Relative clauses

Fri Mar 17 10:52:34 UTC 2000

Helge Dyvik wrote:
> A fortiori, they should not
> be unified - not because this would lead to a circular structure
> (what is theoretically wrong with them?), but because, as Yehuda
> points out, grammatical features like CASE may not be the same. The
> NP and the embedded TOPIC are not the same linguistic object. It is
> arguably different in the case of control structures ("He wants me to
> leave"), since we may claim that here the same linguistic object
> ("me") at once functions as the object of "want" and as the subject
> of "leave" - without any case conflict, since there is no subject
> case assignment in the infinitival complement.

Just one little comment on this:

In German (and other languages) there are case agreeing adverbial
phrases. An example is ein- nach d- ander- (one after the other)
(Hoehle, 1983). This phrase has to agree in case and gender with the
plural NP it referes to.

a. [Die T"uren_nom,fem,pl]_i sind [eine_nom,fem nach der_fem anderen]_i
kaputt gegangen.
   `The doors broke one after another.'

b. [Einer_nom,mas nach dem_dat,mas anderen]_i  haben wir_i  die Burschen
runtergeputzt.
      `We took turns in bringing the lads down a peg or two.'

c. [Einen_acc,mas nach dem_mas anderen]_i  haben wir [die
Burschen_acc,mas,pl]_i runtergeputzt.
      `One after the other, we brought the lads down a peg or two.'

d. Ich lie"s [die Burschen_acc,mas,pl]_i  [einen_acc,mas nach dem_dat
anderen]_i einsteigen.
      `I let the lads get in (get started) one after the other.'

e. [Uns_dat]_i  wurde [einer_dat,fem nach der_fem anderen]_i  der Stuhl
vor die T"ur gesetzt.
      `We were given the sack one after the other.'

As Tilman Hoehle noted this property of these elements can be used to
determine the case of non-overt subjects in infinitives. If we apply the
test, we find that ein- nach d- ander- has to be nominative if it
referes to subjects of zu-infinitive phrases.

a. Ich habe [den Burschen_dat,mas,pl]_i geraten, im Abstand von wenigen
Tagen
      [einer_nom,mas nach dem_dat,mas anderen]_i zu k"undigen.
      `I advised the lads to hand in their notice one after the other at
intervals of a few days.'

b. [Die T"uren_nom,fem,pl]_i sind viel zu wertvoll, um [eine_nom,fem
nach der_dat,fem anderen]_i
      verheizt zu werden.
      `The doors are much too precious to be burnt one after the other.'

c. [Wir_nom]_i sind es leid, [eine_nom,fem nach der_dat,fem anderen]_i
den Stuhl
      vor die T"ur gesetzt zu kriegen.
      `We are tired of being given the sack one after the other.'

What we see in a. is an example where the case of the controller
(dative) is different form the case of the adverbial that referes to the
subject of the embedded infinitive. This is explained most easily by
assuming that control is coindexing instead of identity.

The case facts are different in raising constructions. There we have a
real identity of elements and the case of the subject in the lower
verbal domain is identical to the one in the higher. Detmar Meurers and
I dealt with these issues and you may check the papers and my book for
more detailed argumentations and more facts. (See references below)

Note further that there are cases where a PP is coindexd with the
subject of the controled infinitive.

Die Lehrer, von denen erwartet wird, diesen aufgeputschten
Kohlehydratkolossen etwas beizubringen, verdienen jedermanns
Anteilnahme. (Max Goldt, Die Kugeln in unseren K"opfen. M"unchen:
Wilhelm Heine Verlag. 1997, p. 145)

A similar example in English can be found in Pollard and Sag (1994, p.
139):

Kim appealed to Sandy to cooperate.

So, if one assumed identity one would assume that the subject of the VP
is a PP.

In summing up, I think that control and relative clauses should be
analyzed in a similar way, namely with coindexing.

Greetings

	Stefan

@Unpublished{Hoehle83,
  author      =	{Tilman N. H{\"o}hle},
  title	      =	{{Topologische Felder}},
  note	      =	{K{\"o}ln, ms},
  year	      =	1983
}

@Article{meurers:gagl99,
        author       = {Walt Detmar Meurers},
        title        = {Raising Spirits (and assigning them case)},
        journal      = {Groninger Arbeiten zur Germanistischen
Linguistik (GAGL)},
        volume       = 43,
        pages        = {173--226},
        year         = 1999,
        editor       = {Werner Abraham},
        publisher    = {Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, German Department},
        address      = {Groningen},
        url          =
{http://www.sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de/~dm/papers/gagl-raising-spirits.html}
}

@PhDThesis{Meurers2000b,
  author      =	{Walt Detmar Meurers},
  title	      =	{Lexical Generalizations in the Syntax of {German}
Non-Finite Constructions},
  school      =	{Eberhard-Karls-Uni\-ver\-si\-t{\"a}t},
  address     =	{T\"ubingen},
  year	      =	2000
}

@Book{Mueller99a,
  author      =	{Stefan M{\"u}ller},
  title	      =	{{Deutsche Syntax deklarativ. Head-Driven Phrase
Structure Grammar f\"ur das
		Deutsche}},
  publisher   =	{Max Niemeyer Verlag},
  address     =	{T\"ubingen},
  series      =	{Linguistische Arbeiten},
  number      =	394,
  note	      =	{\url{http://www.dfki.de/~stefan/Pub/e_hpsg.html}},
  year	      =	"1999"
}

@InCollection{Mueller2000a,
  crossref    =	{KM2000a-Eng},
  author      =	{Stefan M{\"u}ller},
  title	      =	{Case in {German} -- Towards an {HPSG} Analysis},
  note	      =	{\url{http://www.dfki.de/~stefan/Pub/e_case.html}},
  editor      =	{Tibor Kiss and Detmar Meurers},
  booktitle   =	{Constraint"=based Approaches to {Germanic} Syntax},
  series      =	{Studies in Constraint-Based Lexicalism},
  publisher   =	csli,
  address     =	{Stanford},
  year	      =	{To Appear}
}

@Book{ps94,
  author      =	{Carl J. Pollard and Ivan A. Sag},
  title	      =	{Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar},
  publisher   =	{University of Chicago Press},
  address     =	{Chicago, London},
  series      =	{Studies in Contemporary Linguistics},
  year	      =	1994
}

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