Guglielmo Cinque’s mini-course on Formal Syntax and Universal Grammar

Guglielmo Cinque’s mini-course

The focus will be on the internal structure of nominal phrases.  In particular, it will attempt a reconstruction of (a fragment of) the universal hierarchy of the constituents that make up the extended projection of the NP. This will also require some understanding of the way the different orders of such elements in different languages are derived (i.e. a general theory of word order typology). Particular attention will be given to the syntax of adjectives and relative clauses, but the discussion will cover a number of other nominal heads and modifiers (pre-numeral modifiers, numeral classifiers, number, diminutives/augmentatives, etc.), as well as constraints on nominal ellipsis and, if there is time, extraction from nominal phrases.

Abstract of the 1st lecture

In the first lecture, I will outline the assumptions underlying the analysis I will pursue of nominal structures:- the idea that linguistic inquiry aims at discovering the universal linguistic categories (structure of phrases, grammatical categories, lexical features, etc.) behind the language-specific categories of different languages (examples from lexical and morphosyntactic differences among languages) - the idea that we should in the syntax try to draw for the clause and its phrases structures as detailed as possible (cartography)- the idea that syntactic constituents are hierarchically organized in binary branching structures (as a consequence of Merge).

Video:

Abstract of the 2nd lecture

In relation to the putative universal structure of the nominal phrase (one fragment of which was presented in the previous lecture) in this lecture I will start considering the issue of how its hierchical structure is linearized, setting the question within a very pervasive property of natural languages: their left right asymmetry (more orders are possible to the right of a head than are possible to its left), an example of it being Greenberg’s (1963) Universal 20.

Video:

Abstract of the 3rd lecture

In this lecture, I will sketch a possible analysis of word order typology, which generalizes the movement approach of Greenberg’s Universal 20 presented in the previous lecture to the clause and to all other phrases. In particular, given the absolute minority status of the ideal head-initial and head-final orders I will couch it in micro-parametric terms.

Video:

Abstract of the 4th lecture

In this lecture, I will focus on the syntax of adjectival modification, suggesting that one should distinguish two sources of such adnominal modifiers: a direct modification one (parallel to the adverbial modification of the clause), open to non-predicative adjectives, and a reduced relative clause one, open to predicative adjectives only (some lexical adjectives entering both). The two sources will also be seen to be characterized by two separate batteries of semantic readings. The exemplification will primarily concern Italian (Romance) and English (and more generally Germanic and Slavic).

Abstract of the 5th lecture

The main goal of this lecture will be to argue that the different types of relative clauses attested cross-linguistically (Externally Headed Post-nominal, Externally Headed Pre-nominal, Internally Headed, Double-Headed, Headless (or ‘Free’), Correlative, and Adjoined – Dryer 2005) can all be derived from a single, double-headed, universal structure via different, independently justified, syntactic operations (movement and deletion, or non-pronunciation), under both “Raising” and “Matching”; two derivational options that appear to depend, at least in part, on the semantic type of the relative clause involved (whether it is ‘restrictive’, or ‘amount/maximalizing’, ‘non-restrictive’ or ‘kind-defining’).  Some movement operations will prove to be specific to the relative clause construction, others to be tied to the head-initial or head-final word order of the language.

Video:

Abstract of the 6th lecture

In the last lecture, I will return to the fragment of the universal structure of the nominal phrase presented at the outset, trying to give suggestive evidence that all languages are essentially alike in the type, number and hierarchal arrangement of the heads and modifiers of the extended nominal phrase.

Video:

The course will take place at Staraya Basmannaya 21/4. Room numbers and timetable:

• April 24: 18.10-21.00, room 501
• April 25: 18.10-21.00, room 511
• April 26: 18.10-21.00, room 503