An English grammar for Georgia teachers [1971]

, AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR
for
GEORGIA TEACHERS
To Accompany A DESIGN FOR l\.N ENGLISH CURRICULUM

AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR
for
GEORGIA TEACHERS
by Juanita N. Abernathy Coordinator of English and Reading
To Accompany A DESIGN FOR AN ENGLISH CURRICULUM
Curriculum Development Division/Office of Instructional Services Georgia Department of Education/Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Jack P. Nix/State Superintendent of Schools/197l

PREF~E
English teachers in Georgia have expressed a need for concise, explicit, understandable statements concerning transformations of the English sentence. This publication has been prepared for English teachers in response to this need.
Acknowledgement is made to Owen Thomas (Transformational Grammar and the Teacher of English, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston) and Roderick A. Jacobs and Peter S. Rosenbaum (English Transformational Grammar, Ginn and Company) for the knowledge that provides the base for all parts of the publication.
The publication is to be used in inservice education programs in public schools in the state. It is not a textbook; it is not to be used with students.
The publication will be evaluated by the teachers who use it and by linguists following its publication.
Appreciation is expressed to the many English teachers in Georgia whose ideas and work brought about A DESIGN FOR AN ENGLISH CURRICULUM, which provides the framework for this and all English publications of the Georgia Department of Education.
Juanita N. Abernathy Coordinator of English and Reading

The English Sentence
Background Information for the Teacher
INTRODUCTION
Speech is behavior or perfonnance. Language is the system of knowledge that underlies this behavior. The knowledge and use of language is a natural phenomenon common to the experience of every nonnal human being. Every nonnal human being has the ability to distinguish the sentences of his language, interpret the full meaning of a sentence from a string of words which may not contain all of the words necessary for accurate interpretation, perceive ambiguity in a grammatical string, and perceive when two or more strings are synonymol1s. l
This linguistic ability or knowledge which most people possess can be called IANGUAGE COMPETENCE. What people do with this LANGUAGE COMPETENCE can be called language perfonnance. Grammar is a description of what most people know of language--not what they do with language. Inquiry into the nature of grammar reasonably begins with the sentence.
Sentences of all languages have a deep structure which gives the meaning of the sentence and a surface structure which gives the fonn of the sentence as it is used in communication. Transfonnations relate deep structure and surface structure. A deep structure becomes a surface structure by the way of transfonnations. Transfonnations convert the deep structure into surface structure by perfonning various operations on the constituents making up the sentence structure.
The basic structure of the English language, as of all languages, is the sentence. Basic sentences called kernel sentences can be established for English. All other sentences are transfonnations of the basic structures underlying one or more of the kernel sentences. The basic unit or meaning of the English language, as of all languages, is the morpheme which occurs in various relational structures. There are significant categories in English, including among others nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. In sentences morphemes from these categories are combined in well defined relationships.2
KERNEL SENTENCES
Kernel sentences which can be established for English, are the following:
IJacobs and Rosenbaum, English Transfonnations Grammar: Ginn and Company. 1968.
2!:, DESIGN FOR AN ENGLISH CURRICULUM: Georgia Department of Education, 1969.
1

- (1) NP+Vi - (2) NP+Vt+NP -(3) NP+Vc+comp
(4) NP+be+pred

(adv) (adv) (adv) (adv)

All other sentences are non-kernel sentences or transformations of the basic structures underlying one or more of the kernel sentences.

John can sing. Can John sing?

The first sentence differs from the second sentence only in respect to the change in position of the first two words. The words of the first sentence, a declarative sentence, have been rearranged in the second sentence by the YES/NO QUESTION TRANSFORMATION. In the following sentence, the TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION has added the words "can't he?" to the kernel sentence, "John can sing"; John can sing, can't he?"

John cannot sing.

In the above sentence, the NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION has introduced the negative, "not," to the right of the auxiliary verb, "can," in the kernel sentence, "John can sing." In the sentence

John can't sing.

the CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION has caused a word to lose a vowel, become nonsyllabic, and adjoined to a carrier word in the kernel sentence, "John can sing."

These illustrations show that transformations convert one constituent structure into another.

CONSTITUENTS
The basic constituents of sentences are noun phrases and verb phrases. The deep structure arrangement of the basic constituents may be shown in the following tree:
S
/NP " "VP
The deep structure of the English sentence may be shown also in the following phrase structure rule:
S---~.~NP VP
Every noun phrase must contain at least one constituent. A noun phrase may contain only a noun; it may contain an article and a noun; it may consist of an article, a noun, and a sentence; it may contain a noun followed by a sentence. These possibilities may be stated in the following phrase structure rule:

2

}NP

S(

NP .--~ rART) NP(S)}

Every verb phrase must contain at least one constituent, a verbal (VB). A verbal is thus the primary constituent of a verb phrase and is invariably the first constituent of a verb phrase (VP) in the deep structure. (A verbal which is the only constituent of a verb phrase is known as an intransitive verb.) Verb phrases may contain both a verbal and a noun phrase. (A verbal which may be followed by a noun phrase is known as a transitive verb.) A verb phrase may contain a verbal followed by two noun phrases. A verb phrase may contain a verbal followed by a sentence. These possibilities may be stated in the following phrase structure rule:
J(NP) { t VP --~ VB (NP) S }

Many surface structures contain a constituent which behaves in an extremely consistent manner when certain transformations are applied. This constituent is called an auxiliary and it is contained in the following surface structures:

John ~ sing. Mary will go.

Sentences such as the following do not have auxiliaries in their surface structures:

The teacher studies grammar. Mary plays the piano.

Such sentences raise the question: Are there auxiliaries in the deep structure? Grammarians are currently arguing the answer to this question. While the existence of auxiliaries in the deep structure is anything but conclusively confirmed, the assumption that there are auxiliaries in the deep structure leads to a partial explanation of many syntactic facts. This publication, therefore, assumes that there is an auxiliary in the deep structure of every sentence.

The auxiliary either is or is not a modal. If the auxiliary is a modal, it will be a word such as "can," "may," "must," "will," "could," "would," "might." If the auxiliary is not a modal, it will be either a form of "have," or a form of the copula "be" in the event that the AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION has applied, or a form of "do" otherwise. Although a sentence contains a modal in the deep structure, transformational proce~ses may delete the auxiliary segment of the deep structure and the auxiliary does not appear in the surface structure.

Certain transformational tests can isolate noun phrases and verb phrases in surface structures and, in certain cases, in deep structures. The tests which are relevant (apparently) are the passive, the refleXive, and the cleft sentence tests. The interrogative

3

test reveals surface structure noun phrases and can also isolate auxiliaries. Certain verb phrases are often discovered through the use of the identical verb phrase deletion test.
Constituents inverted by the PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION are noun phrases in sentences like:
The boy ate an apple. (Active) The apple was eaten by the boy. (Passive)
The PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION causes the subject noun phrase, "the boy," and the object noun phrase, "the apple," to be interchanged, thus showing that both "the boy" and "the apple" are noun phrases.
The REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION normally applies where a noun phrase is identical to another noun phrase. In a sentence like:
The teacher contradicted herself.
the noun phrase, "the teacher," is identical (in the deep structure) to another noun phrase, in this case, "the teacher."
The CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION places what at the beginning of a string, places the appropriate fonn of "be" at the end of the string, and selects the word or group of words to be tested and transposes it to the end of the string. If the CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION is applied to a string like:
The boy jumped into the pond.
the following string would result.
What jumped into the pond was the boy.
It is clear that "the pond" and "the boy" are noun phrases.
The IDENTICAL VERB PHRASE DELETION TRANSFORMATION may be used to discover verb phrases. This transfonnation deletes the second verb phrase in each of the following sentences, since the verb phrases are identical.
Orlando plays the guitar because Cecilia expects him to (play). Oliver studies because the teacher forces him to (study).
The INTERROGATIVE TRANSFORMATION may be used as a test for identifying auxiliaries in the surface structure since it shifts the auxiliary around the subject noun phrase. It may also be used as a test for noun phrases. In sentences like:
The boy can swim. Can the boy swim?
it is clear that the auxiliary, the modal "can," is shifted around the subject noun phrase and that "can" is an auxiliary and "the boy" is a noun phrase. In sentences like:
4

The girl runs. Does the girl run?
the auxiliary "does" (which is not a modal), does not appear in the declarative sentence but it does appear in the interrogative. Is the "do" in the deep structure?
In the following structure:
s
/
NP
the noun phrase (NP) is said to be immediately dominated by S (sentence). A noun phrase immediately dominated by S is called the deep subject noun phrase. In other words, subject is a.particular position in a sentence that n,ay be occupied by a noun phrase. A noun phrase immediately dominated by the verb phrase is the object of the verb phrase:
VP
"-NP
Noun phrases function as deep subjects of sentences, as surface subjects of sentences, and the objects of verb phrases. The deep subject and the object provide certain semantic information about a sentence; the surface subject determines agreement.

FEATURES

A grammar of English may be said to be a set of generative rules

and an associated lexicon. The internalized knowledge that people

have of the properties of words, a kind of internalized dictionary,

may be called a lexicon. Grammarians treat a lexicon as an inven-

tory of pairs of elements, with each pair called a lexical entry.

The first element is a representation of the sound of a word, or

a part of a word in the cases of prefixes and suffixes. This ele-

ment is represented by the nopmal spelled version of the word.

The second element is a representation of the meaning of a word,

prefix, or suffix, except in those cases where no meaning is pos-

sessed. The properties of this element are represented as a set

of features. The presence of a feature is indicated by a [+] sign
and its absence, by a minus c--J sign. The noun girl may be repre-

sented in the following way: .

girl

first element of lexical entry

[-m]

second element

[+human]

Nouns may be [+ human] or [- human], [+ animate] or [- animate],
[+ count] or G count], [+ common] or [- common]. Nouns have many
other features.

