CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
SOME FACTORS IN THE DETERMINATION OF COMPLEMENTIZERS
\\
A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in
Linguistics
By
Marian Shapley
/.
June, 1980
'!he 'lhesis of Marian Shapley is approved:
Professor Mahlon Gaumer III
Professor Paul Kirk
Professor Iris Shah (Chairman)
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
1.
2.
3.
Page
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEIYI
1
A.
Complements
1
B.
Complementizers - Their Selection and Source
5
c.
Scope of the Present Study
8
METHOOOLOGY AND VARIABLES
10
A.
The Governing Words
10
B.
The Complementizers
14
c.
The Syntactic Frames
15
D.
Semantic Groups
16
E.
Other Variables
21
F.
Data Sources
22
RESULTS
23
A.
Prediction of Complementizer
23
B.
Prediction of Complementizer with Head Noun
32
c.
Transformational and Other rules
35
D.
Abstract Head Nouns
31
E.
Summary
40
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES
A.
FOOTNOTES
44
B.
VERB-NOUN TABULATIONS
45
iii
TABLES
Page
1.
Syntactic Contexts in Terms of Placement of V1
2.
Syntactic
3.
Verb Group Characteristics by Semantic Group
24
4.
Syntactic Contexts of Individual Verbs
26
5·
Verb Groups and their Syntactic Contexts
33
6.
Verbs with
37
7•
Complementizer Government for Verb-Noun Combinations
Context~
T\-10
for
v1
with Head Nouns
Objects and their Contexts.
17
18
38
FIGURES
1.
Structures of Complement Sentences and Relative Clause
2
2.
~on-finite
4
Complementation
iv
ABSTRACT
SOI>iE FACTORS IN THE DETERMINATION OF COKPLEMEUTIZERS
1•1arian Shapley
Master of Arts in Linguistics
This is a study of t'\rro governors of complementizers in
English: the verb in the matrix sentence and the noun preceding the
embedded clause.
Verb groups formed on the basis of identical
syntactic context t..;i th complementizers sho\'r semantic cohesiveness.
Verbs in broader groupings of temporal categories of futurity,
definitiveness and temporal aspect are
relate~
to specific comple-
mentizers; futurity verbs take 'to,' definitive take 'that' and
temporal aspect take '-ing.'
~ihen
a noun precedes the complement,
the complementizer may differ from that 'trithout the noun.
In the
case of concrete nouns the complementizer is a function of that for
the verb without a noun.
In the case of an abstract noun the com-
plementizer is a function of the particular verb-noun combination,
sometimes related to the noun but more often to the verb.
v
Chapter 1
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEI-1
The way in which complementizers are determined in English is •
not yet entirely clear, since many factors seem to influence their
usage.
In the following pages the influence of some of these
factors, particularly that of the governing verb in the matrix
sentence and that of a head noun on the embedded sentence, is
examined in some detail.
A.
Comnlements
A complement is an embedded sentence, as is a relative clause.
These two types of embedding differ in function and structure, but
they have in common the possibility of alternative verb forms, that
is both may contain either fully conjugated verbs or non-finite
forms, and they are both introduced or described by morphemes which
are called complementizers for complements and relativizers for
relative clauses.
They differ in that complement clauses may be
thought of as nominalizations which serve as the subject or object
of the sentence in which they are embedded, whereas relative
clauses are modifiers of a noun phrase in the matrix sentence.
Though there may be evidence in some languages that complements
once involved relative clauses 1 the distinction is usually clear
in English.
The basic structure of complement sentences and relative
clause sentences is illustrated in Figure 1.
As the diagrams
show, a dummy head noun 'it' relating to the embedded clause is
1
2
Figure 1
STRUCTURE OF CQ111PLENIE.t'IT SENTENCES Al'ID RELATIVE CLAUSE
Object complementation
NP
knew
John
(John kne\'1 that she found the solution
/s~
N/N>
se:s
~s
Comp
It
Subject complementation
f~
she found the solution
that
(It seems that she found the solution)
s
1~
-~.
VP
v~
Relative Clause
/~.
John
knevr
thr.
girl
~solution
(who)
(John knew the girl who found the solution)
3
assumed to exist when no other head noun is present.
This 'it• is
often deleted in the surface structure, particularly in the case of
object complementation.
In the case of a relative clause the head
·noun is mandatory, and is the same as either the subject or object
of the embedded sentence -- which subject or object is replaced by
a relative pronoun in the surface structure.
The Kiparskys (1970) show that the non-finite verb forms occur
in embedded sentences when either the subject with which the verb
agreed before embedding is no longer present or it has assumed a
case function other than that of subject; that is as an object or
object of a preposition, as in the sentences lb- ld,
1) a.
b.
Co
d.
John expected that he t;ould be late.
John expected to be late.
John expected her to be late.
It was unusual for John to be late.
and in the relative clause lf.
e.
f.
The man who is fixing the sink is my uncle.
The man fixing the sink is my uncle.
The structure of non-finite complements before transformations
embedding them take place is shown in Figure 2.
rfuile we are
concerned here with only the surface structure representation of
complement sentences, an examination of these trees may help
clarify the meaning of the terms used here.
In these diagrams, as ,
in those of •that' complements of Figure 1, the matrix verb is the
verb directly under the VP node.
The embedded sentence is that
represented by the triangle under the last S node (and will be
designated by
S~)
The head noun is that noun under the NP node
preceding the embedded sentence-- it may be the dummy 'it' or
4
Figure 2
NON-FINITE COMPLEMENTATION
NP / ) V P " " V
•Too complement with Equi
N/>
NP
Com-o
~s
~·~-~
John
wants
it
to
John flies to New York
(John Nants to fly to New York)
9
NP/ ~VP
'To' complement
-ra~s~ng
object
v/~·NP
N/>
ICom-o
John
knew
~s
it
to
(her)..(- .-- ...
(Jolli1 lcnew her to be the author
'Poss-in~'
N
John
noticed
it -ing
(her)(---
(John noticed her reading the letter
complement
to
5
any noun or pronoun, wrlich may be either the object of the matrix
sentence or the subject of the embedded sentence raised to object
position.
In all cases, if it is present in the surface structure,
in the linear description of the context it precedes the cornplementizer.
B.
Complementizers - Their Selection and Source.
The complementizer can be used to describe or identify the
verb form of the embedded sentence.
'That' implies a conjugated
verb and the presence of a subject, 'for-to' an infinitive and
'poss-ing' a gerund forrn.
Other less common complementizers are
'whether,' 'if' and 'than' which usually imply complete sentential
complements, and the remaining ''-th' HOrds of English \•Jhich indicate
either sentential or infinitival complements.
Complementizer selection.
The choice of a complementizer is
to a large extent a function of the governing verb in the matrix
sentence and to some extent a function of the sentence which is to
be embedded.
For example, in sentences 2a - 2c, the complementizer
changes with the verb in the matrix sentence.
2) a.
b.
c.
I said that I swam every day.
I want to swim everyday.
I enjoy swimming every day.
But in sentences 3a - 3c the complementizer depends on vJhether or
not a noun precedes the embedded clause in the surface structure.
3) a.
b.
c.
John kne;'l that she was the author.
John knevr her to be the author.
John knev1 the resistance to her flying
In addition, the presence or absence of modals can change the
acceptability of complementizer usage, as does 'can' in 4a- 4d.
6
4) a.
b.
c.
d.
*I tell that he is coming.
I can tell that he is coming.
*I see whether she is ready.
I can see whether she is ready.
The relationship betv.•een head nouns and medals and the complementizers has not been fully explored, but seems to be a semantic one
similar to that of verbs.
Complementizer sources.
According to various linguists,
complementizers may either be generated in trees by phrase
structure rules, or inserted into a deep structure transformationally.
Rosenbaum (1967) chooses the transformational method as the
more economical.
He assumes that the governing verb is marked for
which complementizer or complementizers are acceptable, and he
generates 'that,• 'for-to• and 'poss-ing' as head nouns on the
sentences to be embedded.
