giovanni e arrivato
Giovanni is arrived
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
Auxiliary selection
(24) Dutch a.dat Jan lacht
that Jan laughs
b.dat Jan gelachen heeft
that Jan laughed has
Italian a.Giovanni telefona
Giovanni telephones
b.Giovanni ha telefonato
Giovanni has telephoned
(25) Dutch. a.Ik heb het verhaal gehoord
I have the story heard
b.dat ik het verhaal gehoord heb
that I the story heard have
Italian. a.L'artigleria affondo due navi nemiche
The artillery sank two enemy ships
b.L'artigleria ha affondato due navi nemiche
The artillery has sunk two enemy ships
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
Attributive (prenominal) past participle (not possible for
unergatives, possible for transitives and unaccusatives,
i.e. possible with verbs that have internal arguments)

(27) English. A broken promise, a well-cut coat, a beaten

child, the torn shirt, a better educated person, the written
word, the oppressed people, the enforced restriction, the
newly published edition, etc.

Romanian o promisiune clcat, o hain bine croit, un

copil btut, o cma rupt, cuvntul scris, poporul
asuprit etc.
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
Past participles of intransitives:
(32) English a. a wilted lettuce, a fallen leaf, a
collapsed tent, burst pipes, rotted railings, swollen feet,
vanished civilizations, newly-arrived customer
b. *a run man, *a caughed patient, *a swum contestant,
*a flown pilot, *a cried child, *a laughed clown

(33) Romanian a. (unaccusative) om venic plecat,

scrisoare recent sosit, musafir abia venit, copil adormit
b. (unergative) *copil dormit, *clovn rs, *om respirat
(compare: aer respirat, based on the transitive verb)

(34) Past participles of verbs may be used as adjectives

(predicates) over nouns which correspond to the initial
direct object of the verb.
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
There Insertion Only unaccusative verbs allow it.

(34) a) There arrived a guest.

b. There came several people last night.
c) There has been trouble in the city.
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
Accusative assignment . Cognate objects

(35) a. die a heroic death, to fight a battle, to

weep hot tears, to live a life, wtc.
b. to come a coming, to arrive an arrival.
c. to write a letter

(36) a. He died an unheroic death.

b. He wept hot tears,
c. He wrote crime fiction.
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
The subcategorization of English Prepositions
So far, we have only been concerned with verb
subcategorization; we would like to extend this discussion
to other parts of speech in English. This will be a useful
descriptive exercise and it will allow us to later draw more
general cross-categorial conclusions regarding phrase
structure.

Particles and prepositions are one class

a) Particles, prepositions and such adverbs subcategorize
the same verbs.

(45) Put the books down/ on the desk/ there

She was lying down/ on the bed/ there
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
b) Prepositions, particles (and certain adverbs) have
common specifiers, such as the adverb right.

(46) He kept drinking right until midnight (right + PP)

The boy came right from the store
(47) I remember I put it right down (right + particle)
Come in here, right away !
(48) You stay right here (right + certain place/time
adverb)
Come here, right now !
Moreover, right does not modify manner adverbs and
adjectives, so this specifier is characteristic of locative
(and (some) temporal) PPs.
(49) *He drove right carefully/slowly/well.
*She is right pretty.
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
c) Prepositions, particles (and certain adverbs) may all occur in
specific syntactic constructions: sentences with inversion (50),
and also characteristic exclamative elliptic inverted structures
(51).
(50) a. Into the house he ran.
b. In he ran.
c. There you go!
Out of the room he walked
Out he walked.
(51) a. Off with her head!
Down with injustice!
Overboard with the traitors!
b. Into the dunjeon with the traitors!
To hell with this assignment!
A broad hint that particles and prepositions might belong to the
same part of speech is the fact that many prepositions and
particles are homonymous (e.g., across, about, around, by, down,
in, out, up, through).
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
Subclasses of prepositional connectors

The suggestion is to analyze particles as intransitive

prepositions. Therefore, we will assume that the lexical
category 'preposition' is subcategorized for transitivity,
into the following subcategories:
a) always intransitive prepositions; this is the class of
formatives that can only function as particles; these
cannot take an object NP, e.g., away, forth, aside.

(52) P [ = Prt ] CS / --# aside: [ + --# ]

e.g., to jump aside, to come forth, to go away, to lay

smth aside, to fire the questions away, to put a
proposal forth
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
b) always transitive prepositions; these are the formatives
that must be followed by an NP, being used only as
prepositions, as indicated in (53), e.g., at, of, with, for, into.

(53) P CS / - NP at: [ + -- NP ]

e.g., to look at, to wait for, to do with, to take care of,etc

c) prepositions that have both transitive and intransitive
uses, this is the class of formatives which are both
prepositions and particles, e.g., across, about, by, down, in,
out, through,a.s.o.

(54) P CS / - (NP) down: [ + -- (NP) ]

e.g., to walk across (a room), to stand by (one's friend), to

hang around (a place), come down (one's high horse)
 Properties of unergative/
unaccusative verbs
d) Less frequently mentioned is the fact that prepositions
may govern PPs, therefore, some prepositions are
subcategorized as in (55), e.g., out, from, until, round,
because.
(55) P CS / -- PP because: [ + -- PP ]

e.g., because of him, to wait until after the war, to be

from near St. Louis.
 CONCLUSIONS
Concluding on the subcategorization of predicative lexical
categories, we may say that satisfaction of the
subcategorization frame of Vs, Ps, As is a condition on
the syntactic and semantic well-formedness of sentences
containing those Vs, Ps, As Subcategorial information
coded as a subcategorization frame or feature or
otherwise is an obligatory component of each lexical
entry. The subcategorial feature (like the categorial one)
expresses the formal meaning of an item, that is, a
principle of construction for any sentence where that item
occurs as a constituent. Knowledge of an item's
subcategorial properties is obligatory for anyone that
qualifies as 'knowing' that item. Validation of the concept
of subcategorization is found in good lexicographic and
teaching practice. Good dictionaries and good teachers
always present words in the minimal context needed for
their proper use, e.g., one indicates charge smb with NP,
exempt smb from NP, rather than charge, exempt, etc.