5

Sample lexicon for two nouns follows:

truth +tNruth

]

+connnon

[ -concrete

-count

boy boy +N +conunon +Concrete +animate +count

The lexical entry

book

book
+N
+connnon +concrete -animate +count

would appear in the deep structure as follows:

S

NP

AUX

VP

A

I

ART r- N

...,

VB

book

+N

+conunon

+concrete

-animate

+count

SEGMENT TRANSFORMATIONS
Transformations which introduce segments into deep structures are called segment transformations. Segments introduced by transformations are replaced by words from the lexicon. Important segment transformations in English follow.
The NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION introduces the plural ending on nouns. The ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION introduces articles.
The most interesting characteristics of verb phrases have to do with verbal elements--that is verbs and adjectives. These are represented as verbals (VB) in the deep structure. The verb has the feature [+VB] , the adjective has the feature GVB]. The COPULA TRANSFORMATION introduces the copula (a form of "be") before adjectives. The PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION introduces a particle segment into the deep structure. The PARTICLE MOVEMENT TRANSFORMATION moves the particle segment around to the right of the object--obligatory if the object is a pronoun, optionally otherwise. Particles are distinct from prepositions even though the words may be the same because of a difference in syntactic functions between
6

the two. The particle is more closely associated with the verb, and particles are represented in the deep structure as verb features. Prepositions which are more closely associated with nouns are represented as features of nouns in the deep structure.
The waitress mixed ~ the order. (particle) The boy walked ~ the street. (preposition)
One of the most complex inherent qualities of verbals is traditionally referred to as aspect. There are two aspect properties: perfect and ro ressive, represented in the deep structure by the features [+progressive and [+perfect]. Basically their surface structures are generated by the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION, the PERFECT TRANSFORMATION, and the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION.
Agreement in English involves three transformations. The first is the AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION, which copies the features of number and person of the subject onto the auxiliary segment. The second is the VERB AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION, which (1) copies the same features plus the tense feature of the auxiliary onto the verb segment just in case the auxiliary immediatelx precedes the verb segment and is neither [+modal] nor [3-copu1aJ, and (2) deletes the auxiliary. The VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION adds a suffix to the verb segment (1) when the segment is singular, third person, and present tense, or (2) when the segment is regular and past tense.
Two kinds of question sentences are the YES/NO question and the tag question. The YES/NO questions are the sentences that elicit "yes" or "no" answers, such as "Did the boy fall?" The tag questions are the question sentences with a tag at the end, such as, "The boy fell, didn't he?"
Another kind of question sentence is the WH question which is never answered by "yes" or "no" and which does not have a tag question at the end. These are questions such as ''Who is here?" "What is the name of the teacher?" ''Where are we going?" ''When are we going?" The answer to the WH question is usually a noun phrase, such as "the boy," "Mrs. Jones," "to the game," "today." WH questions are questions about noun phrases and the WH question words--who, what, where, when--are interrogative pronouns. These pronouns, like all other pronouns, originate in terms of features on noun segments in the deep structure. In deep structures, interrogative pronouns
possess the feature [fWR]. All other pronouns possess the feature
r:WH]. The WH QUESTION TRANSFORMATION replaces the QUESTION constituent with a noun phrase in which the noun carries the feature [jwH].
SENTENCE EMBEDDING
There is a recursiveness in language Which allows sentences to be embedded inside other sentences, permitting the generation of sentences of infinite length. Sentences may be described as performing three basic functions:
7

1. relative clause

NP

NP~

2. nOUlL phrase cC>II1p1ement

NP

AR~S

3. verb phrase complement

~

VB

S

A relative clause is a sentence embedded in a noun phrase which contains another noun phrase. Relative clauses require that a noun phrase in the embedded sentence be identical to the noun phrase to the left of the relative clause. Several transformations are involved in generating the surface structure of relative clauses. They are the following:

The RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION operates on a relative clause structure in which the "head" noun phrase, the one to the left of the embedded sentence, is identical to an appropriate noun phrase inside the embedded sentence. The transformation adds the features
[-H.m] and [+pronouri] to the noun segment in the identical noun
phrase of the relative sentence, and it moves the noun segment to the front of the sentence.

REL CL the boy (the boy sang) is my friend==~"'~the boy who sang is my friend.
The RELATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATION deletes the relative pronoun in the relative clause if the relative pronoun follows directly after the "head" noun phrase and precedes the subject noun phrase of the relative clause.
REL PRO DEL The book which you read is interesting =========I"'~the book you
read is interesting.

The RELATIVE ClAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION deletes the relative subject pronoun of a relative clause if it precedes a form of "be" and deletes the form of "be."

REL CL RED the book which is on the table is interesting ==========:::J"'~the
book on the table is interesting.
The ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION is preceded by the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION and shifts the adjective to the left of the noun in the main sentence noun phrase.
REL CL RED the policeman who was angry arrested the man '=::===========l"'~ the
policeman
ADJ
angry arrested the man ====~"'~the angry policeman arrested the man.
8

The TIME-PLACE DELETION TRANSFORMATION reduces relative clauses like
At the time when you came home to
When you came home.
Sentences may be embedded in noun phrases. These sentences function as ~ phrase complements. Every noun phrase, no matter where it appears in the deep structure, may contain a sentence functioning as a noun phrase. Noun phrase complements may appear in subject noun phrases or in object noun phrases. Complementizers introduce noun phrase complements into the deep structure. The most common complementizers in English are:
1. The clause complementizer--"that" That John forgot his watch is evident.
2. The infinitive complementizer--"for . to" For John to have forgotten his watch was disturbing.
3. The gerundive complementizer--the genitive or possessive form of the noun (or pronoun) and "ing" spelled as either "s' ing" (for singular nouns) or ,,' . ing" (for plural nouns)
John'~ forgetting his watch was disturbing. The boy~' forgetting their watches was disturbing.
These complementizers are introduced into deep structures by the COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION. When the subject noun phrase in an infinitive or gerundive complementizer is identical to a relevant noun phrase in the main sentence, the subject noun phrase and the first element of the complemEmtizer are deleted by the IDENTICAL NOUN PHRASE DELETION TRANSFORMATION.
ID NP DEL John prefers for John to sing~=========I.~Johnprefers to sing.
ID NP DEL John prefers John's singing==========~.~Johnprefers singing.
The clause complementizer and the first element of the infinitive and gerundive complementizer may--and sometimes must--be deleted by an optional transformation called the COMPLEMENTIZER DELETION TRANSFORMATION.
COMP DEL John believed that Mary would marry him =====:J.~ John believed Mary would marry him.
All noun phrases containing noun phrase complements also contain a head noun.
9

The i!! that John forgot his watch was evident.
The EXTRAPOS1T1ON TRANSFORMATION is an optional transformation which moves the complement to the end of the sentence.
The fact is obvious that John forgot his watch.
In sentences like
That Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia.
it is assumed that the head noun is the pronoun "it" giving the string.
*It that Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia.
If the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION is applied, the following sentence results:
It delights Cecilia that Orlando plays the guitar.
When the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION is not applied and the head noun of the noun phrase complement is a pronoun, the pronoun must be deleted by the "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION.
"IT" DEL it that Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia ======~"~that Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia.
Verb phrase complements are immediately dominated by verb phrases. Such constructions always have the infinitive complementizer and identical noun phrase deletion is obligatory. Verb phrase complement constructions like
The teachers agreed to study at the university.
are called transitive verb phrase complement constructions. In such constructions, the complement sentence simply follows the verbal. A transitive verb phrase complement construction like
Paul persuaded the teachers to study grammar.
has a verbal followed by a noun phrase which in its turn is followed by a complement sentence, all under the immediate domination of VP.
PRONOUNS AND CASE
Personal pronouns are not the same kind of constituents in deep structures as they are in surface structures. In deep structures, they are noun segments, represented by the feature, [j-PRO]. All other noun segments have the feature GPROJ. Personal pronouns have a number feature !3-singular] or [-singula:i:J; features of person [IJ, [IIJ, [rI(I; features, [-hnasculin~, [+feminineJ,
10

[-masculine], C:feminine], for third person singular pronouns. The features which define pronouns are generated in deep structures by the segment structure rules. In surface structures, personal pronouns are article segments. Surface structures containing personal pronouns are generated through the application of the ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION and the NOUN SEGMENT DELETION TRANSFORMATION. As articles, personal pronouns are definite articles.

The lexical entries for the nominative pronouns are as follows:

I
:RO lJ
+1 -accusative +singular

we we +N +PRO
+1 -accusative -singular

you [:u ] +PRO +11

he he +N +PRO +1II +masculine +singular

she she +N +PRO +1 II +feminine +singular

they

+thNey

]

+PRO

+III

-singular

it it
+N +PRO +1II -masculine -feminine +singular

Although it is true that pronouns may be introduced into a deep structure through the segment structure rules which specify segment features, it is also true that pronouns, or at least the feature [+PRO], may be introduced transformationally before the application of the ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION. The PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION, which takes place before the ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION and other transformations which create the ~urface structure, converts one of two identical noun phrases into a pronoun, [+PRO], providing that the two noun phrases are not in the same simple sentence (in which case, reflexivization takes place).
PRO Henry said that Henry would play':==J.~ Henry said that he would
play
The CASE TRANSFORMATION converts the basic nominative form of a noun, ~accusativeJ, into the accusative form, [+accusative], most commonly when the noun is not a subject noun in the surface structure.

11

CONJUNCTION
Sentences of the same type may be conjoined. The compound sentences thus formed may be reduced to conjoined noun phrases, verb phrases, verbals, complements, relative clauses, nouns, and even prepositions in the surface structure. The CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION conjoins constituents if they are the same type and have the same syntactic function and then introduces a higher level of the same kind to dominate them. Sentences of the same type may be conjoined as the two sentences following, making a conjunctive sentence in which greater reduction is possible and a single sentence with conjoined constituents results.
The boys played. The girls played.