Then in the transformational cycle the
proper set of complementizers is selected.
For example, if the
sentence 'he sings' were to be embedded in the sentence 'she says
it' the resulting intermediate string would be
5) a.
She says it
I
that
(for) to
(poss )-ing
he sings.
and since the verb 'say' is marked only for the complementizer
'that,• after the unmarked and redundant parts are deleted the
resulting string is
5) b.
She says that he sings.
tihen a governing verb is marked for more than one complementizer,
as the verb 'begin' is marked for both •to' and 'ing,' then more
~,
7
than one sentence is generated as in 5c - 5d.
5) c.
d.
She began to sing.
She began singing.
Stockwell,
(1973) who generates nominalization before com-
plementation, finds it simpler to add the complementizer when
needed rather than generate them all and delete unwanted ones.
He
adds 'that' \·rhen the nominalization is a complete clause, and adds
'for' to an infinitival nominalization when the governing verb is
marked for the feature 'emotive.•
2
Fbr example, 'that' is added to
5e to derive 5b, and 'for' is added to 5g but not 5f, since the
verb 'dislike' has the feature 'emotive' and 'order' does not.
5) e.
b.
f.
g.
She says it. He sings.
She says that he sings.
She orders him to sing.
She dislikes for him to sing.
Both Rosenbaum and Stockvrell, however, consider the complementizer to be devoid of meaning and the 'that,' infinitival and
gerund complements to be identical in deep structure and therefore
identical semantically.
Bresnan
(1979) argues that complementizers carry semantic
value and thus may not be added transformationally but must exist
in deep structure and therefore be generated by phrase structure
rules.
She points out that the complicated interdependencies
involved in the selection of complementizers are better handled by
subcategorization rules than by lexical annotations.
The verb 'think' presents a fairly simple example of these
interdependencies.
It takes a 'that' complementizer when there is
8
no head noun, but may also take a 'to' when there is a head noun.
6)
a.
b.
Tom thinks that she is an idiot.
Tom thinks her to be an idiot.
l:Jhen negations, modals, questions and tense changes are added the
picture is more complicated, as in sentences 6c - 6k.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
*
*
k.
Did you think to close the windows?
I didn't think to close the windows.
Didn't you think to close the windows?
I think to close the windows.
I thought to close the windows.
I think \vhere I put it.
I can't think where I put it.
Can you think where you put it?
Can't you think where you put it?
It is difficult to see hovr to describe such restrictions other than
contextually, and verbs such as 'like' Hhich can take more than one
complementizer, or 'confide' 'ivhich can have an indirect object are
even more complicated.
Contextual specifications for the above
sentences are as follows:
v:[ __ NP
V: [--that]+ S
___'ivhere] + S
vJhere
S
to]+
s
V: [Past(N)(Q) _ _ to]+ S
stands for complement clause.
It may be that vd th a more complete picture generalizations
will emerge which can simplify the descriptions.
a small part of the data
c.
~;d th
Here we examine
that in mind.
Scope of the Present Study
He examine here the relationships of complementizers to the
governing verbs in the matrix sentences and to head nouns on the
embedded sentences.
In particular we will try to answer the
9
follo\·Iing q_uestions:
c~n comple~entizers
1)
of the governing verb?
be predicted from the semantic content'
For example, do all verbs 1dth connotations
of futurity take a 'to' complementizer?
2)
the
Is the complementizer for a verb in the matrix sentence
sa~e
when the embedded sentence is preceded by a concrete noun
as v1hen it is not?
Or if it is not the same, can it be predicted?
For example, can one predict the complementizer in 7b, knovdng that
in 7a?
7) a.
b.
3)
John expected to fly to 1-Tew Orleans.
John expected him to fly to Ne\.; Orleans.
Is the complementizer for a verb in the matrix sentence
the same vrhen the embedded sentence is preceded by an abstract noun
as v?hen it is not, or if not can the complementizer be predicted?
For example, can one predict 7c, knov1ing 7a and the noun?
c.
John expected opposition to his flying.
Cha.pter 2
I<IETHO:OOLOGY
Al~D
VARIABLES
The variables studied include the governing verbs of the
matrix sentences, nouns preceding complement clauses, the complementizers, the syntactic frames in v1hich the verbs, nouns and
complementizers occur in conjunction, semantic groupings and some
transformational rules.
vJe
determine for ea.ch verb its possible syntactic frames, the
applicability of the transformational rules to it, and its membership in broad semantic categories.
1rJe then group the verbs by
identical syntactic frame combinations and assign arbitrary
semantic names to each group.
ships are then
The complementizer-verb relation-
tabula.ted in terms of these verb groups.
In the examination of head noun government, verbs and nouns
from the different semantic groups are combined into sentences and
the resulting acceptable complementizers tabulated.
A.
~ne
Governing Words.
Not all verbs function in the same manner in the governing
position for complementation.
There are two distinct classes of
verbs (exclusive of medals and auxiliaries) -- those which can have
only a single complement, and those \'Ihich can have an almost limitless recursion of complements.
The latter type of verb has been
called 'catenative'3 because when one occurs in a complement, it
can act as a matrix verb for further embedding; that is, complements may be successively concatenated, the string ending only i·'hen
10
11
a non-catenative verb is introduced.
In sentence Sa the verb is
non-catenative, while all the verbs except the le.st in 8b are
catenative (or recursive).
8) a.
b.
He played to i·lin.
They claimed that it l-ias surprising for J:.ary to
i·Jant them to know thc.t she liked his continuing
to visit her.
Sentences with non-recursive complements are not included here.
The syntactic combinations of non-recursive complements are almost
unlimited but the semantic restrictions are very severe and they
are often idiomatic.
This kind of complement is 'purposive' and
the complementizers can be interchanged with 'in order to,
the sake of' etc.
1
'for
Sentences 9a- 9d illustrate purposive, non-
recursive complements.
9) a.
b.
c.
d.
He eats to live.
He lives to eat.
He lives for eating.
She stoops to conquer.
Recursive verbs, on the other hand, can take an abstract
subject or object.
They can almost always be used non-recursively
as well, but almost never purposively.
groups of verbs as those of
~motional
They include such semantic
attitude such as 'love' and
'dislike;' of speaking such as •say' or 'announce;' of thinking
such as •think' or 'understand;' of temporal aspect such as 'begin'
or 'continue;' and of negative quality such as 'prohibit' or
'discourage.•
They also include verbs expressing potentiality such
as •want,• 'be possible' and 'request.•
These verbs are very common in speech and writing, making up
roughly a fourth of the verbal constructions in use in current
12
ne>vspapers and magazines.
They do not describe actions, but rather
they modify the verbs in the embedded sentences in much the same
\"lay that medals do, and they can combine, as a ma,trix verb, tii th
almost any verbal complement to ameliorate, emphasize, explain or
other\>Iise add to its meaning.
They are a boon to one learning a
language tri th complicated verbal forms, since one needs to knoi'r
only the conjugations of a fev; catenative verbs plus infinitive
forms of other verbs to achieve a Quick speaking capability.
An
attem~t
is made here to be fairly comprehensive in the
selection of verbs -- if not to include all possible vrords, to at
least have a good sample of each type.
In at least two categories
the selection is only a small sample, hov;ever.
These are the BE +
adjective combinations where such combinations are limited only by
the number of adjectives in the language, and the manner of speaking
verbs, such as mumble, grunt, shriek, etc.
There are many verbs of
this sort and only one, 'whisper' is included.
The verbs were picked by scanning newspapers and magazines,
by listening to conversations and by studying the lists published
by Rosenbaum (1967), Postal (1974), Kiparsky (1970), Palmer (1974),
Alexander (1964) and Bridgeman (1965).
Verbs and
Adject~.
Included with the verbs studied are
many BE + adjective combinations.
It has been shown by Lakoff
(1970) and others that adjectives have much in common with verbs
and in the present context, as governors of complements, they
function similarly.
