X-bar theory

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The X-bar theory is claimed to describe a universal principle of natural languages, which is subject to language specific parametrization concerning the order of the constituents (left specification x right specification, left adjunction x right adjunction, left complementation x right complementation), but not the role of constituents (specifier, adjunct, complement, head) or the possible heads.  
 
The X-bar theory is claimed to describe a universal principle of natural languages, which is subject to language specific parametrization concerning the order of the constituents (left specification x right specification, left adjunction x right adjunction, left complementation x right complementation), but not the role of constituents (specifier, adjunct, complement, head) or the possible heads.  
  
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== Heads ==
 
In the UNLarium approach to the X-bar theory, the heads, which should replace the letter X, and which define the nature of the phrase, may be occupied by the following categories <ref>In the X-bar theory, adverbs are subsumed by prepositions and are not considered to be an independent lexical category.</ref>
 
In the UNLarium approach to the X-bar theory, the heads, which should replace the letter X, and which define the nature of the phrase, may be occupied by the following categories <ref>In the X-bar theory, adverbs are subsumed by prepositions and are not considered to be an independent lexical category.</ref>
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*N = nominals (head of a [[#Noun Phrase]] or NP)
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*N = noun (head of a Noun Phrase or NP)
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*V = verbs (head of a [[#Verbal Phrase]] or VP)
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*V = verb (head of a Verbal Phrase or VP)
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*J = adjectives (head of an [[#Adjective Phrase]] or JP)
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*J = adjective (head of an Adjective Phrase or JP)
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*A = adverbs (head of an [[#Adverbial Phrase]] or AP)
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*A = adverb (head of an Adverbial Phrase or AP)
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*P = prepositions (head of a [[#Prepositional Phrase]] or PP)
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*P = preposition (head of a Prepositional Phrase or PP)
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*D = determiners (head of a [[#Determiner Phrase]] or DP)
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*D = determiner (head of a Determiner Phrase or DP)
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*I = auxiliaries (head of an [[#Inflectional Phrase]] or IP)
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*I = auxiliary verbs (head of an Inflectional Phrase or IP)
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*C = conjunctions (head of a [[#Complementizer Phrase]] or CP)
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*C = conjunction (head of a Complementizer Phrase or CP)
  
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== Noun phrase ==  
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== Phrases ==
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{|border=1 cellpadding=2 align=center
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!PHRASE
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!colspan="4"|STRUCTURE
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!EXAMPLE
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|-
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!
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!SPEC
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!HEAD
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!COMP
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!ADJT
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!
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|-
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|NP
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|DP
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|N
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|PP
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|JP, PP
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|The construction of Babel
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|}
  
  
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According to the S-rule syntax, the basic x-bar structure can be represented as follows:
 
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XP(XB(XB(head;complement);adjunct);spec)
 
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For simplification reasons, the same structure can be represented by four head-driven relations, as follows:
 
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'''XS(head;specifier)''', which describes the relation between the head of the structure and its specifier
 
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'''XA(head;adjunct)''', which describes the relation between the head of the structure and its adjuncts
 
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'''XC(head;complement)''', which describes the relation between the head of the structure and its complements
 
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'''XP(head)''', which describes the head of the structure, without any reference to its internal structure
 
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This is to say that:
 
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XP(XB(XB(head;complement);adjunct);spec) = XS(head;specifier)XA(head;adjunct)XC(head;complement)
 
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There can then nine syntactic roles in each phrase:
 
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{| border="1" align="center" cellpadding="5"
 
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!Tag
 
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!Syntactic Role
 
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!Description
 
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|-
 
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|XP
 
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|X phrase
 
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|maximal projection (used to make reference to the whole phrase without reference to its internal structure)
 
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|-
 
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|XS
 
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|relation between the head and the specifier
 
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|maximal projection (used to make reference to the presence of a specifier in the maximal projection)
 
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|-
 
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|XA
 
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|relation between the head and the adjunct
 
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|intermediate projection (used to make reference to the presence of an adjunct in the maximal projection)
 
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|-
 
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|XC
 
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|relation between the head and the complement
 
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|intermediate projection (used to make reference to the presence of a complement in the maximal projection)
 
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|-
 
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|SPEC
 
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|specifier
 
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|external argument (subject)
 
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|-
 
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|COMP
 
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|complement
 
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|internal argument (direct object, indirect object, etc.)
 
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|-
 
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|ADJT
 
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|adjunct
 
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|adjunct (adverbial and nominal adjuncts)
 
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|-
 
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|HEAD
 
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|head
 
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|noun head, adjective head, etc.
 