S

~

the boys played

and

/~

NP

VP

If ~

and the girls

played

In deep structures, constituents which are weakly identical have the same meaning only. Constituents which are strongly identical have both the same meaning and the same reference. The IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION reduces only strongly identical compound noun phrases, but can reduce either strongly or weakly identical compound verb phrases.
ID CONJ RED Mary sang and Mary danced ========J~.Mary sang and danced Henry played baseball Saturday and Tommy played baseball Saturday ID CONJ RED
.... =========:::;~ Henry and Tommy played baseball Saturday
The CONJUNCTION SHIFT TRANSFORMATION may shift the latter of two noun phrases in the compound noun phrase to the end of the sentence and convert the "and" to "with."
Henry and Tommy played baseball Saturday. Henry played baseball Saturday with Tommy.
12

One or more sentences in a coordinate construction may be introduced inside other sentences in a compound structure by means of the NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION, which adjoins the sentence (or sentences) in the coordinate construction to the right of noun phrases contained in these other sentences. The embedded sentences are called non-restrictive clauses and can, under certain circumstances, be transformed into non-restrictive relative clauses.

NON RES CL

Teachers are idealistic. Teachers enjoy poetry.

~

Teachers who enjoy poetry are idealistic.

CONCLUSION
Grammar is a set of generative rules and an associated lexicon. The purpose of this publication is to acquaint teachers with some of the transformations and deep structures of English grammar about which grammarians have given us a degree of precision and explicitness. Sentence structure and syntactic processes about which grammarians are currently attempting to formulate correct syntactic analyses are not discussed in the publication in detail. Nomina1ization, manner adverbial, genitive, comparative, and others are omitted.
Teachers, interested and open-minded, can and will continue to study the currently available linguistic knowledge as grammarians attempt to construct a precise, explicit grammar of English.

13

TRANSFORMATIONS

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

YES/NO QUESTION TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the YES/NO QUESTION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the follOWing:

1. John can sing. 2. Can John sing? 3. Dogs will attack lions. 4. Will dogs attack lions?
5. John sings. 6. Does John sing?

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the YES/NO QUESTION TRANSFORMATION:

1. rearranges words in a sentence 2. shifts the auxiliary verb to the front of the sentence 3. introduces the auxiliary "do" into sentences such as "Does
John sing?"

Students represent the YES/NO QUESTION TRANSFORMATION in the follOWing way:

YES/NO QUESTION

Q+ John can sing

.. can John sing?

YES/NO QUESTION

Q+ dogs will attack lions

will dogs attack lions?

YES/NO QUESTION

Q+ John sings

does John sing?

16

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

YES/NO QUESTION TRANSFORMATION
The YES/NO QUESTION TRANSFORMATION generates the surface structure for sentences such as:
Can John sing? The deep structure of this sentence, in a much simplified form is:
S

Question yIN John can

sing

The constituent, QUESTION YIN, indicates that the surface structure is interpreted semantically as a question. The YES/NO QUESTION TRANSFORMATION is a process which rearranges the words in a sentence by interchanging the auxiliary constituent with the subject noun phrase to generate the surface structure diagrammed be-
low:

17

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THI S FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. John can sing. 2. John can sing, can't he? 3. Horses can jump over four feet.
4. Horses can jump over four feet, can't they?
5. The teacher has not worked. 6. The teacher has not worked, has she?

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION:

1. is synonymous to the YES/NO question 2. copies the pronoun corresponding to the subject noun phrase
and the auxiliary verb, if there is one 3. adds a negative element in the case of positive sentences 4. contracts the auxiliary and "not" 5. shifts the auxiliary to the front of the pronoun in the tag 6. uses negative tags with positive sentences, positive tags
with negative sentences.

Students represent the TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION in this way:

TAG QUESTION

Q+ John can sing

~ John can sing, can't he?

TAG QUESTION
Q+ horses can jump over four feet .=====::jJt~ horses can jump over four feet, can't they?

TAG QUESTION
Q+ the teacher has not worked =========:::J'~ the teacher has not worked, has she?

18

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION
The tag question is synonymous to the YES/NO QUESTION, although that is not always obvious. If a student is asked to "question" a sentence such as:
Horses can jump over four feet.
he will include, along with the YES/NO version, a question like:
Horses can jump over four feet, can't they?
The TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION generates the surface structure for such sentences as:
John can sing, can't he?
The deep structure of this sentence, in a much simplified form is:
S

Question Tag

can sing

The constituent, QUESTION TAG, indicates that the surface structure is interpreted semantically as a question. The TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION copies the pronoun corresponding to the subject noun phrase and the next auxiliary (if there is one), adds a negative element in the case of positive sentences, contracts the auxiliary and "not," shifts the auxiliary to the front of the pronoun in the tag, and uses negative tags with positive sentences and positive tags with negative sentences.

The TAG QUESTION TRANSFORMATION generates the surface structure diagrammed below:

s
~
~ s~
John can sing can't lie

19

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. John can sing. 2. John cannot sing. 3. Dogs will attack lions. 4. Dogs will not attack lions.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION

1. introduces the negative "not" to the right of the auxiliary verb.

Students represent the NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

====..... NEG
John can sing

John cannot sing

======... dogs will attack lions

NEG ~ dogs will not attack lions

20

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION

Every assertion can be questioned or denied. A sentence like "John can sing," may be questioned, "Can John sing?," or denied, "John cannot sing." Sentences like

John can sing. John cannot sing.

are identical except that the second is a negation of the first. The sentences are not synonymous, and since they are not synonymous, they do not have the same deep structures. One way to represent this difference is with the hypothetical constituent NEGATIVE (NEG), as in the following tree diagram:

S

~h NEG

Jo n can s~. ng

The constituent, NEG, represent the information that this sentence has a negative interpretation. The NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION is a process which converts the NEG constituent into "not" and introduces this word to the right of the word "can," generating the surface structure below:

/~
John cannot sing

21

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. John cannot sing. 2. John can't sing. 3. Bill is not very tall. 4. Bill isn't very tall.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION

1. is applied only after the NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION has been carried out
2. causes a word to lose a vowel, become non-syllabic, and adjoined to a "carrier" word
3. contracts either the auxiliary or the negative particle but does not contract both simultaneously.

Students represent the CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

CONTRACTION

John cannot sing

.. John can't sing

CONTRACTION

Bill is not very tall

Bill isn't very tall

CONTRACTION

Bill is not very tall

.. Bill's not very tall

22

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION
Contraction is probably a phonological process in the final analysis. The CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION is a simple transfonnation in English which converts a structure like
John cannot sing. into the structure for
John can't sing. The CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION, which is applied only after the NEGATIVE TRANSFORMATION has been carried out, causes a word to lose a vowel, become non-syllabic, and adjoined to a "carrier" word. The CONTRACTION TRANSFORMATION contracts either the auxiliary or the negative particle, but it does not contract both simultaneously. In a sentence like the following:
Bill is not very tall. either "is" or "not" may be contracted, but both "is" and "not" may not be contracted.
Bill isn't very tall. Bill's not very tall.
23

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. Keith puzzled Owen. 2. Owen was puzzled by Keith. 3. The fact that John was late annoyed the teacher. 4. The teacher was annoyed by the fact that John was late. 5. The girl has seen the boy. 6. The boy has been seen by the girl.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION

1. causes the subject noun phrase and the direct object noun phrase to be interchanged
2. introduces a form of "be" after the auxiliary (if there is one) and before the main verb
3. introduces the word "by" into the phrase structure.

Students represent the PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

PASSIVE

Keith puzzled Owen

... Owen was puzzled by Keith

PASSIVE

the fact that John was late annoyed the teacher

the

teacher was annoyed by the fact that John was late

PASSIVE
the girl has seen the boy ====:::;....... the boy has been seen by
the girl

24

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION
The following sentences are synonymous because they have virtually the same deep structure.
Keith puzzled Owen. Owen was puzzled by Keith. The following structure is a rough deep structure for the first active sentence:
S
Keit~
puzzled Owen If the PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION is applied to the above structure, then a surface structure of the following form is generated, giving the second sentence:
s

The PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION interchanged the constituents "Keith" and "Owen," introduced a form of "be," and added the preposition, "by. "

Constituents like "Keith" and "Owen," which may be substituted for each other without making a sentence ungrammatical, and which may be interchanged by the PASSIVE TRANSFORMATION, may be called NOUN PHRASES (NP). The tree diagrams may now be redrawn to show NOUN PHRASES.

Deep Structure
S

Surface Structure

Keith puzzled 25

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. Nat shot himself. 2. Mary saw herself. 3. I hit myself.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION

1. applies whenever two noun phrases appearing in the same sentence are identical
2. converts into a reflexive pronoun, the second of the two identical noun phrases within the same simple sentence.

Students represent the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

REFLEXIVE

Nat shot Nat

.. Nat shot himself

REFLEXIVE

Mary saw Mary

Mary saw herself

REFLEXIVE

I hit I

I hit myself

26

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION
The following sentences are often called reflexive sentences: John saw himself. I saw myself. Nat shot himself.
The underlined words are called reflexive pronouns. Reflexive pronouns are understood as referring to a noun phrase previously mentioned in the sentence. This understanding is accounted for if it is assumed that the deep structure of a sentence like:
Nat shot himself contains an object noun phrase identical to the subject noun phrase. A rough diagram of the deep structure of the sentence is
S
When the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION is applied to this deep structure, the second identical noun phrase is converted into the corresponding reflexive pronoun. The following structure is generated by the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION:
S
27

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THI S FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
IMPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the IMPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. Wash yourself. 2. Wash yourselves. By discussing such sentences, students discover that the IMPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION 1. deletes the subject noun phrase "you" of reflexive sentences. Students represent the IMPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
IMP
IMP + you wash yourself ========:J.~ wash yourself
IMP
IMP + you wash yourselves========J.~ wash yourselves
28

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

1M PERATIVE TRANSFORMATION

You intuitively understand that sentences like the following begin with the subject noun phrase "you."