That is, they can act as matrix verbs for
successive complements with one or more of the complementizers, as
13
in sentence 10.
10)
It '"as good that John ~1as likely to be able to
be ready to learn to swim.
Passives.
Passive forms of the verbs are included as
variables when possible.
But not all verbs are passivizable, or if
passivizable may not function as recursive verbs.
Fbr example, the
verbs 'fail' and 'proceed' when passi vized yield the follovring
unacceptable complex sentences:
11)
a.
b.
He was failed to attend.
John was proceeded to go.
A passive verb, therefore, is considered a separate variable and is
described in terms of its context after the example of Halle (1978),
not as a transformed version of the active verb but with its
o~n
entry in the lexicon and separate structural description, as belo1.;:
believe:
believed:
Head Nouns.
fNP
__ ]
vl fbe _ _ ]
V1
s
s
By head noun we mean any noun that precedes the
complement regardless of its function.
i'le
assume that concrete
nouns preceding the embedded sentence are neutral semantically and
that they do not influence the choice of com:;Jlementizers, whereas
abstract nouns have semantic content and can influence the choice
of complementizer.
Therefore the nouns examined in the frames for
studying governing verbs are concrete nouns, primarily pronouns and
proper names.
nouns on
The nouns examined in studying the influence of
comple~entizers
the verb lists.
are abstract nouns, derived from verbs in
For example, the nouns 'intention;
1
'advice' and
'discouragement' were assumed to convey the same semantic import
14
as the verbs 'intend,
1
'advise,' and 'discourage' as illustrated
in sentences 12a - 12b.
He intend to fly to New Orleans.
They opposed our intention to fly to New Orleans.
12) a.
b.
B.
The Complementizers
The complementizers studied are 'that,
and to a lesser extent 'whether.
1
1
'for-to,
1
'poss-ing'
Certain syntactic restrictions
on their uoage limit their distribution.
That.
'That' always occurs with a complete sentential com-
plement, that is an embedded sentence with a subject and fully
conjugated verb.
head noun.
A 'that• complement may occur with or without a
Rosenbaum assumes an underlying head noun 'it' when
none other is present, as lve do here.
The 'that' may often be
deleted without changing the meaning of the sentence.
Thus possible
forms of the complementizer are 'it that,• 'that' or'¢'+ complete
clause as in sentences 13.
We make no distinctions among these
forms.
She expected it that he would leave.
She expected that he would leave.
She expected he would leave.
13) a.
b.
c.
For-to.
----
tfuile •to' occurs by itself, 'for' only occurs in the
presence of a head noun in the embedded sentence, between the 'for'
and the •to.• (The combination 'for to' does not occur in modern
English.)
The presence of 'for• can be predicted, according to the
Kiparskys, by the presence of the feature 'emotive' on the verb of
the matrix sentence, as in 14b.
14) a.
b.
John orders her to sing.
John hates for her to sing.
15
'To' is the usual accompaniment of the infinitive form, but there
exists a small set of verbs which occur vlith the bare infinitive,
that is without the •to.'
~bese
verbs are •see,' 'hear,• 'feel,'
'let,' 'help,' 'make,' 'have,' and a few others.
14c and 14d
illustrate these verbs.
14) c.
d.
He heard her sing.
He made her cry.
He includ_ed these complements in the •to' + infinitive complements,
and assumed a •to' deletion at some point.
Pass-ing.
embedded
The 'ing' form refers to a gerund occurring in an
co~plement
sentence without a head noun, which describes
activities of the subject of the matrix sentence.
1be 'pass-ing'
form refers to a gerund with a head noun in the embedded sentence,
and occurs in two forms -- with an accusative head noun or with a
genetive one.
No distinction is made between the forms; for
example , bet\-reen 'him swimming' and 'his swimming,' for while a
semantic difference may exist, it is so idiosyncratic the judgments
based on it are unreliable.
l'JH.
'\!Tli' here means 'whether (or not).'
It occurs both with
a sentential complement as in 15a and with an infinitival complement as in 15b.
In this sense it differs from the other comple-
mentizers in not exactly identifying the verbal forms.
15) a.
b.
Both forms
He asked whether the food \-ras ready.
He asked whether to begin work in the morning.
were tabulated under the same heQding.
c.
Syntactic frames.
A classification of verbs by syntactic context has the
16
advantage of being eas:l to work '1-Ti th -- that is it provides a
uniform basis for making judgments of acceptability, and produces
results possibly useful for instruction.
The method does not, hov'-
ever, differentiate betHeen different functional structures which
have the same form, for example betv-reen a noun v.rhich is the object
of a matrix verb and one that '\'las raised from subject position in
the embedded sentence to object position, as in 16a and 16b,
16)
a.
b.
He wanted the doctor to examine John.
He persuaded the doctor to examine John.
or bet\•Yeen direct and indirect objects as 'him' in 16c and 16d.
c.
d.
I promised him to come early.
I wanted him to leave.
This last is not as arbitrary as it might seem since the distinction
made here is not one of noun phrase function, but of noun features,
that is, betv<een concrete and abstract nouns.
Indirect objects are
concrete nouns and as such are classed with concrete direct object
nouns here.
Table 1 lists the frames used for the verb analysis.
The
verbs were divided into groups having identical behavior in frames
1-6 only.
Since the passive frames are different from the active
frames, the tabulation of results is simplified by recording them
as extensions of the active tabulations rather than listing them as
separate verbs, in the next section.
The frames used in the head noun analysis are listed in Table
2.
They consist of variations of frames 2, 4 and 6 of the verb
analysis, Hith head noun, and discriminate more carefully among
the kinds of objects.
17
Table 1
SYNTACTIC CONTEXTS IN TERMS OF PLACEMENT OF
1.
NP
s
2.
NP
NP2
3.
NP
1
that
4·
NP
NP 2
5·
NP
v2-ing
6.
NP
NP
1·
NP
8.
It be
9.
NP
1
1
1
1
1
1
s
to
s
s
that
s
2 's v2-ing
(NP ) whether
2
1
be
to
s
to
s
s
that
s
be
that
s
NP
be
(for) NP2 to
13.
NP
be
v2-ing
14.
NP
be
whether
15.
v2-ing
16.
NP1 's V 2-ing
.
10.
It be
11.
NP
12.
1
1
1
1
s
v1 *
s
s
s
s
be
s
be
Extraposition:
It
Pseudo-c1efting:
be S
!-:hat NP1
NP _ _ _ the fact that
1
The fact that S _____
Factivity:
* v1
is the governing verb.
---
S
means complement.
S
18
Table 2
SYNTACTIC CONTEXTS
2.
NP
4·
NP
1
NP
1
6.
2'>""•
1
NP
1 WITH HEAD NOUNS*
FOR V
s
to
2
s
NP2 that
s
NP2 v2-ing
s
NP
1
NP1
to
NP
to
NP
ba.
NP1
to NP 2 v2-ing
2b.
NP 1
NP2 NP
4b.
NP
NP2 NP that s
3
I'lP 2 NP (NP ) v2-ing
3
4
4a.
_.
6b.
2c.
4c.
1
NP
1
N"P
1
NP
1
6c.
NP1
2d.
NP1
4d.
NP1
6d.
NP1
2e.
NP1
4e.
NP1
NP1
6e.
to
2
s
2 that
3
to
s
s
s
to NP 2 NP to s
3
to NP NP that s
2
3
to NP~ NP (NP ) v2-ing
c.
3
4
to NP 2 about NP to s
3
to NP 2 about NP that
3
to NP 2 about NP (NP )
3
4
NP2 of NP to s
3
NP2 of NP that
3
NP2 of NP (NP )
3
4
s
s
v2-ing s
s
v2-ing s
* Poss-ing complements allow a fourth NP as in 'They
told John of opposition to his flying. I
19
:v.
Semantic Groups
The fact that certain semantic verb classes and certain comnle-
mentizers occur together has been noted by many researchers.
