A comparison between Polish and English transformations Deletion Prepared by: Żaneta Chłystek...
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A comparison between Polish and English transformations
Deletion
Prepared by: Żaneta Chłystek
Bogumiła Plichcińska
one the basis of:
Świdziński M., Składnia
Bobrowski I., Gramatyka opisowa języka polskiego, T.2, WSP:Kielce 1998
OUTLINE:
1. Definition of transformation.
2. General overview of Polish and English transformations.
3. Deletion in Polish and English:
a) deleting non-lexical elements;
b) deleting lexical elements:
- deleting pronouns;
- reduction of co-ordination.
Definition of transformation
Transformations are a set of movement rules which inter-relate S-structure and D-structure.
General overview of Polish and English transformations
1. Types of Polish transformations:• movements:
– operating in simple clauses and in subordinate clauses
– cyclic movement (przenoszenie wielokrotne)– indirect movement (przenoszenie niebezpośrednie)
• replacing lexical elements and adding new ones:– replacing verbs with their periphrastic forms (zasłówki)– replacing the conjunction “i” with the preposition “z”– nominalisation (nominalizacja)– replacing verbs with participles
• deletion• transformation of word order
2. Types of English transformations:• transformations affecting Phrasal Categories:
– Topicalisation – WH-movement – NP-movement– Extraposition and Heavy NP-Shift
• transformations affecting Terminal Categories:– Affix-hopping– V-raising– Do-support – Subject-Aux inversion
Deletion in Polish and English
a) deleting non-lexical elements:
all non-lexical elements (e.g. t, , ) must be deleted before they appear in S-structure
b) deleting lexical elements:
lexical elements can, must or cannot be deleted depending on circumstances (the structure in which they appear and its semantic interpretation)
Deleting pronouns
Idę.
Nominative of the pronoun ja in Polish canalways be removed in simple sentences; its lexical meaning is determined by theinflection ending -ę.
S2
S1
S
NP VP
N V
ja idę
Deleting pronouns
I go.
We cannot delete the pronoun I. It is thesubject of the sentence and according to theExtended Projection Principle clauses musthave a subject.
S1
S
NP VP
N V
I go
Deleting pronouns
Ja idę, a ty zostajesz.
If ja idę and ty zostajesz are parts of the same co-ordinate structure in which they are connected with the conjunction a, both ja and ty cannot be deleted.
S2
S1
S Spw S
N V
ja idę a ty zostajesz
NP NPVP
V
VP
N
Asia zostaje
Deleting pronouns
However, the following sentence is well-formed:
Idę, a ty zostajesz.
Other possible sentences are not correct, eg.:
*Idę, a zostajesz.
*Ja idę, a zostajesz.Hence, there is no rule in Polish that would completely prohibit the deletion of pronouns.
Deleting pronouns
I go and you stay.
We cannot delete the NPs because they are the subjects of the clauses (EPP). It is possible to delete the second NP you, however the meaning of the sentence is completely different. The two verbs refer then to the same noun.
I go and stay.
S2
S1
S Spw S
N V
I go and you stay
NP VP NP
V
VP
N
Reduction of co-ordination
In Polish:
Co-ordinate structures in which the same lexical elements appear may or must (depending on the structure) undergo the so-called reduction of co-ordination.
E.g.: Chłopiec zdaje egzamin ustny, a dziewczyna pisemny.
Reduction of co-ordination(optional)
NV
NP
NN
S2
S1
Spw
S
VP
S S
NP
AP
chłopiec
VP
a
V
NP
dziewczyna zdaje egzamin
A
pisemny
NP
N
zdaje egzamin ustny
AP
A
- in this case reduction of co-ordination is optional
Reduction of co-ordinationIn English:
We can delete the verb. The result of this deletion in DS is a trace that functions as a normal verb (subcategorisation).
In co-ordinate structures we cannot delete the NPs of the same function. We can only replace them with appropriate pro-forms (after taking into consideration the context).
E.g.:
The boy takes the written exam and the girl takes the oral exam.
- The boy takes the written exam and the girl takes the oral one.
- The boy takes the written exam and the girl t the
oral one.
- The boy takes the written one and the girl takes the oral one. (context)
-*The boy takes the written and the girl takes the oral.
-*The boy takes the written exam and the girl takes.
! Verbs are said to subcategorise into various sub-groups, depending on whether they require a complement, and if they do, what type of complement they require.
The verb take requires an NP complement. Its subcategorisation frames are as follows:
take: [V;_NP]
In Polish
repeated co-ordinate elements in DS in which both co-ordinate constituents are conjoined by “spójnik przeciwstawny” (e.g. a) must be deleted if the N directly dominated by S preceeds the co-ordinate VP or if there are co-ordinate clauses in which there is the same N dominated by S.
Reduction of co-ordination in Polish(obligatory)
Reduction of co-ordination in Polish
tree representation
E.g.: Chłopiec dał Ani książkę, a dziecku gazetę.
NV
NP
N
S2
S1
Spw
S
VP
S S
NPVP
V
NP
N N
NP NPNP
N N
chłopiec a chłopiec gazetędał Ani książkę dał dziecku
The lexical material that appears in both components,
chłopiec dał, cannot be repeated. If it is, then thesentence is incorrect:*Chłopiec dał Ani książkę, a chłopiec dał
dziecku gazetę.*Chłopiec dał Ani książkę, a chłopiec dziecku
gazetę.*Chłopiec dał Ani książkę, a dał dziecku gazetę.
Reduction of co-ordination in Polish
examples
Reduction of co-ordination in English
In English:
In Ordinary Coordination we can co-ordinate only constituents. A constituent is a set of nodes that are exhaustively dominated by a common node.
E.g.The boy gave a book to the girl and (t) a newspaper to the child.
ce
S1
andS’
S” S
S
NP
NP
Spec
Ie vP
tl
to the child
the boy
gavel
a book
v’
v VP
NPV’
V PP
ce
Ie
Spec
vP
v’
vVP
V’
V PP
to the girl
the boy
gavem
a paper
NP
tm
In order to find correspondence between the two phrases a book to the girl/ a paper to the child, maybe we could
Verbs like “give, put” take two complements.
Their subcategorisation frames would be
[ _NP; NP]
[ _NP; PP] eg.(He) gave the girl a book.
(He) gave a book to the girl.
Such a verb “consists of” two components in its
deep structure:
- a light verb (v)
- an impoverished version of the verb e.g. GIVE
The whole structure is called a VP-shell.
VP-shell
If we accept the explanation, then the phrase “a book to the girl” is treated as a constituent. Thus, it can undergo coordination.
The boy [vP [GAVE]i [v] [VP[NP a book] [V’ ti [PP to the girl]]]]
The boy gave a book to the girl and __ a paper to the child.
vP
Spec v'
NP V’
V PP
VP
a book
GAVEto the girl
v