Wash yourself. Wash yourselves.

There are sentences that are both reflexive and imperative. When

the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION is applied to the deep structure of a

string like, "I saw 1.," it generates.the surface struct,ure, "I' saw

myself," by converting the second identical noun phrase into the

corresponding reflexive pronoun.

.

Noun phrases are converted into reflexive pronouns only when the deep structure contains an earlier identical noun phrase. Thus, a sentence like "Wash yourself" must have originally had a subject noun phrase containing "you."

The IMPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION must now be applied to the structure "You wash yourself." The IMPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION is an important process which deletes the subject "you" of the reflexive sentence to generate "wash yourself."

Thus, applying the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION first to the deep structure "you wash you," will generate the intennediate string "you wash yourself." The IMPERATIVE TRANSFORMATION then generates "wash yourself."

29

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the REIATIVE CIAUSE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. The boy is my friend. 2. The boy sang. 3. The boy who sang is my friend. 4. The policeman arrested the man. 5. The policeman was angry.
6. The policeman who was angry arrested the man. 7. The poem is strange. 8. The professor discussed the poem. 9. The poem which the professor discussed is strange.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION

1. causes a sentence embedded in a noun phrase to lose its sub-

ject noun phrase and get a relative pronoun--who, which,

what, that--instead (re1ativizing)

---

2. ~s the noun phrase being re1ativized to the front of the

relative clause sentence if the noun phrase of the embedded

sentence is not there to begin with.

Students represent the REIATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

REL CL the boy (the boy sang) is my friend~==~"'~the boy who sang
is my friend

REL CL the policeman (the policeman was angry) arrested the man====~.~
the policeman who was angry arrested the man

REL CL
the poem (the professor discussed the poem) is strange ======~~~ the poem which the professor discussed is strange

30

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION

Relative clauses are sentences embedded in noun phrases and they follow noun phrases. In a sentence like

The boy who sang is my friend.

"who sang" is a relative clause in the noun phra,se "the boy who sang." This relative clause "who sang" is a sentence structure. Although the surface structure is "the boy who sang," the deep structure of the noun phrase is the ungrammatical string.

The boy the boy sang is my friend

A simplified diagram of the deep structure is shown below:

S

NP

ART----\~L S

N~P

!'.. I

ART N VB

/I I

the

boy the boy sang

(ART - article) (N - noun) (VP - verb phrase) (VB - verbal)
is my friend

The RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION operates on a relative CLAUSE STRUCTURE in which the "head" noun phrase, the one to the left of the embedded sentence, is identical to an appropriate noun phrase inside the embedded sentence. The RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION causes the embedded sentence to lose its sUbject noun phrase and get a relative pronoun--who, which, what, that--instead (relativizing). The transformation also moves the noun phrase being relativized to the front of the relative clause sentence if the noun phrase of the embedded sentence is not there to begin with. A simplified diagram of the surface structure is shown below:

31

s

ANP------

ART

N

REL S

I I

N~VP
iI I VI"

the boy who sang

is my friend

32

j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THI S FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
RELATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the RELATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. The book which I read is interesting. 2. The book I read is interesting. 3. The girl that I saw ran home. 4. The girl I saw ran home. 5. There is the boy whom I love. 6. There is the boy I love.
By discussing such sentences, students discover that the RElATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATION
1. deletes the relative pronoun in the relative clause if the relative pronoun follows directly after t'he "head" noun phrase and precedes the subject noun phrase of the relative clause
2. is applied only if the relative pronoun follows directly after the "head" noun phrase and precedes the subject noun phrase of the relative clause.
Students represent the RElATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
REL PRO DEL the book which I read is interesting ==========:J"~the book
I read is interesting
REL PRO DEL the girl that I saw ran home ===========I.~ the girl I saw ran home
REL PRO DEL there is the boy whom I love ::=::============:::::I.~there is the boy I
love
34

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

RELATIVE PRONOUN DELETION ,TRANSFORMATION

Applying the RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION generates relative clauses like those underlined in the following sentences:

The book which I read is interesting. The girl that I saw ran home. There is the boy whom I love.

Relative clauses, such as the ones underlined above, can often be transformed further. One important way in which relative clauses can be further transformed is by the application of the RELATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATION which deletes the relative pronoun. The transformation is optional and can be applied only when the relative pronoun follows directly after the "head" noun phrase and precedes the subject noun phrase of the relative clause. If the relative pronoun is the subject of the relative clause itself, the relative pronoun cannot be deleted.

The structure of "the book which he read" is given below:

NP

NP~S

~

NP

NP VP

I

N

I

tHe book

which I read

It can be seen from this diagram that the relative pronoun follows directly after the "head" noun phrase and that the relative pronoun precedes the subject noun phrase of the relative clause. Thus, the RELATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATION can be applied to give the following surface structure:

The book I read is interesting.

In a sentence like

The boy who sang is my friend.

who is the subject noun phrase of the relative clause "who sang." Therefore, the RELATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATION cannot be applied to such sentences.

35

RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
REDUCTION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to che following:

1. The book which is on the table is interesting. 2. The book on the table is interesting. 3. The boy who is at school is my friend. 4. The boy at school is my friend. 5. The house that is on the lake belongs to me. 6. The house on the lake belongs to me.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION

1. deletes the relative subject pronoun of a relative clause if it precedes a form of "be"
2. deletes the form of "be" 3. usually generates ungrammatical strings when the relative
pronoun subject of a relative clause precedes a form of "be" followed by an adjective.

Students represent the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

REL CL RED
the book which is on the table is interesting =========I"'~ the book on the table is interesting

REL CL RED
the boy who is at school is my friend =========I'~the boy at school is my friend

REL CL RED
the house that is on the lake be longs to me =========J"~ the house on the lake belongs to me

36

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION
Another way in which some relative clauses can be transformed, in addition to the RELATIVE CLAUSE and RELATIVE PRONOUN DELETION TRANSFORMATIONS, is the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION. In the following sentences
The book which is on the table is interesting. The book on the table is interesting. it is easy to see that the relative pronoun "which" and a form of "be"--"is"--are deleted from the second sentence. The RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION has been applied to the sentence. The RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION deletes the relative subject pronoun of a relative clause if it precedes a form of "be." It also deletes the form of "be." The RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION usually generates ungrammatical strings when the relative pronoun subject precedes a form of "be" followed by an adjective. If the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION is applied to a sentence like The policeman who was angry arrested the man. the following surface structure is generated: The policeman angry arrested the man. Another transformation, the ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION is needed here to shift the adjective "angry" to the left of the noun in. the main sentence noun phrase.
37

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN SENTENCE PATTERNS)

ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. The policeman who was angry arrested the man. 2. The angry policeman arrested the man. 3. The man who is tall is my brother. 4. The tall man is my brother. 5. The dog which was rabid bit the baby. 6. The rabid dog bit the baby.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION

1. is preceded by the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION 2. shifts the adjective to the left of the noun in the main
sentence noun phrase.

Students represent the ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

REL CL RED

the policeman who was angry arrested the man

the

ADJ

policeman angry arrested the man the angry policeman

arrested the man

REL CL RED

the man who is tall is my brother

the man tall

ADJ

is my brother the tall man is my brother

=========1." REL CL RED

the dog which was rabid bit the baby

the dog

ADJ

rabid bit the baby===~''''the rabid dog bit the baby

38

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION

Another important transformation which applies to the relative clause is the ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION which shifts the adjective to the left of the noun in the main sentence noun phrase.

Consider a sentence like:

The policeman who was angry arrested the man.

The RELATIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION has generated this sentence from the deep structure, "The policeman the policeman was angry arrested the man."

Now, the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION is needed to delete the relative pronoun subject of the relative clause and the form of "be" of the relative clause "who was angry." The structure below is generated by the RELATIVE CLAUSE REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION:

The policeman angry arrested the man.