Jesperson (1914-1929) noted th&t verbs ~~th for + infinitive comple~
-
ments represent vague possibility or something imagined;
i
Lakoff
(196o) says that verbs with 'that' complements imply factive statements and those with 'for-to'
com~lements
imply contrary-to-fact
statements; and Bresnan, who attributes semantic value to the complementizers also, connects factive values to sentences with 'that'
complements, subjective values to those with 'for' complements, and
dubitative, indeterminate values to
Chomsky
'~JH'
complements.
Studies by
(1958), Rosenbaum and Postal list groups of verbs taking
specific complements which seem to form semantic groups as well.
It seems
f~irly
reasonable therefore to divide verbs into three
broad semantic groups called 'futurity,' 'definitive' and 'temporal
aspect' verbs, and to expect the complementizers to align themselves
in the same groups.
In the 'futurity' verb group the action des-
cribed by the verb takes place after the speaker makes the statement (or may never take place), as in the verbs 'want,' 'plan', or
'ask.'
'Definitive' verbs describe actions complete at or before
the time of speaking, such as 'understand,' 'say' or 'see,' and
•temporal aspect' verbs describe an orientation to ..;ard an activity
which takes place over a period of time, such as 'begin,' or
'remain.
1
Included in the te:nporal aspect group are verbs which
describe approval or disapproval of activities, such as 'encourage
and 'oppose,' because they fit the same syntactic frames.
The
20
grou!JS form a rough ana,logy 'd th future or conditional, perfective
and progressive verb forms.
The names for the semantic groups formed are arbitrary,
assigned with the intention of describing the semantic value of the
group as a whole.
A further semantic grouping is posited-- that of factivity
~ non-factivity as defined by the Kiparskys.4
They describe
a
major division of verbs into those taking factual subjects or
objects and those taking non-factual subjects or objects.
They
also identify a feature v,'hich they call 'emotive' \·Jhich cross-cuts
the factivity-non-factivity classification.
The relevant features
of their 1r1ork to the present study are that gerunds accompany
factivity while infinitivalizations accompany non-factivity, and
emotive predicates take 'for' in infinitival nominalizations.
Since the feature of factivity is not just a function of a verb, but
of a verb + predicate combination, some verbs may be both factive
and non-factive.
For example, sentence 17a is considered non-
factive, since the predicate may be false, but 17b is considered
factive because the speaker thinks the predicate is true.
17) a.
b.
They reported the enemy to have suffered a defeat.
They reported the enemy's having suffered a defeat.
It is also difficult to assign the feature 'emotive' to a verb.
The 'for' accompanying it seems in some cases a matter of dialect,
as in 18a or 18b.
18) a.
b.
I intended him to be the leader
I intended for him to be the leader.
Since the assignment of these features to individual verbs is not
21
ahw.,ys clear, the use of a plus or minus for these features for a
.·!
group of verbs reflects at best a general tendency.
E.
Other variables
An important factor in the selection of a complementizer is
the presence or absence of a head noun in the embedded sentence.
Some verbs may not occur with a complement containing a head noun;
that is the subject of the embedded sentence must be the same as
the subject of the matrix sentence, and must be deleted by the
1
eq_ui' transformation.
'Hesitate' and 'try' are verbs of this
type, as in 19a.
19) a.
John hesitated to criticize the play.
Other complements must have hec:..d nouns, tha.t is the subject of the
embedded sentence must be different from the subject of the matrix
'Order' and 'compel' c;,re of this type as illustrated in
sentence.
l9b.
19) b.
Pete ordered the girls to sing.
Others may or may not have a head noun, and the complementizer may
depend on this.
Table
This three
,~ay
division of verbs was used in
5·
Other criteria for which the verbs were checked include the
possibility (or necessity) for extraposition, as in the derivation
of 20b from 20a,
20) a.
b.
For him to learn to swim was easy.
It was easy for him to learn to swim.
pseudo-clefting, as in the derivation of 20d from 20c,
c.
d.
He liked to sit in the sun.
liJhat he liked was to sit in the sun.
22
or equi (identical noun phrase deletion) as in the derivation of
20f from 20e,
20) e.
f.
Mary tried. M:ary baked a cake.
Mary tried to bake a cake.
or whether the passive is formed by complement fronting (20h from
20g) or by subject fronting (20j from 20i).
F. Data
----
g.
h.
Vicki reported that Steve -v<as the winner.
That Steve was the winner \'las reported by Vicki.
i.
j.
Vicki reported Steve to be the winner.
Steve \'Jas reported by Vicki to be the viinner.
Sources.
i·:aking grammatical judgments of acceptability is a touchy
business.
Not only do the judgments very from individual to
individual but the discriminative ability of any one informant
fades rather quickly with repeated judgments.
So while the bulk
of the judgmental data is provided by the author and selected
informants, the -vrord lists of Alexander and Bridgeman are also
utilized.
These lists report the combined judgments of the authors
and their sources as to the acceptability-non-acceptability of verbs
in various sentential contexts, some of which are the same as the
contextual frames used here.
are accepted.
In case of doubt their judgments
Chapter 3
RESULTS
The results of the analysis sho1.; that verb groups formed on
contextual bases do have a semantic cohesiveness and share common
complementizers; that complementizers in sentences with and ,.;ithout
concrete head nouns are related, but the relationships betv.;een
sentences 1..;i th and without abstract head nouns and their complementizers are more difficult to predict.
A.
Relationshiy of Complementizer and Semantic Category of the
Governing Verb.
T.'lembership in one of the large semantic groups of futurity
verbs, definitive verbs or temporal aspect verbs can predict
complementizer for each group.
'To' occurs with all groups in the
futurity category, such as '•,rant,
1
'order' and 'try:'
'that' occurs
with all groups in the definitive category, such as 'state,'
and
'co~municate;'
~
'thi~k'
and 'poss-ing' occurs with all groups in the
temporal aspect category such as 'begin,' 'encourage' and 'oppose.'
But many of the verb groups take more than one complementizer and
can appear in more than one semantic group and this is not easy to
predict. (See Table
3).
The complete membership of the syntactic verb groups is shown
in Table 4 (see below).
The syntactic frame numbers in this table
refer to those listed in Table 1.
The first seven are active verb
frames and the remainder are passive forms.
The groups in Table 4
are formed on the basis of the first six frames only, excluding
23
24
'!'able 3
VERB GROUP CBARACTERI::>TIC5 BY ~!J.NTIC GROUP*
Verb groups
type
II Comple:uent
to that ing
Facti- anotvity
ive
Pseudocleft
Futurity
aim, need
be able
begin
try
coax, force
order
encourage
want
decide
intend
ask
start
be necessary
J)efinitive
appear
like
annoy
communicate
result
see
l<l.isoover
report
think
state
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
•
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
*
X
X
X
-----
-
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
-+
+
+
...
X
-
+
+
--
Temporal aspect
start
begin
encourage
finish
discourage
oppose
--+
--
-----
X
X
X
X
XX
--+
+
+
+
+
+
+
---+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
Pass.
front-
Equi
in~<
del.
---
+
+
ExtraPOS.
-
-s
+
+
+
+
+-
+
+
5
+-
+.
-c
+
s,c
c
5
--
-c
c
-5
c
c
5
+
s
---
--s
+
+
NP
-s
c
-.
+
+-
++++
+-
-
+++-
-
----
+-
++
+-
+
+
++++-
.,.
+-
-
+
----- +
+
+
+
Some verbs a:Jpear in two groups beo;;.use they have both types of meam.ng.
Feature tabul~tions are for a ty~ic~l ·member of group only. " ' " means
marginal.
the active frame 7, for 'HH' complements.
From an examination of Table 4 it can be seen that f.:::..ctors
such as transitivity and type of complementation play a role in the
formation of such groups which can override or split semantic
similarities.
For example, 'start' and 'begin' are in different
groups because 'start' can take a pass-ing direct object as in 'I
start2d him
~,rmrking
at the lathe,' and 'begin' cannot.
