The Syntax of Givenness Ivona Kucerová
The Syntax of Givenness Ivona Kucerová The Syntax of Givenness Ivona Kucerová
(4) a. Číst bude (taky) její přítel . read will also her friend ‘Her boyfriend will read as well.’ b. #Její přítel bude číst. her friend will read The same pattern emerges with coordinated DPs. As we can see from the contrast between (6-a) and (6-b), a given DP must precede a new DP. Thus, the emerging pattern can be summarized as in (7), where boldface stands for given. (5) Na programu byla diskuse o nové učitelce. ←− context on program was discussion about new teacher ‘The topic of the program was a discussion about a new teacher.’ (6) a. Učitelku a žáky to překvapilo. ←− ̌DP & DP teacher and students it surprised ‘The teacher and students were surprised by it.’ b. #Žáky a učitelku a to překvapilo. ←− # DP & DP students and teacher it surprised ‘Students and a teacher were surprised by it.’ (7) Generalization about coordination: a. A & B b. #B & A The facts are, however, more subtle. Recall the discussion about the distribution of pronouns in section 1.5. We have seen that in general a given DP cannot be asymmetrically c-commanded by a new element. In such a configuration the DP must be realized as a pronoun or it must be modified by a demonstrative pronoun. The same holds here. Within a coordination, a given DP may follow a new element only if the DP is pronominalized, as in (8). (8) a. #Žáky a učitelku to překvapilo. ←− # DP & DP students and teacher it surprised ‘Students and a teacher were surprised by that.’ b. Žáky a tu učitelku to překvapilo. ←− ̌DP & that DP students and that teacher it surprised ‘Students and that teacher were surprised by that.’ c. Žáky i ji to překvapilo. ←− ̌DP & pronoun students and her it surprised ‘She (=the teacher) and students were surprised by that.’ The pronominalization facts bring up another important issue. Recall that in section 1.5 we have seen that if a DP coordination is asymmetrically c-commanded by new material, a given DP is degraded even if it is the first conjunct. Interestingly, coordinated VPs behave 88
differently. As we have seen in (2), there is no problem for a VP conjunct to be asymmetrically c-commanded by a new material, as long as the given conjunct precedes the new conjunct. One might think that the difference between a VP and a DP coordination lies in that there is no pronominal/anaphoric element that could replace a VP trapped in a coordination. Before we try to develop a system that could capture the difference between nouns and verbs, let’s first check whether the existence or non-existence of an anaphoric element is the relevant difference. If the difference is really between having and not-having an anaphoric counterpart, we expect that the difference should hold even within the same lexical category in case the differing lexical items have or do not have an anaphoric counterpart. Such a category is adverbs. As we can see in the examples in (11), non-pronominalized adverbials show the same restriction on ordering as DPs and VPs. Interestingly, the restriction on ordering disappears once we replace the adverbial ‘in Boston’ with pronominal adverb ‘here’, as in (12). 1 Thus, we see the same pattern as with DPs. There is, however, an interesting contrast. While in the case of a DP coordination, pronominalization is obligatory, in the case of coordinated adverbs it seems to be optional. Thus adverbials seem to pattern partially with DPs and partially with VPs. One could argue that the difference might lie in the uncertainty of judgments related to temporal and spacial indexicals. Even if I utter the sentence in (11-a) in Boston, it is not clear that being in Boston is the common ground between the participants of the communication. It might be understood as being in Cambridge, being at MIT, being in my office etc. In section 4.3 I will argue, though, that it is possible to account for the difference on independent grammatical grounds. The difference between having or not having a pronominal counterpart will be only indirect for the proposal developed here. (9) My social life in Boston is bearable because. . . ←− context (10) v Bostonu žije taky moje kamarádka Petra. in Boston lives also my friend Petra ‘. . . my friend Petra lives in Boston as well.’ (11) a. moje kamarádka Petra žije napůl v Bostonu a napůl v New my friend Petr lives half in Boston and half in New ‘. . . my friend Petra lives half in Boston and half in New York.’ b. #moje kamarádka Petra žije napůl v New Yorku a napůl v my friend Petr lives half in New York and half in ‘. . . my friend Petra lives half in New York and half in Boston.’ (12) a. moje kamarádka Petra žije napůl tady a napůl v New my friend Petr lives half here and half in New ‘. . . my friend Petra lives half here and half in New York.’ b. moje kamarádka Petra žije napůl v New Yorku a napůl my friend Petr lives half in New York and half ‘. . . my friend Petra lives half half in New York and half here.’ Yorku. York Yorku. York Bostonu. Boston tady. here 1 In contrast to English, Czech ‘tady’ is an anaphoric element, unlike ‘here’. Non-anaphoric counterpart of ‘here’ is ‘zde’. 89
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(4) a. Číst bude (taky) její přítel .<br />
read will also her friend<br />
‘Her boyfriend will read as well.’<br />
b. #Její přítel bude číst.<br />
her friend will read<br />
<strong>The</strong> same pattern emerges with coordinated DPs. As we can see from the contrast between<br />
(6-a) and (6-b), a given DP must precede a new DP. Thus, the emerging pattern can be<br />
summarized as in (7), where boldface stands for given.<br />
(5) Na programu byla diskuse o nové učitelce. ←− context<br />
on program was discussion about new teacher<br />
‘<strong>The</strong> topic <strong>of</strong> the program was a discussion about a new teacher.’<br />
(6) a. Učitelku a žáky to překvapilo. ←− ̌DP & DP<br />
teacher and students it surprised<br />
‘<strong>The</strong> teacher and students were surprised by it.’<br />
b. #Žáky a učitelku a to překvapilo. ←− # DP & DP<br />
students and teacher it surprised<br />
‘Students and a teacher were surprised by it.’<br />
(7) Generalization about coordination:<br />
a. A & B<br />
b. #B & A<br />
<strong>The</strong> facts are, however, more subtle. Recall the discussion about the distribution <strong>of</strong> pronouns<br />
in section 1.5. We have seen that in general a given DP cannot be asymmetrically<br />
c-commanded by a new element. In such a configuration the DP must be realized as a<br />
pronoun or it must be modified by a demonstrative pronoun. <strong>The</strong> same holds here. Within<br />
a coordination, a given DP may follow a new element only if the DP is pronominalized, as<br />
in (8).<br />
(8) a. #Žáky a učitelku to překvapilo. ←− # DP & DP<br />
students and teacher it surprised<br />
‘Students and a teacher were surprised by that.’<br />
b. Žáky a tu učitelku to překvapilo. ←− ̌DP & that DP<br />
students and that teacher it surprised<br />
‘Students and that teacher were surprised by that.’<br />
c. Žáky i ji to překvapilo. ←− ̌DP & pronoun<br />
students and her it surprised<br />
‘She (=the teacher) and students were surprised by that.’<br />
<strong>The</strong> pronominalization facts bring up another important issue. Recall that in section 1.5<br />
we have seen that if a DP coordination is asymmetrically c-commanded by new material, a<br />
given DP is degraded even if it is the first conjunct. Interestingly, coordinated VPs behave<br />
88
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