NP
A ~
~P

becomes through relative clause
reduction

NP

~

NP

S

,,/1

I

ART N

NP ~r

the

who was angry

ART N the policeman

VP
I
VB
Iangry

policeman

This in turn is transformed by the ADJECTIVE TRANSFORMATION, which shifts the adjective "angry," to the left of the main sentence noun phrase "policeman" into:

NP

~

NP

S

~" ART VP N

I

VB

I

the angry policeman

39

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
TIME-PLACE DELETION TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the TIME-PLACE DELETION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. At the time when you arrived I was eating. 2. When you arrived, I was eating. 3. I arrived at the place where I was to meet John. 4. I arrived where I was to meet John. 5. Mary laughed at the time when you arrived. 6. Mary laughed when you arrived.
By discussing such sentences, students discover that the TIME-PLACE DELETION TRANSFORMATION
1. reduces the relative clause by deleting the head noun phrase along with the preposition when that noun is either the word "time" or the word "place."
Students represent the TIME-PlACE DELETION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
TIME-PlACE DEL at the time when you arrived I was eating ===;=========1l~~when
you arrived, I was eating
TIME-PlACE DEL
I arrived at the place where I was to meet John I arrived where I was to meet John TIME-PlACE DEL
Mary laughed at the time when you arrived ======::::JJ'~Mary laughed When you arrived
40

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
TIME-PLACE DELETION TRANSFORMATION
When and where, like who, which, and that, can function as relative pronouns. One of the facts which supports this claim is that when and where delete in the same way as the other relative pronoun~
1. the boy whom you saw the boy you saw
2. the time when you come the time you come
3. the place where you were the place you were
The word when in its function as a relative pronoun, is always at the front~a clause modifying a noun which has the feature
[+ time]:
the day when you come the time when you come the hour when you come
The relative pronoun where is always at the front of a clause modifying a noun which has the feature [} place]:
the place where you were the town where you were the house where you were
Noun phrases of this type often seem to be transformed by the TIMEPlACE DELETION TRANSFORMATION which takes noun phrases like
at the time when . . .
and
at the place where . .
and transforms them by deleting the head noun phrase along with the preposition, into the strings below:
when . where ...
This transformation only deletes the head noun phrase when that NOUN is either the word "time" or the word "place."
41

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPl' THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS I OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. I want cherry ice cream. 2. What I want is cherry ice cream. 3. Orlando's playing pleased the audience. 4. What pleased the audience was Orlando's playing. 5. The freight train collapsed the bridge. 6. What collapsed the bridge was the freight train.
By discussing such sentences, students discover that the CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION
1. places what at the beginning of a string 2. places ~of the forms of "be" (is, are, was, were) at the
end of the string 3. does not work when the noun phrase that follows the form of
"be" refers to humans.
Students represent the CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
CLEFT SENT I want cherry ice cream ======I'~ what I want is cherry ice
cream CLEFT SENT
Orlando's playing pleased the audience========~J"what pleased the audience was Orlando's playing
CLEFT SENT the freight train collapsed the bridge ======~."what collapsed
the bridge was the freight train
42

FOlli~L PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION

The CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION is a complex transformation which places what at the beginning of a string and one of the forms of "be" (is, are, was, were) at the end of the string.

Look at the following sentences and the effects of the CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION on the sentence:

CLEFT SENT

I want cherry ice cream

.. what I want is cherry ice

cream

CLEFT SENT Orlando's playing pleased the audience ==========)~.what pleased
the audience was Orlando's playing

In each case, the CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION generated a structure with what at the beginning of the string and one of the forms of "be" at the end of the string.

A situation in which the CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION does not work occurs when the noun phrase contains a noun like "James," "he," "someone," "the general," which all refer to humans. If the CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION is applied to the following sentence:

James loved Mary

an ungrammatical string results:

what James loved was Mary

or

what loved Mary was James

The CLEFT SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION is useful as a test for discovering noun phrases for the constituent appearing immediately to the
right of any form of "be" in a cleft sentence is always a noun phrase.

43

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION

Students using nouns and the features of nouns work with the NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION. They use nouns and their features similar to the following:

~Oy-tN

]

+human

-singular

By discussing such nouns, students discover that the NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION

1. operates only when nouns have the feature ~singu1arJ
2. introduces a segment which will eventually become the suffix
"s."

Students represent the NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

~Oy+N

]

+human

-singular

NOUN SUFFIX =====l.~ boys

44

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION
The NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION is one of the family of segment transfonnations which introduce segments into constituent structures, provided the deep structure contains certain specified features.
There are no conclusive answers to the question whether number on nouns can be represented in deep structures. As most grammarians currently believe the feature analysis to be more sound than constituent analysis, the feature analysis will be used in this guide.
The NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION, which introduces a segment which will eventually become the suffix "s," can only be applied to nouns which carry the feature [-singular] and fonn their plurals in the regular way.
In the deep structure, the noun "boys" would look something like this:
NP
I
N
lbl J y +N +human -singular

The NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION now introduces a segment which will eventually become the suffix "s." The diagram below shows the effects of the NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION:

NP
I
/N~

oY

]

+N

+human

[-singular

r+affix ] L-singular

45

TRANSFORMATIONS can introduce segments but not words into structures. Segments can become actual words or affixes by the introduction of words from the lexicon (after all transformations have been introduced.) The surface structure is shown below:
NP
I
N
bO~S
46

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION
Students work with the ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION. They use articles and features of articles in the following way:

this +ART +DEF +DEM +near +singular

that +ART +DEF +DEM -near +singular

these +ART +DEF +DEM +near -singular

those +ART
+DEF +DEM -near -singular

IT J C J :: +ART -DEF +singular

+ART -DEF +singular

~the ]

48

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION

The ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION is one of the family of segment transformations which introduce segments into constituents structures, providing the deep structure contains certain specified procedures.

It is assumed here that articles are represented in deep structures as features of nouns.

The articles "a" and "an" are generally called indefinite articles and they may be shown in the deep structure as the noun feature [-definite] They appear only before singular nouns: A girl wrote this.

When plural nouns are not preceded by an article, they are interpreted as indefinite: Girls wrote this.

The deep structure of the noun phrase, "the girl," should look like this:

NP
I
N

I
+gNirl

J

+human

[ -DEF +singular

The ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION must now be applied. It adjoins to the N a segment labeled [+ART], with all of the features contained in the noun except [+N]. This generates the following structure:

NP

~JN ++AhuRmT an

gIirl

[ -DEF

+N

+singular

[+human] -DEF

+singular

49

When all the transformations are completed, the article segment is replaced from the lexicon yielding "a girl."

The articles, "the," "this," "that," "these," "those," are called definite articles, and they are marked [+DEF].

The four articles--this, that, these, those--which can precede the pronoun "one" are usually called demonstrative articles, and they carry the feature [+DEM]. The article "the" is not demonstrative and is marked [-DEM]. The articles "this" and "that" are singular, [+singular], and "these" and "those" are plural Esingular].

"This" and "that" are given the feature [-tnear], and "that" and "those," the feature [-near].

The demonstrative adjectives look like this in the lexicon:

this +ART +DEF +DEM -tnear +singular

that +ART +DEF +DEM -near +singular

these +ART +DEF +DEM
-tnear -singular

those +ART +DEF +DEM -near -singular

The noun phrase, "these desks," looks like this in the deep structure:
NP
I
N
I
desk
-+N
+conunon +Concrete +count +DEF +DEM -tnear -singular

50

The first transformation to apply to this structure is the ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION, which creates an article segment:

NP

[~~] f +DEM +near

desk +N

-singular

+common

+concrete

+count

+DEF

+near

-singular

Another transformation to apply is the NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION, which introduces an affix segment following the noun segment:

NP

/~N

+DARETF

]

~ J desk

+affix

+DEM

+N

-singular

[ +near

+common

-singular

+concrete

+count

+DEF

+near

-singular

Once all the transformations have been applied, the article segment is replaced by "these," the noun segment remains "desk," and the affix segment is replaced by "s" to give the final structure:

NP
the~ se N

de0s

51

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' ~ lANGUAGE PATTERNS)
COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. That John forgot his watch is eVident. 2. For John to have forgotten his watch was disturbing. 3. John's forgetting his watch was disturbing.
By discussing such sentences, students discover that the COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION
1. introduces one of three comp1ementizers into a noun phrase
a. clause complementizer--"that" b. infinitive complementizer--"for . . to" c. gerundive complementizer--genitive or possessive form of
the noun (or pronoun) and "ing" spelled as either "s' . . ing" (for singular nouns) or '" . ing" (for plural nouns).
Students represent the COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
COMP John forgot his watch ==I"~ that John forgot his watch is
evident
COMP John forgot his watch====~"'''for John to have forgotten his watch was disturbing
COMP John forgot .his watch ==::I~~ John's forgetting his watch was
disturbing
52

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION
Every noun phrase, no matter where it appears in the deep structure, may contain a sentence functioning as a noun phrase complement. The following diagram is the approximate structure of noun phrases like:
The fact that John forgot his watch
In this tree, S inunediately follows N, not a noun phrase. Noun phrase complements may appear in subject noun phrases, as in:
That John forgot his watch is evident. or they may appear in object noun phrases, as in:
We know that John forgot his watch. In the sentence,
That John forgot his watch is evident. it may appear that the subject noun phrase, "That John forgot his watch," lacks a "head" noun phrase preceding the complement sentence. In the deep structure, there is a "head" noun--it. The deep structure is like this:
It that John forgot his watch is evident. The word "that" in the sentence, "That John forgot his watch is eVident," is one of the characteristic signals of a noun phrase complement, and it is called a complementizer. Complementizers are introduced into the deep structure by the COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION. The most common complementizers in English are:
1. the clause complementizer--"that" That John forgot his watch is evident.
2. the infinitive complementizer--"for to" For John to have forgotten his watch was disturbing.
53

3. the gerundive complementizer--the genitive or possessive form of the noun (or pronoun) and "ing" spelled as either "s' . ing" (for singular nouns) or '" ing" (for plural nouns): John's forgetting his watch was disturbing. The boys' forgetting their watches was disturbing.