And three
some>··:hat dispare.te semantic groups called 'see,' 'discover' and
'report' are grouped together because they fit the same syntactic
fra~es.
Verbs which take more than one complementizer and which
appear to belong to more than one of the three broad categories
should perhaps be put into a separate category, or a different
version of the verb could be defined for the different aspects
represented.
For example, such verbs as 'begin,' 'start' and 'try'
refer in one sense to future activity, after the time of speaking,
as in 2la, and in another sense to an activity extending over a
period of time, as in 2lb.
21) a.
b.
John 1vill start to t,r/Ork tomorrovi.
John started working yesterday.
'11len the t1-10 complementizers the.y take could be explained as
belonging to separate uses of the verb.
Even v.dth these exceptions, the verb groups of Table 4 sho1.:r a
remarkable semantic cohesiveness, and the complementizers for these
groups are in line with t,r;hat was expected.
26
Table
4
SYlfTAC'1'IC CONTB:X'l'S OP I'NDIVIiXJAL VERBS*
L
verbs
~
aim
a.spire
condescend
X
X
2
3
4
5
;3yntactic fr:..roes
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1'5 16
6 7
j
E:xalnples
X
hesitate
X
need
ought
seek
stro.ggle
strive
X
tend
lolait
work
X
X
Pete aimed to pleaae everyone
X
X
X
X
X
be able
be able
be a.pt
be about
be bound
be going
X
X
be
be
be
be
X
X
X
X
earl1
tree
read3'
too big
X
X
X
..
..
--·
Chit' - s &.ble to see it all
-
::&
attempt
essay
try
undertake
venture
X
X
X
X
X
X
Pe'\er tried to fish
Peter tried fishing
X
X
X
X
coax 1 force
bid
bull1
coax
compel
drive
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
entice
force
get
help
impel
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
invite
X
lead.
X
X
let
make
oblige
press
persuade
temp'\
select
• s
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
aeaas 1111bjunctive 1110od.. " ' " •eus urgi.nal.
John oo~ecl Steve to sing
Steve wu forc.-1 to sing
27
Verba
11
~
a4n•e
direct
entreat
illlplore
1110Uon
110ft
o;
6 _7
~tactic
a 9 10
2
l
A
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
:r;
X
:1:
a
a
X
:r;
:r;
X
X
X
X
:r;
X
z
a
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
a
a
a
X
z
:r;
:r;
:r;
X
X
a
a
a
X
X
hac!:.
a
a
re::~ind
1
X
a
a
X
varn
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
!.rum
::t
X
X
X
X
illZ&a':llee
Chip ol'dared Jolm to aU
Cllip ord.ered that Jolm ai t
atlip ol'dar Jolm that be ab.ould
aU
Job waa ortiered to sit
It wu ordered that .,..r,10ne
au
X
X
X
ij
lu
a
uzop
~
dare
long
\<.'OIZlt
1o;
:1:
order
recoi!Deud
re<;uire
tell
X
fra.e•
11 12 1?· ~
X
atrre w&tecl to naU Mary
Stne \."llllte4 her to riait ~~arr
~
uJ.:
X
beg
:r;
l'Z'a.r
rle:o-.nd
X
X
X
X
a
a
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
a
X
X
a
<>leE.d
X
1
X
X
X
X
X
X
re<_ueat
X
X
::t
~
agree
OO!lDent
decide
determine
expect
Ea.reu ulcecl to oo:oe ill
ltaren uke4 th~-t ,. le&Ye
Kuen uke4 •bether he wu ill
&ar811 .-u uked tc lea,.
U waa uJcecl that neeyone sit
X
X
s•
X
X
X
Jt
X
X
X
X
X
1
X
X
:;
X
;;
X
X
:r;
:r;
X
X
X
X
X
X
:1:
1
X
:1:
X
X
X
%
1
X
.3
lt
X
X
arrange
choose
intend
fear
1
X
X
X
X
X
s
:r;
:r;
li
X
X
:r;
X
:r;
.s
X
X
X
X
!)laz!
X
.It
s
:r;
X
X
%
X
X
:1:
X
l
:1:
X
X
X
X
:1:
:r;
lt
%
X
X
X
X
%
X
!CUeD
bran lik•d ~him) to aiq
!tAre liked hi•) aingiq
hope
offer
proa:iae
resolve
t:ish
X
z
X
X
X
X
X
:1:
:;
X
:1:
X
X
X
X
z
It was decided to open
decided th~t he
It
the bank
It wu decided for him
It was decided "bether
"'"
X
·x
1'8te deoided to awia the oh&DIIel
1'8te decided for ChiT) to cln U
Pete decided that Chir ~uld do i't
1'8U d.acided \-hether he ..auld do U
X
X
the bauk
would open
to open i't
be would go
intend
reme~~:ber
prefer
;noopoae
regret
~
stllri
like
:leS?ia•
dislike
~ta
Uka
~Oft
X
%
X
%
:r;
X
:r;
:r;
z
:r;
:r;
:r;
X
z
:r;
X
X
z
z z
%
%
X
X
X
X
lt
X
X
X
X
X
X
Chip ia.t8Zlded (tor 1'8te) to go
:r;
:r;
:r;
:r;
:r;
X
:1:
z
X
Chip intell.ded th!!.t he would go
Chip iuteuded (Pete•a) goinc
intended for hi• to go
It
illteDded that M would go
It
....
--
;:areu atarted to oook
atarted (her) oookiD~
28
Verbis
j
2
~
X
X
X
:z:
X
:It
X
:z:
X
X
:It
:It
l
.4
o;
6
.,
lt
X
lt
J
a,Dtaotio tramaa
8 9 10 ll 12 13 14 15 16
~":>lell
be lleoeeaarz:
be aood
be 4ittiouU
be euy
1M hard
be i11port ent
be
be
1M
1M
lt
likely
X
poaail:le
X
probable
lt
~ticient X
1M tob m~~.ch
be ypicLl
lt
lt
:z: X
:z: :z: :z:
:z: :z: X
:It :It :z:
:z: :It X
z: :z: :z:
:z:
:z: :z:
X
lt
lt
X
lt
X
X
X
X
It waa Daoeaaar, to ride
It wa. Deoaae~ tor June to
:It
X
lt
X
X
lt
:z:
:z:
:z:
lt
X
X
X
lt
ride
It wa. Deoeea1Lr7 th:d J'lme ride
It ..,.. neoaall&rT (JUna'a) riding
It ia Jlaoeaaary whether J1Uia
ridea or not
lt
apt>ear
a;>pea.r
chance
happ81l
aeem
tUJ'Il out
lt
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
lt
It &'!'lleal'ed to Sara.h to be late
Ssr~ a.opu.red to be happy
It a.,e::.rs thoot 5ara.h h happy
It "Pll84'• to lie that :>arab
is ha:>py
lUI!IOl
uwae
user
:z:
lt
X
:z:
azlllOY
lt
X
lt
X
bother
trie;htan
plaa.ae
kOJ'J'Y
X
X
X
lt
X
lt
lt
X
X
X
lt
lt
lt
X
X
lt
X
X
X
...
