A Generative Approach To Conjunctive Coordination In English

As a universal means of grammatical combination,coordination is also a frequently-used tool for syntactic testings.However,it is always "incompatible with"contemporary grammatical theories such as Generative Grammar(GG).Ascribed to its seemingly simple structure,few scholars laid due emphasis on coordination,and relevant specialized and systematic studies are far from enough.Worse still,some deemed coordinate structure as a counter-example for GG and deliberately avoided it.Thus,tentative researches into coordination have long been considered as stupid endeavors to fight against GG through its strength.Most research findings in GG are based on the analysis of DP coordination composed of two conjuncts.Meanwhile,the characteristic of "double structures" in the sentences with coordination has been unconsciously ignored.Consequently,some scholars isolated coordinate structure and paid too much attention to the constraints between conjuncts;others were inclined to focus on the relation between conjuncts and other constituents in sentences,and disregarded coordinate structure as a integral part.As such,controversies have been unceasingly generated in terms of the constraints of coordinate structure and the syntactic status of the coordinator and.In the meantime,there are no reasonable answers to the grammatical property and formal features of coordinate structure.Therefore,the consensus about its generative model could be hardly achieved.Therefore,this dissertation extends the study from DP coordination with two conjuncts to those with two&three conjuncts and VP coordination with two conjuncts.Meanwhile,the similarities and differences among languages are chosen as the underlying points of reference for analysis,in order to reconsider and position coordinate structure in the MP framework of GG.Three contrasts run through the whole paper:1)between internal relations and external relations in the sentences with coordination;2)between coordination and non-coordination;3)between linear structure and hierarchical structure.Though exploring the linking points between linear structure and hierarchical structure,this dissertation aims to clarify the constraints of coordination,the grammatical property of coordinate structure and the syntactic differences between coordinate structure and non-coordinate structure(simple structure and subordinate structure),and to pinpoint the generative mechanism,the generative model and computational means of coordination.Main contents of this dissertation involve the internal relation of coordinate structure in Chapter Four,the external relation of coordinate structure in Chapter Five,and the generative model of coordinate structure in Chapter Six.Chapter Four and Chapter Five are to analyze the linerar structure of coordination while Chapter Six is to illustrate the hierarchical structure of coordination.The following perspectives are covered:1)the relation between conjuncts.Not all language units can be freely combined to generate coordinate structure.That is to say,some constraints shall be satisfied to become conjuncts.Then,how are those constraints embodied in linear structure and hierarchical structure respectively?That is the starting point of this dissertation.2)the relation among conjuncts and the coordinator and.The analyzing focus is on which constituent can be the head of coordinate structure,the unique coordinator or the conjuncts?This question is related to the combinational means of coordinate structure and the syntactic functions of the coordinator and in linear structure and hierarchical structure.3)the relation between conjuncts and coordinate structure.Such an angle is to probe the grammatical property and the morpho-syntactic feartures of coordinate structure.Major findings of the dissertation are as follows:1)Coordinate structure is characterized by a series of compositional features that "seek commonness while reserving differences".Such features are just the constraints of coordinate structure."Commonness" lies in the semantic types of conjuncts,the grammatical features conjuncts carry and the syntactic positions where they are located in hierarchical structure."Differences" are presented from the aspects of semantic features conjuncts carry and their syntactic levels in hierarchical structure.2)It clearly states the syntactic functions of the coordinator and.Function one is to provide basic structural frames for coordination with the aid of obligatory positions.Function two is let conjuncts that occupy the positions embody the peculiarity of "seeking commonness while reserving differences" by virtue of sharing features and sharing constituents.Funciton three is to act as an instruction to extract the features conjuncts must carry and copy syntactic positions in hierarchical structure.3)It puts forward that the generation of coordinate structure derives from recursiveness,a function of coordination.Any XP is recursive.One way is to add CoP to copy the XP.CoP can be rewritten into Co and XP.In the process,the coordinator and functions as a channel to percolate the features of C2 to C1 and the whole structure.The semantic type of and DPis<e,<e,e>>while the semantic type of andvpis<et,<et,et>>.That is to say,the semantic type of coordinate struture is the same as that of any conjunct,and hence the coordinator and cannot change the grammatical property of the structure.Based on the above findings,the dissertation comes up with the generative model of coordinate structure.The model are characterized by:1)the lowest Co must be represented as and in PF while the phonetic representations of other Co are selective.2)all conjuncts share the same root node and their sister nodes are all CoP.3)the syntactic comptational means is Copy.Generating coordinate structure is a process of unlimitedly copying syntactic positions.With this regard,conjuncts XP1?XP2?XP3...XPn that occupy the positions can be considered as the formal copies of XP;they are homogeneous in syntax while distinct in semantics and phonetics because they carry formal features that "seek commonness while reserving differences".Furthermore,this dissertation endeavors to settle four specific issues about coordinate structure:1)constituent extraposition;2)structural ambiguities in coordination with more than two conjuncts;3)the position of too;4)the positions of different types of adverbs in coordination.