The following diagram is an abbreviated structure for:

For John to forget his watch was disturbing.
s

NP

I

~

NP

VP

! V~NP

I

I

I

[

JOhn]
+N

[fOrget] +VB +V

raN~I hJ

VP
I
VB
~distJrbingJ +VB -v

The COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION introduces "for" in front of the subject noun phrase and "to" before the verb phrase. The result is the constituent structure:

S

NP
I
S

to ~~

VB

NP

I
Lorge, +VB +v

I
N
[waI~hJ

VP
I
VB
I
Listu+rVbBiUJ
-V

54

COMPLEMENTIZER TRANSFORMATION

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
DELETION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the COMPLEMENTIZER DELETION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. John believed that Mary would marry him. 2. John believed Mary would marry him. 3. Cecilia preferred for Orlando to play the guitar. 4. Cecilia preferred Orlando to play the guitar. 5. Cecilia disliked Orlando's staying out late. 6. Cecilia disliked Orlando staying out late.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the COMPLEMENTIZER DELETION TRANSFORMATION

l. deletes the clause complementizer "that"

2. deletes the first element of the infinitive comp1ementizer

" for"

3.

deletes "s'" or

"th,,e,

first

element

of

the

gerundive

comp1ementizer

Students represent the COMPLEMENTIZER DELETION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

COMP'DEL
John believed that Mary would marry him ======~..... John believed
Mary would marry him

COMP DEL Cecilia preferred for Orlando to play the guitar========~,..~
Cecilia preferred Orlando to play the guitar

COMP DEL Cecilia disliked Orlando's staying out late =====:I.~Cecilia disliked Orlando staying out late

56

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
COMPLEMENTIZER DELETION TRANSFORMATION
The clause complementizer ("that"), the first element of the infinitive complementizer ("for"), and the first element of the gerundive complementizer ("s' ") may--and sometimes must--be deleted by an optional transformation called COMPLEMENTIZER DELETION TRANSFORMATION. Look at the following sentences:
1. John believed that Mary would marry him. John believed Mary would marry him.
2. Cecilia preferred for Orlando to play the guitar. Cecilia preferred Orlando to play the guitar.
3. Cecilia disliked Orlando's staying out late. Cecilia disliked Orlando staying out late.
In the second sentence in No.1, the clause ccmplementizer ("that") has been removed; in the second sentence in No.2, the first part of the infinitive complementizer ("for") has been removed; in the second sentence of No.3, the first part of the gerundive complementizer ("s''') has been removed. These deleted elements were removed by the optional COMPLEMENTIZER DELETION TRANSFORMATION. The syntactic conditions under which such deletions take place are somewhat different for each complementizer. By studying your own dialect, you may determine the conditions under which you use this transformation.
57

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
IDENTICAL NOUN PHRASE DELETION TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the IDENTICAL NOUN PHRASE DELETION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. John prefers for Mary to sing. 2. John prefers to sing. 3. John prefers Mary's singing. 4. John prefers singing.

By discussing such sentences students discover that the IDENTICAL NOUN PHRASE DELETION TRANSFORMATION

1. is applied when the subject noun phrase in an infinitive or gerundive complementizer is identical to a relevant noun phrase in the main sentence
2. deletes the subject noun phrase and the first element of the complementizer.

Students represent the IDENTICAL NOUN PHRASE DELETION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

ID NP DEL

John prefers for John to sing

John prefers to sing

ID NP DEL

John prefers John's singing

.. John prefers singing

58

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

IDENTICAL NOUN PHRASE DELETION TRANSFORMATION

When the subject noun phrase in an infinitive or gerundive complementizer is identical to a relevant noun phrase in the main sentence, the subject noun phrase and the first element of the complementizer are deleted.

The IDENTICAL NOUN PHRASE DELETION TRANSFORMATION applies when the infinitive complementizer ("for . . . to") or the gerundive complementizer ("s' . . . ing" or '" . . . ing") appears. This transformation does not apply when the clause complementizer ("that") appears.

Look at the following sentences:

John prefers for Mary to sing. John prefers for John to sing. John prefers to sing.

In the third sentence, the subject noun phrase of the embedded sentence, "John" has been deleted together with the "for" part of the complementizer.

Now look at these sentences:

John prefers Mary's singing. John prefers John's singing. John prefers singing.

In the third sentence, the subject noun phrase of the embedded sentence, "John," has been deleted together with the "s'ing" part of the complementizer.

s

and converts ~

NP
I

~ it into:

NP

VP

I~

N

VB

NP

N VB

NP

I

I

S

S

P
I

VP
I

VB

VP

John

prefers for

I
to sing

John prefers to slng

59

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. The fact that Pete forgot his anniversary is obvious. 2. The fact is obvious that Pete forgot his anniversary. 3. That Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia. 4. It delights Cecilia that Orlando plays the guitar. By discussing such sentences, students discover that the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION 1. applies when a noun phrase complement follows its "head"
noun 2. detaches the embedded sentence from under the domination of
the noun phrase of which it is a complement and moves it to the end of the main sentence. Students represent the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
the fact that Pete forgot his anniversary is obvious EXTRAPOSITION ============:::~~ it is obvious that Pete forgot his anniversary
it that Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia EXTRAPOSITION ======:J.~it delights Cecilia that Orlando plays the guitar
60

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION

Extraposition is an optional transformation in the complement system. When a noun phrase complement follows its "head" noun, the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION detaches the embedded sentence from under the domination of the noun phrase of which it is a complement and moves it to the end of the main sentence.

In a sentence like:

The fact that Pete forgot his anniversary is obvious.
The embedded sentence can be detached from under the domination of the noun phrase "The fact" and moved to the end of the main sentence to give the resulting sentence:

The fact is obvious that Pete forgot his anniversary.

The deep structure of the sentence looks like this:

NP the

S
~ AUX I is

VP
I
VB
I
obvious

The resulting surface structure looks like this:

S

NP
11 AUX I
the fact is

V
I
VB
I
obvious

S
~
that Pete forgot his anniversary

In sentences like the following:

That Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia.
we notice that there is no constituent noun. All noun phrases contain nouns in the deep structure. But noun phrase complement constructions such as the one above do not seem to contain a noun; they seem to contain only a sentence in the deep structure of a sentence like:

61

That Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia.

There is a noun in the deep structure of the subject noun phrase; in the surface structure, this noun is deleted. If there is assumed to be a noun in the deep structure of sentences such as the one above, then it becomes obvious that sentences like the following are synonymous.

That Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia. It delights Cecilia that Orlando plays the guitar.

Both sentences have the same deep structure.

The EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION has generated the second sentence by detaching the embedded sentence from under the domination of the noun phrase of which it is a complement--"it"--and moved it to the end of the main sentence.

In other words, we assume that the subject noun phrase in the deep structure of the sentence contains a noun and that this noun is the pronoun "it."

The deep structure of the sentence is shown in the diagram below:
S

_____________ - - - - - - - - - VP

NP

~

J~ ~s
it that Orlando plays the guitar

vB'"
I
delights

N~P
I

Cecilia

The surface structure is shown below:

s

NP

VP

s

I

~

N

VB

NP

I

N

I

it

delights

Cecilia

62

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THI S FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
"IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the lilT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the fo llowing :
1. That Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia. 2. It delights Cecilia that Orlando plays the guitar. 3. Seeing you at the party pleases me. 4. To see you at the party pleases me. 5. That you are at the party pleases me.
By discussing such sentences, students discover that the "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION
1. deletes the pronoun lIit" if it is the IIhead" noun of a noun phrase containing a noun phrase complement
2. is obligatory if the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION is not applied and the head of the noun phrase complement is a pronoun.
Students represent the "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
"IT" DEL it that Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia =====l~~
that Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia
"IT" DEL it seeing you at the party pleases me =======I"~ seeing you at
the party pleases me
lilT" DEL
it to see you at the party pleases me ========.a.~. to see you at the party pleases me
lilT" DEL it that you are at the party pleases me ========J.~ that you are
at the party pleases me
64

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
"IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION
The "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION is another major transformation in the complement system.
All noun phrases containing noun phrase complements also contain a "head" noun. Deletion often occurs if this "head" noun is the pronoun "it". The "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION, a normally obligatory transformation, deletes the pronoun "it" whenever this pronoun appears immediately before its noun phrase complement. If the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION has not been used, the "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION is obligatory.
Look at the two sentences below:
The fact that Pete forgot his anniversary is obvious. It is obvious that Pete forgot his anniversary.
The EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION has been applied in the second sentence.
Now suppose that the "head" noun of a noun phrase containing a complement sentence is "it" as in the ungrammatical string below:
It that Orlando plays the guitar delights Cecilia.
The EXTRAPOSITIONTRANSFORMATION has not been applied. The string can be made grammatical by the application of the "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION, generating the surface structure:
S
/r
IB I
delights Cecilia
All of the sentences below, which have only an S in their surface structures, have a noun in their deep structure as well as the S. The noun is the pronoun "it" in each case:
Seeing you at the party pleases me. (It seeing you at the party pleases me.)
65

To see you at the party pleases me. (It to see you at the party pleases me.)
That you are at the party pleases me. (It that you are at the party pleases me.) The EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION and the "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION are ordered so that the EXTRAPOSITION TRANSFORMATION precedes the "IT" DELETION TRANSFORMATION. Extraposition is usually optional but pronoun deletion is usually obligatory.
66

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THI S FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

"IT" REPLACEMENT TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the "IT" REPLACEMENT TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. John believes Mary to be honest. 2. I believe myself to be honest.
3. John happens to be honest.
4. David happens to enjoy sausages.
5. Titus believed Mary to have been examined by the doctor.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the "IT" REPLACEMENT TRANSFORMATION

1. detaches noun phrases complements with infinitive and gerundive complementizers from underneath the NP's which dominate them and reattaches them under the domination of Vp's
2. replaces the pronoun head of the noun phrase which contained the noun phrase complement (namely "it") with the subject noun phrase of the complement sentence.

Students represent the "IT" REPLACEMENT TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

"IT" REP John believes it for Mary to be honest ====:1",~John believes Mary to be honest

"IT" REP

I believe it I honest

J I believe I to be honest

REFLEXIVIZATION =======J.~ I believe myself to be honest
"IT" REP
it for John to be honest happens ====1.... John happens to be
honest
"IT" REP
it for David to enjoy sausages happens ====::1...... David happens
to enjoy sausages

Titus believes it for Mary to have been examined by the doctor "IT" REP
=====::;l...... Titus believes Mary to have been examined by the
doctor
68

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

"IT" REPLACEMENT TRANSFORMATION

Another transformation of the complement system is the "IT" REPIACEMENT TRANSFORMATION which (1) detaches noun phrase complements with infinitive and gerundive complementizers from underneath the NP's which dominate them and reattaches them under the domination of VP's and (2) replaces the pronoun head of the noun phrase which contained the noun phrase complement, namely "it," with the subject noun phrase of the complement sentence.