:z:
lt
X
X
X
:z:
X
X
X
X
lt
X
X
:z: X
:z: :z:
:z:
X
X
X
:z:
X
X
lt
lt
X
:z:
X
:z:
X
X
X
:z:
X
lt
It annora he (tor billl) to aing
It al1DO.J'S her that na aillgiS
(~ia) singing znDOy& her
It -zs her whether he ainga
;:,ae wa.a azmoyad that he aanc
;>be vaa ar.aoyed to be~ him aing
X
X
X
X
X
X
.!.!.!.
feel
hear
notice
obaerve
overhear
llllrciave
•••
watch
C.isoover
:woertaill
4iliCOver
de.v
d.isoern
rind
X
X
X
X
:z:
X
X
X
lt
X
lt
lt
lt
lt
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
lt
lt
X
X
lt
X
X
X
lt
lt
lt
lt
X
X
X
X
lt
X
X
X
X
lt
lt
X
lt
z :z:
lt
:z: :z:
:z: X
X
X
X
:z:
X
z
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
lt
X
lt
X
lt
lt
lt
X
X
X
lt
X
X
:z:
lt
X
X
X
lt
lt
X
X
lt
X
X
:z:
X
X
:z:
X
X
X
X
X
lt
X
x·
X
:z:
X
z
X
lt
lt
:z:
:z:
kllOV
X
X
learn
real be
raGa.ll
raoogr.ize
retlOrt
admit
-=oe
diaoloae
discus
lt
lt
X
X
X
lt
:z:
lt
lt
X
lt
lt
lt
lt
z z
:z:
IIIIIPII.Uise
explain
mantion
re1'0rt
reftal
·-
:z:
lt
X
z :z:
:z: z
lt
lt
lt
X
X
lt
z
X
X
z
X
X
X
X
:z:
:z:
X
lt
:z:
X
lt
s :r.
z
X
lt
X
lt
X
lt
X
lt
X
X
:z:
X
X
:z:
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
•
lt
:z:
:z:
lt
X
:z:
X
lt
lt
X
X
X
lt
lt
z
Carol knew vtethE">r UUl had fallen
AliUI. wall known to tall
It _ . denied that carol had gone
lt
lt
z
carol aaw Alu tall
Carol aaw AlBD tallillg
Carol aaw that Alan tall
X
carl wall ra!)Orted coming by Allloll
It ~• 4ieoloaed ~nether he had
oo•e
Ria lianin~ ..a 11ot1oed by aJ,l
conmu.nioate
~swer
%
X
broa4oast·
X
X
X
ll:
C01111l181lt
X
X
commu.nioate
confide
xx
exolailll
intor.n
preach
remark
x x
I
x
x x
x
x
Vicki oo~csted(to Karen)that
she was re<l.d,y
Vicki communioated(to Karen)
whether she l-Ias re3.d3'
It ~ru OO!IIIIIW\icated (to the!'!!)
that she ~a• re~r
It was oomaunicated (to them)
whether she w~s ready
X
X
%
%
%
x
x
1
~~~~a~LY~--------------~x=--x=---------~~x~-~x~~x~--------~x~--------------------------------------J
~
coe~e to pass
develop
X
X
X
f;)llOW
result
trans!)ire
It resulted that 3oger won
%
X
a.ssume
believe
conclude
conjecture
consider
doubt
deduce
esti:nt.te
g<lt:1er
ll:
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
~
X
gT.J.Sil
X
X
X X
X X
X X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X X
X
:r:
:r:
:r:
X
X
I
l.nfer
reason
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
rec~on
X
X
X
su,pose
X
X
X
X
X
X
i:na.gi:te
thi~
X
X
X
X
X X
X X
X X
g'\18:!8
X
X
X
:r:
:r:
:r:
X
X
I
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
%
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
John thoU!ht that the ~te was
open
John hought the ~te to be
open
i:ie was thought to be re!!.dy
It was thouR"ht that he we.s ready
"'e .loubted .,hether she ~·n.s read..v
It ~ra.s inferred th<lt Rhe o·as
re•~dy
~
affirm
argue
assert
declare
decree
X
:.C
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
divulge
hint
maintain
X
X
X
X
I
X
:r:
I
X
X
X
X
?roclai:~~
X
X
X
X
say
st:J.te
signal
X
X
X
X
X
X
sti;~uhte
swe~
X
X
X
X
testify
X
1
pronounce
X
I
X
X
X
X
X
I
X
I
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Vicki stated(to her) th:J.t he was
the winner
Vicki st<:lted Steve to be the one
X
X
I
X
X
X
X
X
Vicki st3.ted (to her) ·.-hether
Steve wa.s the 1-•innPr
oiteve was s3.id to be the I·Jinner
It was s3.id '!1,1 Vicki tlla.t ~teve
w::J.S the ·.rinner
X
~~~·;h~i~s~ne~r~--------~x~~x~--------~x=-------~x=-------~------------------------------------~
30
--
-
fr<...nes
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 lol
·---
.i,rnt~tic
5
6 7
.X
.X
X
X
X
.X
.X
.X
X
X
.X
.X
X
X:
oauae
defend
ena.ble
encourage
endorse
z:
X
X
X
X
%
favor
'Permit
X
X
'9Uah
z:
reliah
reco11111end
X
X
scot:j.on
aupport
tolerate
X
X
'lerbs
11
2
3
.:!
8
~am!'lles
encour~e
a. bet
&dvooa.te
allow
applaud.
approve
X
z:
X
.X
X
begin
begin
cease
co111111enoe
continue
hasten
:h~
'nroceed
X
X
.X
X
X
X
X
.X
X
--
X
X
X
.X
.X
z:
z:
z:
z:
X
X
X
X
X
.X
X
X
.X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
.X
.X
X:
Pete enoouraged (Steve's) tlying
z:
z: z: Pete encourage Steve to fl7
z:
X
vaa en-aour~d to fly
z: X Steve
(~teve•a) tlting was encouraged
X
.X
X
X
.X
.X
X
.X
z:
%
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X.
X
X
z:
X
z
X
X
It was
~teve
encour~d
by Pete tor
to fly
X
.X
X
X
X
.X
X
X
X:
X
X
X
X
X
X
%
::t
X
Sarah bega.z1 to aing
Sarah 'Mg8.D singing
X
~
'
conclude
end
'finish
, leave off
:"Persist in
.X
X
.X
quit
, reoo111111enoe
'remain
stay
stop
succeed in
X
cl.iscOur!f:e
abhor
:I.VOid
disallow
discourage
d.read.
%
.X
cnu.,
finished !)ainting the house
.X
.X
X
.X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
.X
X
X
k••'P
loathe
';lr•olude
prohibit
refrain from
X
X
X
X
X
resent
resist
quit
stop
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
John diiJcouraged( P~te 's) fishing
Pete waa
diaoour3~d
fiahin~ by John
from
Pete's fiening vas discouraged
X
X
X
X
31
Verbs
11
2
3
4
5 6 7
J,ynta.ctic frames
9 10 n 12 u 14
a
1s
16
j
Exam~les
~
conde:nn
deplore
denounce
deprecate
!ores tall
hinder
impede
object to
oppose
prevent
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
reotrain
X
X
.ll:
X
X
X
!::!!S.
lla.ve
mean
forget
.X
X
X
.X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Debby oopoeed his s~uking
His speaking •as Op!)OSttd by
Debb.T
32
B.
Prediction of Complementizer
with
Concrete Head Noun from
----·~~~~~-~~~~~~~~
Complementizer without Head Noun.
If a verb is marked for a given complementizer, does the
marking hold when a head noun goes before the embedded sentence?
In order to investigate this point the verbs were divided into the
three groups: those '>Jhich may not take head nouns, those which must
take head nouns, and those which may or may not take head nouns.
The discussion of the relationship between complementizers and
head nouns is limited to the third group. (In this section the head
nouns are limited to concrete nouns).
in Table
1)
The results, i·Ihich are shovm
5, can be summarized as follows:
If 'to' occurs, then 'NP to' also may (\'lith the exception
of the one-member group
1
start.')
That is, if 'to' is the
com;Jlementizer v<i thout a head noun, it can also be the complementizer vd th a head noun, as in 22a and 22b.
22) a.
b.
2)
Pete asked to go to the game.
Pete asked him to go to the game.
If 'that' occurs, then 'NP to' also occurs, with the
excepti.onof one group, 'communicate.'
(The 'communicate' group
cannot take a concrete noun as a direct object, and as will be
sho,,m l::;.ter, differs from the other groups in sJrntactic contexts.)
This means that if the complementizer without head noun is 'that,'
the complementizer
~ith
a head noun may be •to,' as shovm in 22c
and 22d.
22) c.
d.
He expects that she will stay.