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|}
 
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=== Lexical Categories ===
 
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In the UNLarium framework, the set of lexical categories (X) which project phrasal categories (XP) are considered to be the following (in alphabetical order of head):
 
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{| border="1" align="center" cellpadding="5"
 
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!Tag
 
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!Category
 
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!Relations
 
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!Projections
 
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|-
 
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|J
 
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|Adjective
 
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|JC, JA, JS
 
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|JB, JP
 
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|-
 
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|A
 
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|Adverb
 
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|AC, AA, AS
 
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|AB, AP
 
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|-
 
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|C
 
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|Conjunction
 
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|CC, CA, CS
 
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|CB, CP
 
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|-
 
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|D
 
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|Determiner
 
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|DC, DA, DS
 
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|DB, DP
 
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|-
 
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|I
 
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|Inflection
 
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|IC, IA, IS
 
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|IB, IP
 
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|-
 
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|N
 
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|Noun
 
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|NC, NA, NS
 
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|NB, NP
 
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|-
 
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|P
 
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|Preposition
 
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|PC, PA, PS
 
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|PB, PP
 
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|-
 
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|V
 
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|Verb
 
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|VC, VA, VS
 
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|VB, VP
 
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|-
 
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|}
 
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=== Syntactic hierarchy ===
 
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The topmost level of the syntactic structure is sentence (SP), which is considered to be a maximal projection of the conjunction phrase (CP), which is the maximal projection of the inflectional phrase (IP), which is the maximal projection of a verbal phrase (VP). The other phrasal categories (NP, JP, AP, PP and DP) do not differentiate hierarchically.
 
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<pre>
 
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SP
 
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|
 
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CP 
 
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|
 
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IP
 
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|
 
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VP
 
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</pre>
 
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== Notes ==
 
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<references group="footnotes"/>
 
  
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>

Revision as of 14:07, 20 January 2010

The syntactic framework of the UNLarium derives from the X-bar theory [1], whose general structure is depicted below: 

    XP
   / \
spec  XB
     / \
    XB  adjunct
   / \
  X   comp
  |
head

In the above:

  • X is the head, the nucleus or the source of the whole syntactic structure, which is actually derived (or projected) out of it.
  • comp (i.e., complement) is an internal argument, i.e., a word, phrase or clause which is necessary to the head to complete its meaning (e.g., objects of transitive verbs)
  • adjunct is a word, phrase or clause which modifies the head but which is not syntactically required by it (adjuncts are expected to be extranuclear, i.e., removing an adjunct would leave a grammatically well-formed sentence)
  • spec (i.e., specifier) is an external argument, i.e., a word, phrase or clause which qualifies (determines) the head
  • XB (X-bar) is the general name for any of the intermediate projections derived from X
  • XP (X-bar-bar, X-double-bar, X-phrase) is the maximal projection of X.

A key assumption of X-bar theory is that branching is always binary, if it occurs. This means that there can be as many XBs as necessary. Specifiers, complements and adjuncts are optional and are themselves syntactically complex, i.e., they correspond to XPs.

The X-bar theory is claimed to describe a universal principle of natural languages, which is subject to language specific parametrization concerning the order of the constituents (left specification x right specification, left adjunction x right adjunction, left complementation x right complementation), but not the role of constituents (specifier, adjunct, complement, head) or the possible heads.

Heads

In the UNLarium approach to the X-bar theory, the heads, which should replace the letter X, and which define the nature of the phrase, may be occupied by the following categories [2]

  • N = noun (head of a Noun Phrase or NP)
  • V = verb (head of a Verbal Phrase or VP)
  • J = adjective (head of an Adjective Phrase or JP)
  • A = adverb (head of an Adverbial Phrase or AP)
  • P = preposition (head of a Prepositional Phrase or PP)
  • D = determiner (head of a Determiner Phrase or DP)
  • I = auxiliary verbs (head of an Inflectional Phrase or IP)
  • C = conjunction (head of a Complementizer Phrase or CP)

Phrases

PHRASE STRUCTURE EXAMPLE
SPEC HEAD COMP ADJT
NP DP N PP JP, PP The construction of Babel










References

  1. ↑ Chomsky, Noam (1970). Remarks on nominalization. In: R. Jacobs and P. Rosenbaum (eds.) Reading in English Transformational Grammar, 184-221. Waltham: Ginn.
  2. ↑ In the X-bar theory, adverbs are subsumed by prepositions and are not considered to be an independent lexical category.
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