In sentences like

John believes Mary to be honest.

there is an underlying deep structure in which the object noun phrase contains the complement, roughly according to the following tree diagram:

S

~

NP

~

VB

NP

N~S

Nr-----vP
fD
John believes it Mary to be honest

The "IT" REPIACEMENT TRANSFORMATION moves S from under the domination of NP and replaces the NP (which still dominates "it") by the subject noun phrase of the complement sentence, giving the following structure:

S
~
VP
VB~S

fG

John

believes Mary

to be honest

69

In effect, the "IT" REPLACEMENT TRANSFORMATION removes the subject of the complement from the complement sentence and places it in the main sentence.
A sentence like
I believe myself to be honest.
has the following deep structure (much abbreviated).

NP

VP

I

~

N

VB

NP

N~S

~

NP

VP

I

I

N

VB

I

I

I

believe it

I

honest

In this structure, the subject of the embedded sentence and the subject of the main sentence are identical, but reflexivization (which must take place) cannot take place because the two subjects are not in the same simple sentence. The "IT" REPLACEMENT TRANSFORMATION, which can be applied from underneath the NP which dominates it, generating the following deep structure:

S

(the infinitive comple-

~

NP

VP

mentizer is assumed to be present eV,en though

J V~S

it is excluded for convenience.)

IP ~

N NP

VP

I

I

N

VB

I

I

I believe it

I

honest

70

The "IT" REPIACEMENT TRANSFORMATION now replaces the pronoun head of the noun phrase which contained the noun phrase complement, namely "it," with the subject noun phrase of the complement sentence, giving the structure below:

S

VP
~S

VB

NIP

\ VP

IN

I
,B

I

believe

I

honest

With the infinitive complementizer present, and assuming the application of the COPUlA TRANSFORMATION, the structure S overated would be the following:

S
NP-----------...."vP

I

N

S

NP

P

.I

I

N

VB

I

/'1

I

believe

I to be honest

The "IT" REPIACEMENT TRANSFORMATION has created a structure to which the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION can be applied because the "IT" REPIACEMENT TRANSFORMATION has moved the subject of the complement sentence into the main sentence. The two identical noun phrases are now in the same simple sentence and reflexivization can apply, producing the structure

I believe myself to be honest.

Thus it can be seen that the "IT" REPlACEMENT TRANSFORMATION must take place before the REFLEXIVE TRANSFORMATION.

71

In a sentence like John happens to be honest.
there is the following underlying deep structure: *it for John to be honest happens
In this string the infinitive complementizer is present and the noun phrase complement is in the subject position. For verbs like "happen," the "IT" REPLACEMENT TRANSFORMATION is obligatory under such circumstances. The application of this transformation first moves the complement sentence, "for John to be honest," to the end of the verb phrase:
>'(it happens for John to be honest Then, the "it" is replaced by the subject noun phrase of the complement sentence, with the concomitant deletion of "for," giving the sentence below:
John happens to be honest.
72

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN lANGUAGE PATTERNS)

COPULA TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the COPUIA TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. Ice is cold. 2. Is ice cold? 3. Girls are good. 4. Are girls good? 5. The boys were intelligent. 6. Were the boys intelligent?

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the COPUIA TRANSFORMATION

1. introduces the copula (a form of "be"--is, are, was, were) before adjectives.

Students represent the COPUlA TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

COPUlA

ice cold

... ice is cold

COPUIA

girls good

. . girls are good

COPUlA

the boys intelligent

the boys were intelligent

74

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

COPULA TRANSFORMATION

The COPULA TRANSFORMATION introduces the copula before adjectives. A form of the copula must appear in the 911rface structure whenever the verbal in the deep structure is a-' '""t.l&jective, marked [-V].

The COPULA TRANSFORMATION, which irtroduces the copula into deep structure, does not actually introduce the word "be" or any of its forms, but rather introduces a segment containing the feature [+copula]. This transformational process affects both adjectives and verbs.

An abbreviated deep structure of the sentence

Ice is cold

would be

~

NP

VP

,

I

N

VB

I

I

[i~J

l~~J

The constituent structure lacks an appropriate form of "be," the copula. The COPULA TRANSFORMATION will generate

S

NP
I

2-----

N

[+ copul~

VB

r~I~J

I
rOld +VB -V ]

When a segment which will ultimately end up in either a form of "be" or "here" is the first segment of a verb phrase? the features of this segment are incorporated into the auxiliary, unless the auxiliary is a modal.

75

A second transformation (the AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION) brings the copula under the auxiliary to give the form below:

S

~

NP

AUX

VP

II

I

N [+ copula] VB

I

I

ice

cold

After all transformations have been applied, the correct form of the copula, i. e., "is" replaces the copula segment to give the following structure:

S

NP------:':;;----VP

I

I

N

VB

I

I

ice

is

cold

76

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION
Students working with sentences which they compose themselves work with the PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. The teacher bawled out the class. 2. Whom did the teacher bawl out? 3. The waitress mixed up the order. 4. What did the waitress mix up? 5. The boy shook up a milk shake. 6. What did the boy shake up?
By discussing such sentences, students discover that the PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION
1. introduces a particle segment into the deep structure as a feature of the verb segment.
(Students also discover the differences in syntactic functions of particles and prepositions.) Students represent the PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
PARTICLE the teacher bawled the class ====::I'~the teacher bawled out
the class
PARTICLE the waitress mixed the order========.~~.the waitress mixed up
the order PARTICLE
the boy shook a milk shake ====I"~ the boy shook up a milk shake
78

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION
In sentences such as: The teacher bawled out the class. The waitress mixed up the order.
"Out" and "up" are verb particles. These particles may be moved around to the other side of the object, giving the sentences:
The teacher bawled the class out. The waitress mixed the order up. When interrogative sentences containing verb particles are generated, the verb particle must remain in its original position. Whom did the teacher bawl out? What did the waitress mix up? Particles appear in the deep structures as features of verb segments rather than as constituents. The transformation responsible for introducing a particle segment into the structure is called a PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION. It introduces a segment into the verb phrase which contains the feature [+particles] together with whatever particle feature is specified in the verb segment. The following diagram shows the deep structure of a sentence like: The teacher bawled out the class.
S
When the PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION is applied to the deep structure, it generates the following structure:
79

S

NP--
I.
N
[teI~her.]

VB

.

la~J +VB +V +out

[++Opuatrticle]

If no other transformations are applied to this structure, the segments in this surface structure are replaced by actual words from the lexicon. In this case the particle segment is replaced by the word "out."

The surface structure below assumes that the ARTICLE TRANSFORMATION and the AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION have been applied:

S

NP N

11 VP
~-
VB

tHe teacher

bawled out

the class

80

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN IANGUAGE PATTERNS)
PARTICLE MOVEMENT TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the PARTICLE MOVEMENT TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. The teacher bawled out the class. 2. The teacher bawled the class out. 3. The waitress mixed up the order. 4. The waitress mixed the order up. 5. The boy shook up a milk shake. 6. The boy shook a milk shake up.
By discussing such sentences, students discover that the PARTICLE MOVEMENT TRANSFORMATION
1. moves the particle segment to the other side of the object of the verb phrase.
(Students also discover the differences in syntactic functions of particles and prepositions.) Students represent the PARTICLE MOVEMENT TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
PART MOVE the teacher bawled out the class =====-~~the teacher bawled
the class out
PART MOVE the waitress mixed up the order =====J~~the waitress mixed
the order up
PART MOVE the boy shook up a milk shake =======J"~the boy shook a milk
shake up
82

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

PARTICLE MOVEMENT TRANSFORMATION

In sentences such as the following:

The teacher bawled the class out.

the PARTICLE MOVEMENT TRANSFORMATION moves the particle segment introduced by the PARTICLE TRANSFORMATION to the other side of the object of the verb phrase, creating the structure below:

S

NP
I
N
rea~I erJ

VP

VB

NP

JI
[a+WVBl +V +Out

I
N
rl~ISJ

l+particle]
+out

After the lexicon has been drawn on, the result is the structure of the sentence
The teacher bawled the class out.

83

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN IANGUAGE PATTERNS)

PROGROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. Teachers study. 2. Teachers are studying. 3. Our cat plays. 4. Our cat is playing. 5. The boys fought for the championship. 6. The boys were fighting for the championship. 7. Orlando played the guitar. 8. Orlando was playing the guitar.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION

1. introduces a form of the copula (is, are, was, were) to the left of a verb ending in the affix, "ing."

(Students also discover that the progressive property adds meaning to a sentence by conveying the idea of an ongoing activity.)

Students represent the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

PROGRESSIVE teachers studY=====:I"~teachers are studying

PROGRESSIVE

our cat plays

our cat is playing

PROGRESSIVE
the boys fought for the championship ==========~..... the boys
were fighting for the championship

PROGRESSIVE
Orlando played the guitar========~."Orlandowas playing the guitar

84

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

PROGROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION

Verbals may be either verbs or adjectives. If a verbal ~VBJ is an adjective C=V], a copula segment is introduced by the COPULA
TRANSFORMATION to generate sentences like

The water is cold.

One of the most complex inherent properties of verbals is traditionally referred to as aspect. There are two aspect properties, perfect and progressive. The progressive is illustrated in these pairs of sentences:

1. Teachers study. Teachers are studying.
2. Our cat plays. Our cat is playing.

The progressive adds to the meaning of a sentence. In the above sentences, the use of the progressive conveys the idea of an ongoing activity.

The second sentences in the above pairs contain some form of the copula preceding the verb. In each of the two second sentences, the verb ending is "ing." In other words, a progressive sentence contains the sequence "be ing," where the three dots are either a verb or another copula.