He expects her to stay.
f
'
33
5
Table
VElUI GBOUPS .&KD 'l'HBIR SYII'!.lC'l'IC COll'rEXTS *
Verb groups
Syntactic frames
1
to
Active
Passive
0
3 4
9 10 11 12 13 14
5 6 7
NP NP
NP
it NP i t NP
RP
NP
to that that ing ing WR to ro tnat tna.t
rn~ HH
2
fE
15
i~
lo
NP
!!!e
No Bead Noun
aim
be able
begin
try
result
finish
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Alwa_ffs Head Noun
force
order
oppose
X
X
X
X
X
I
X
X
X
X
I±
Head Noun
want
decide
ask
appear
start
like
intend
be necessary
annoy
see, discover,
report
communicate
think
state
encourage
discourage
* "
1
"
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
•
X
X
X
•
X
X
X
X
X
•
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
means marginal
X
X
I
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
I
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
•
X
X
X
X
X
34
This is the result of raising, vJhere the s·..1bject of the embedded
sentence becomes the object of the matrix sentence.
3)
If '-ing' occurs, then 1 9oss-ing' also occurs.
Thc.,t is, if
the complementizer is '-ing' 1d thout a head noun, then it is '-ing'
i-Ii th a head noun,
22) e.
f.
4)
as illustrated in 22e .;:1nd 22f.
Chip liked cooking.
Chip liked her cooking.
If 'that
1
occurs, then almost always 'HH' c;,lso occurs.
Dresnan vievJS 'i-JH' c:.s an 'undeterminer,' directly related to the
determiner •that;' this co-occurrence supports the notion of such
a relationship.
The complementizer 'that' v:i th a, head noun occurs infreq_uently,
in impersonal constructions or Hhen the head noun is an indirect
object as in 22g and 22h.
g.
h.
It seems to him that •••
He announced to them that
...
These verb groups also take 'th.::,t' vd thout a head noun but there is
no wx:l of })redicting the head noun construction from this.
It may
be that clsssifications other than contextual can discriminate
among these forms.
The relationships of the pc;,ssive verbs to complementizers
sre unreme.rl<.able.
Aside fror.1 the fact that if 'KH' active occurs,
then almost ah,ays
'v\H' passive occurs, there seems no obvious
Hay
of telling Hhat cornplementizer accompanies vrh:c:tt verb, with or
;-ri thout head nouns.
I-Iere again investigations of features other
than the context may be more productive.
35
c.
Transformational and Other Rules.
Table 3 shows
attributes to the
the results of the assignment of various other
ve~b
groups.
In most cases the assignments are
not only not consistent v1i thin the verb group but it is also the
case that for some verbs vJhich take more than one complementizer,
factors such as extraposi tion etc. vary vli th the complementizer
and not with the verb.
For example, 'believe 1 vri th a 'that • com-
plementizer allows pseudo-clefting but with a •to' complementizer
does not, as in 23a- 23d,
23) a.
b.
*
c.
d.
Carol believes that j~gging is fun.
wnat Carol believes is that jogging is fm1.
Carol believes jogging to be fun.
rfuat Carol believes is jogging to be fun.
and the passive of sentences with 'believe 1 as a matrix verb is
formed by complement fronting with a 'that• complement and by
subject fronting with a 'to• complement, as below.
e.
f.
That joe;ging is fun \-JaS believed by Carol.
Jogging ;-ms believed to be fun by Carol.
It is not surprising that the data indicate little correlation
betHeen groups based on syntactic form and those based on the
applicability of the various transformations.
Classification by
a criterion other than context might reveal some relationship of
complementizers and transformation applicability.
The assignment
of non-factivity does, however, coincide with the assignment of
futurity to verb groups, as predicted on the basis of their infinitivization.
That is, all verb groups in the futurity category have
the feature non-factive.
36
D.
Abstract Head Nouns
The presence of an abstract head noun on a complement sentence
can change the complementizer, as illustrated in sentences 3a - 3c.
3) a.
b.
c.
John knew that she was the author.
John knevJ her to be the author.
John kne\v the resistance to her flying.
But does it always change it or are there instances where the verb
continues to dominate?
In an effort to answer this question,
sentences were constructed using a selection of verbs in the three
semantic categories combined with head nouns of the same three
categories, and acceptable complementizers were noted for each
sentence.
FOr example, some of the sentences for the verb 'notice'
are
24)
a.
b.
c.
d.
He
He
He
He
noticed
noticed
noticed
noticed
her
her
the
her
desire to \orin.
attempt at Kinnine;.
sensation that all was ;-:ell.
hostility diminishing.
Each verb-noun combination \-:as judged by t1r10 informants.
Syntactic frames for sentences in vrhich abstract head nouns
occur differ from those of the previous section in that for those
verbs which take two objects, the frame describes t;v-o noun phrases
instead of one.
These verbs are those in the 'communicate, '
'state,' 'report' and •ask' groups plus a few from other groups,
and they may take either one or two objects, as does 'recommend'
in 25a and 25b.
25) a.
b.
He recommended the plan to take the city.
He recommended to John the plan to take the city.
These verbs are listed individually in Table 6 with the syntactic
37
Table 6
VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS AND THEIR CONTEXTS
'/eros
NP
to
<iynta.ctic frames
:;ith one object
\iith two objects
to
to
to
to
to ~TP NP
yp
~p
~!P
NP
NP
~fP
!IP
a. bout of
to
that ing
that in.g
:·TP
NP
'fP
'IP
Two liP verbs
~
t communicate
I
"broadcast
communicate
I confiie
comment
exclaim
preach
remark
I
::c
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
renort-state
affirm
I assert
declare
I
d.ec~ee
X
X
X
divulge
hint
CJaintain
proclaim
pronounce
state
signal
sti?ula.i:e
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
::c
X
X
X
::c
::c
X
X
X
s~Jear
testify
X
X
X
X
whisper
advocate
recommend
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
a.C.."'!li t
X
X
X
announce
disclose
X
X
X
X
X
X
d.iscuss
X
X
:c
emphasize
explain
mention
re'Jort
reveal
X
X
:X:
:X:
X
X
X
X
X
X
::c
X
~
offer
per:ni t
?romi.se
teach
'tell
ask
~
:.llow
der.:r
disallO\i
~
inform
'"-<iVise
write
X
I
I
I
X
X
X
X
:X:
X
X
X
::c
X
X
X
X
::c
X
:c
X
X
X
::c
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
lC
.
X
X
X
X
lC
X
---·-
- ---- ------ --
-~----------
---------
38
frames that they fit vii th either one object, or with t\10 objects
without oomplementizers.
The
fra~es
with one object here differ
from those in Table 1 in that they are more precise, that is they
allo\-i the o-ption of a 'to 1 before the first NP.
The ' communicate 1
group differs from the other grou-ps in requiring this preposition.
26) a.
b.
c.
She communicated to him that she was afraid.
She told him that she 1-1as afraid.
She taught him to be afraid.
That is, it can be differentiated by its context from the other
grou9s.
This is the group \<'lhich did not follovJ the rule "if 'that'
appears, then 'NP to' ap-pears"
illustrated in Table
5, and there-
fore that rule is without exception when the context is more carefully specified.
A summary of the data on complementizers for verb-noun combinations is shovm in Table
7.
The complete listing of this data
is in Appendix B.
Table
7
COMPLEMENTIZER GOVERNMENT FOR
Verb
*
Noun
Comp
F
F
F
F
D
F
?
D
D
D
D/T
T
T
D
T
F
F
F
T
T
F
?
D
T
T
D/T
T
Domination
By
Verb
Verb
Verb
?
?
Noun
?
?
?
~NOUN
COMBINATIONS
Number of each type of complement*
Informant One
Informant Two
D T Pr+T
F
D T Pr+T
F
21
21
22
4
12
19
7
3
7
17
22
2
5
-
11
18
-
11
6
7
17
10
16
14
16
7
11
5
8
11
10
18
16
13
18
16
21
23
9
15
1
6
9
-
10
8
8
16
17
14
22
19
5
24
25
23
7
7
20
23
20
25
24
25
5
-
20
-
16
19
F, D and T stand for futurity, definitive and temporal aspect.
