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Two comparable grammatical formalisms, Generalized Phrase Structure
Grammar (GPSG) [#!gazdar85!#] and Head-driven Phrase Structure
Grammar (HPSG) [#!PollardSag94:BK!#], have rather different
treatments of sentential complements (S-comps). They both treat
embedded sentences as VP's with subjects, which generates the correct
structures but misses the generalization that S's behave similarly in
both matrix and embedded environments, and VP's behave quite
differently. Neither account has PRO subjects of
infinitival clauses- they have subjectless VP's instead. GPSG has a
complete complementizer system, which appears to cover the same range
of data as our analysis. It is not clear what sort of complementizer
analysis could be implemented in HPSG.
Following standard GB approach, the English XTAG grammar does not
allow VP complements but treats verb-anchored structures without overt
subjects as having PRO subjects. Thus, indicative clauses, infinitives
and gerunds all have a uniform treatment as embedded clauses using the
same trees under this approach. Furthermore, our analysis is able to
preserve the selectional and distributional distinction between S's and
VP's, in the spirit of GB theories, without having to posit `extra'
empty categories.8.1 Consider the alternation between that and the null complementizer8.2, shown in sentences ((12)) and ((13)).
(11)0(11
- (12)
- He hopes
Muriel wins.
(12)0(12
- (13)
- He hopes that Muriel wins.
In GB both Muriel wins in ((12)) and that Muriel wins in
((13)) are CPs even though there is no overt complementizer to head the
phrase in ((12)). Our grammar does not distinguish by category label
between the phrases that would be labeled in GB as IP and CP. We label
both of these phrases S. The difference between these two levels is the
presence or absence of the complementizer (or extracted WH constituent), and is
represented in our system as a difference in feature values (here, of the <comp> feature), and the presence of the additional structure contributed
by the complementizer or extracted constituent. This illustrates an important
distinction in XTAG, that between features and node labels. Because we have a
sophisticated feature system, we are able to make fine-grained distinctions
between nodes with the same label which in another system might have to be
realized by using distinguishing node labels.
Next: Complementizers and Embedded Clauses
Up: Sentential Subjects and Sentential
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XTAG Project
1998-09-14