The F oomplementizer is •to,' the Dis 'that,' and theTis 'ing.'
Prep+ T means a preposition following the head noun+ 1 ing.'
39
'I'he data in Table 7 should be considered only suggestive, since not
only do the judgments vary with the informant but also they are
based on a very small sample of nouns and verbs.
In many cases
more than one complementizer can be used vli th a given combination
of noun and verb -- for this reason the number of occurrences is
listed to indicate the spread.
Domination by noun or verb here
just means tha.t the majority of cases auo-ree with the semantic
cn,tegory of one or the other.
The results are inconclusive.
There is no real evidence that
the noun can dictate the complementizer and only faint evidence
thst the verb can -- futurity verbs do seem to dominate nouns.
One factor vihich influences the complementizer choice ''ith a
head noun is the existence of a preposition on the noun.
When this
occurs the gerund is mandatory, as in 27a- 27o.
27) a.
b.
c.
He liked the sensation of floating.
He noticed her opposition to flying.
He wanted a chance at v-rinning.
The nou..l'ls can sometimes also be used Hith the 'ing' complement
without a preposition as in 28a - 2Bb,
23) a.
b.
He noticed her hostility diminishing.
He saw the resistance increasing.
These two types of complements were tabulated separately.
Since
all of the nouns can occur >'ii th a preposition and a gerund, \'i'hen
they do not sho\-r up in a verb-noun combination Hi th this complementizer it is beoc.use of semantic incompatibility.
One cannot,
for example, 'force knowledge of' anything.
In oases v:here more than one complementizer is possible, as
40
-
-·
-
----~-----------
in sentences 29a - ?9b,
?9) a.
b.
-·
--- ----------- ·-·
He approved the plan to take the city.
He approved the plan for taking the city.
•a factor other than the noun or verb may determine the choice, e.g.,
a possible semantic difference from the speakers point of view, or a
dialectical difference.
Complement sentences with preceding nouns, like sentences without
them, are also affected by the addition of negations and interrogation,
as in 30a
30) a.
b.
c.
30c.
*He knew the opposition to fail.
He never knew the opposition to fail.
Have you known the opposition to fail?
More work is needed on the subject before generalizations can be made
about head noun complementizer government.
E.
Summary
We have shown here that verbs which function as matrix verbs in
sentences with embedded complements, when classified by identical
syntactic contexts, form fairly cohesive semantic groups.
These groups
can be further classified into three broad categories, called here
futurity, definitive and temporal aspect groups, roughly analogous to
future-conditional, perfective and progressive.
All of the verbs in
.the futurity groups take a 'to' complementizer, all in the definitive
groups take a 'that'
complem~ntizer
and all in the temporal aspect
groups take a 'pass-ing' complementizer.
The presence of a noun preceding the complement can change the
complementizer taken by a verb from what it was without the noun.
In
the case of a concrete noun, such as a pronoun or proper name, the
complementizer is a function of what it was without the noun -- that
I
.I
~Si
J
41
knowing the latter one can predict the former.
In the case of an abstract noun occurring before the complement,
the results are inconclusive.
While the complementizer is in some
cases changed in the presence of the noun there is no evidence that
this is the usual case.
Rather there is some evidence that the verb
continues to dominate.
The result seems to depend on the particular
verb-noun combination.
42
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aijmer, Karin (1972). Some Aspects of Psy~ological Predicates
English, -~mqvist and Wiksell, Stockholm.
Akmajian, Adrian and Frank Heny (1975). Introduction to the
Principle.s of Transformational SYJl.tax, The MI'l' Press,
Cambridge.
Alexander, D., and ~~. J. Kunz (1964). Some Classes of Verbs in
English, Indiana University, Bloomington.
Bach, Emmon (1974)•
Nev.r York.
Syntactic Theory,
Holt Rinehart and Winston,·
Bresnan, Joan ltJanda (1979). Theory of Co1l~Elemel}_tation in
Syntax. Garland Publishing Co., New York.
En~lish.
Bridgeman, Loraine I., Dale Dillinger, Constance Higgins, P. David
Seaman and Floyd A. Shank (1965). More Classes of Verbs in
English,
Indiana University, -Bloomington •
.---Chomsky, Noam (1958). 11 A Transformational Approach to Syntax",
Proceedin&s of the Third Texas Conference on Problems of
Lin~istic Analysis in ~li!?_~_l958, A. A. Hill (Ed).,
University of Texas Press, Austin.
h'rnonds, Joseph E. (1976). A 'llz'ans~'7~a.l Approach to
~~' Academic Press, New York.
~i_s)!_
Halle, Morris, Joan Bresnan and George A. Miller (1978).
Lingu,istic Theo.~ anD: Psy~holoiiical Reality, The MI'f Press,
Cambridge.
Hudson, R. A. (1971). English Complex Sentences, North Holland
Publishing Co., Amsterdam.
Jespersen, 0. (1914-1929). A Modern English Grammar on
Historical Principles, V. George -~len and Unwin, London.
Kiparslcy, P., and Carol Kiparsky (1970 ). 11 Fa.ot 11 in Bierwisch, M.
and Karl Erish Heidolph, (Eds.) Recent Advances in
Linguistics, Mouton and Co., The Hague.
Lakoff, G. (1970). Irregularity in Syntax.
Winston, New York.
Holt, Rinehart and
I
I
I
Lakoff, Robin T. (1968). Abstract Syntax and Latin Complementatiol
The MIT Press, Cambridge.
-·· --·-------·--···-----·--··--·------ ·-··--·---·---- ··-····-·----------J
43
:Perlmutter, David M. (1971). Deep and Surface Structure
Constraints in Syntax. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Postal, Paul M.
(1974).
On Raising, MIT Press, Cambridge.
Rosenbaum, P. (1967). Grammar of English Predicate Complement
Constructions, MIT Press, Cambridge.
Stockwell, Robert P., Paul Schacter and Barbara Hall Partee (1973).
The Major Syntactic Structures of English. Holt, Rinehart and,
Winston, New York.
1
44
APPENDIX A
FOOTNOTES
1.
In Sinha, .Anjani Kurman (1973) "Factivity and Relations
between Main and Relative Clauses in Hindi," Chicago Linguistic
Society, Papers from 9th Regional Meeting.
2.
1~e
Kiparskys (1970) showed that the 'for' only occurred in
the presence of the feature 'emotive' on the embedded clause.
B,y
'emotive' predicates they mean predicates which express the
subjective value of a proposition rather than knowledge about it
or its truth value.
3.
In Twaddell, H. F., (1965) The English Verb Auxiliaries,
Brovm University Press, Providence.
4·
In a factive predicate the speaker presupposes the truth of
the predicate.
ass~ned,
In a non-factive predicate the truth is only
asserted or believed.
45
APPENDIX B:
VERB-NOUN COMBINATIONS
"Cl
"Cl <I>
<I>.P
Ul
Ul
0
•r-1
0
$.!
Informant One
p, Ul
p, CJ
(
X
X y
v
X
plan to succeed
f
)<.
compulsion to 'i'lin
l
desire to l.;in
/\
/'
/
,.
X /"
)(
'(
x
<
;<
~~~~-------------~------------~+---~---------+
X
attempt to leave
chance to viin
plan that everyone win
compulsion that we sing
X
_x
desire that everyone 'trin
i----------------11--------------+-...:x__________
v=+_
attempt that •••
chance that everyone 'tron
-<
plan succeeding
;'<._
\
-:
/
'f
)<
'(
compulsion grovling
X
X
'< .,., desire diminishing
x:< •;(,\
X
\. attempt succeeding
l----------·~·-----11-------v~;----~{-t--K---~-·----~<--__'-t, chances occurring
X
x. ., ( X :( plan for winning
'i.
X
X
"
'f
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