It is assumed here that aspect is represented in terms of features
in the deep structure. The progressive aspect appears as the feature [+progressiv~ on a verbal in the deep structure of sentences like the following:

Teachers are studying.

NIP------s-----VIP

N

VB

I

I

[tea:~r ]

[s~~~y

]

-s~ngular

+V

+progressive

85

The transformation which introduces the copula segment whenever the verbal contains the feature [+progressiv~ is the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION. It introduces to the left of the verbal a segment containing the features [+progressive] and [+copul~. The first feature identifies the segment as having been generated through
the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION, and the second indicates that this
segment is ultimately to be replaced by the appropriate form of
the copula. The structure generated is as follows:

This transformation generates the progressive segment, but more is required. Up to this point, only the ungrarmnatical string below has been generated:

Teachers are study.

The AFFIX TRANSFORMATION is required to introduce "ing" to the right of the verb. This transformation introduces a segment with the feature [+affi~ and [+progressiveJ to the right of the segment following the progressive segment. In the above structure, this happens to be the verbal segment "study." When the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION is applied to the structure above, the following is gener.ated:
s

NP
I
N
J I
feacher
L ~ingular

f+progressive] L+copula

VB
[t~r ~~ --- ] ~ [:;~~eSSiveJ 1;rOgreSSiVe

86

The progressive segment is ultimately replaced by the appropriate form of the copula "are," the verbal segment by "study," and the affix segment by "ing." Thus, the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION and the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION have generated the verb phrase "are studying."
Teachers are studying.
87

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

AFFIX TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. Teachers are studying. 2. Our cat is playing. 3. The boys were fighting for the championship. 4. Orlando was playing the guitar. 5. Teachers are being studious.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION

1. places the affix "ing" to the right of the constituent which is to the right of the form of the copula (is, are, was, were)

Students represent the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

AFFIX

teachers are study

.. teachers are studying

AFFIX

our cat is play

II- our cat is playing

AFFIX Orlando was play the guitar ==:::a.~ Orlando was playing the
guitar

88

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

AFFIX TRANSFORMATION

The AFFIX TRANSFORMATION is one of the key transformations in English. This transformation introduces a segment with the features [+affix] and [fprogressive] to the right of the segment following the progressive segment. In other words, an affix segment is adjoined to whatever segment follows the progressive segment.

The segment to the right of the progressive segment may not always be the verbal segment. The verbal may be an adjective instead of a verb. The progressive sentence

Teachers are being studious.

has the deep structure.

S

NP

I

N

I
teacher

J

[ ~ingUlar

VP
I
VB

tuJiOUS

]

+VB

[ ~rogres sive

To generate a surface structure from this deep structure, the COPUIA TRANSFORMATION must be applied as well as the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION and the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION. These transformations must be applied in the following order: 1. PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION; 2. COPULA TRANSFORMATION; 3. AFFIX TRANSFORMATION.

First, the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION is applied to generate the following structure:

S

NP
I
[teaI~c.hienrgula.]

VP

[+Progr~J
+copula

VIB

studious

]

+VB

[ ~rOgreSSiVe

89

The COPULA TRANSFORMATION is then applied to introduce the copula segment, required by adjectives, between the progressive segment and the verbal segment.

S

teacNhP er

J

[ :ingular

VB

stu+'VdoBl.OUS

]

[ :;rOgreSSiVe

The segment to the right of the progressive segment is not the verbal segment, but a copula segment. The application of the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION places the affix to the right of the copula segment, generating the structure below:

~ea:- cr

--
]

-

-

-

-

-~

-

~
VP

L ~ingular

f+affix l

L+progressiv:j

In a complete derivation, the progressive segment would end up under the domination of the auxiliary through the application of the AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION. Thus after the segments are replaced by items from the lexicon, the following final structure results:

NP
I
N
I
teachers

are 90

being studious

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

PERFECT TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the PERFECT TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the follOWing:

1. Teachers study grammar. 2. Teachers have studied grammar. 3. Our cat plays games. 4. Our cat has played games. 5. The boy ate ice cream. 6. The boy has eaten ice cream.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION

1. introduces a form of "have" ("have," "has," "had") to the left of the verbal and adds the affix "ed" or "en" (depending upon the word to which it is attached) to the verb.

Students represent the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

PERFECT

teachers study grammar

teachers have studied grammar

PERFECT

our .cat plays games

.-our cat has played games

PERFECT

the boy ate ice cream

.. the boy has eaten ice cream

92

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
PERFECT TRANSFORMATION
One of the most complex inherent properties of verbals is traditionally referred to as aspect. There are two aspect properties, progressive and perfect. The perfect is illustrated in these pairs of sentences:
1. Teachers study grammar. Teachers have studied grammar.
2. Our cat plays games. Our cat has played games.
Like the progressive, which consists of the copula and the ending "ing," the perfect consists of two parts. The first is a form of "have" ("have," "has," "had"), and the second is an ending which is usually "ed" or "en," depending upon the word to which it is attached. Generating the perfect aspect involves several transformations. First, the perfect is represented in the deep structure by the feature [+perfect] on the verbal segment. The deep structure of
Teachers have studied grammar. would be the following:
NP
I
N
1 I
Feacher
L ~ingUlad
The PERFECT TRANSFORMATION introduces a perfect segment, feature [+perfect] to the left of the verbal, giving:
93

S

VB

NP

I

I

[ JrrLar J :~y
L +perfect 1:ingular

If no other transformations were applied, the string generated would be:

teachers have study grammar

Next, the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION is applied. This transformation introduces the feature (perfect], thereby giving the structure below:

S

NP

I

N

(j-perfect]

I
teacher

+N

-singular

VP

VB

NP

[ ] [ J .:.~-y---------:::-:-:;~:cJLlInar

+perfect

+N

+singular

When these segments are replaced by words from the lexicon, the following structure results (assuming the application of the NOUN SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION and other transformations):

NP

AUX

I

N

I

teachers

have

VP

~

VB

NP

If

studied

grammar

94

Some sentences have both the progressive and "the perfect, as in the sentence below:

Teachers have been studying.

In generating such sentences, three ordered transformations must apply: The PERFECT, the PROGRESSIVE, and the AFFIX. The deep structure of the sentence "Teachers have been studying" contains both the feature [+progressive] and [+perfect].

S

NP
I
N
1 I
teacher
[ ~ingUlarJ

VP
I
VB
I

s+tuVdBy

]

+V

[ +perfect +progressive

First, the perfect segment is introduced by the PERFECT TRANSFORMATION:

S

NP
I
N
I
teacher ]
[ ~ingular

VP
~B

[t-perfect]

[stLdY

]

+VB

+V

+perfect

+progressive

Second, the progressive segment is introduced to the left of the verbal by the PROGRESSIVE TRANSFORMATION:

95

S

NP
I
N
1 I
teacher
[. :ingUla~

VP
f+ProgressiveJ +copula
L

VB
I

stu+VdBy

]

+V

[ +perfect

+progressive

Finally, the AFFIX TRANSFORMATION must be applied. This transfor-
mation will apply to both the perfect and the progressive segments
in this structure. Thus, this transformation introduces an affix segment, with the feature [+pr~ressiveJ, to the right of the segment with the feature 8"Perfec!:J, to the right of the progressive segment. This application generates:

S

r----------?--1J~ I
J [teaCher

~erf~;]

[+progressivel [+affix

J +copula

->perfect

~-:VB---..

~ingular

[S:~~Y ][~.a;~~~essive]

+perfect

I

+progressive

If no more transformations are applied, the perfect segment is re-
placed by the correct form of "have"--"has"; the progressive segment by "be"; the affix segment with the feature B-Perfec~ is replaced by "en"; the verbal segment ~ "s. tudy"; and the affix segment with the feature G-Progressiv~ is replaced by "ing." The perfect segment, which is the left-most segment of the verb phrase, later becomes "has." The word "has" in such a position, becomes
an auxiliary. After the AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION is
applied, the following structure results:

96

s

_~---,-------

NP
~

AUX

/VVP ,

tealhers

have

been studying

97

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. John is intelligent. 2. Is John intelligent? 3. The crocodiles are hungry. 4. Orlando has played.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION

1. introduces a fonn of "be" or a fonn of "have" into the auxiliary unless the auxiliary is a modal ("can," "may," "must," "will").

Students represent the AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

AUX INCORP

John intelligent

John is intelligent

AUX INCORP

John intelligent?

... is John intelligent?

AUX INCORP
the crocodiles hungry ========~..... the crocodiles are hungry

AUX INCORP

Orlando played

... Orlando has played

98

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION

The role of the auxiliary is a major one in English. "Can,"

"will," "must," "may," and a few others function as auxiliaries

called modals. The deep structure of a sentence like the follow-

ing is shown be low:

'

John will go.

S
NP-------T~----VP

hI
J \JOhn
L:ingular

[~~l J ~~

JIB

-hnodal

[+;vovBl

j

The auxiliary segment contains other features besides the defining feature ~~J. The auxiliary segment has syntactic tense. Although syntactic tense does have semantic significance or meaning,
this meaning is not directly correlated with time. Syntactic sense is used here as a purely syntactic phenomenon, the alteration of the actual form of a word. Syntactic sense is represented in the deep structure by 8'PresentJ for present time and [:present] for past time. The tense segment is generated by the segment structure rules on the auxiliary segment.

Thus, the deep structure of a sentence like the following is shown below:

John would go.

NP_

-

-

-

-

T

-

-

-S-
A~

-

-

-

-

-

-__ VP

I

V

:ingular

~oda1

I
[ :BJ

99

Now, let us go back to the YES/NO QUESTION or INTERROGATIVE TRANSFORMATION. This transformation interchanges the auxiliary constituent with the subject noun phrase as in the interrogative sentence below:
May John go?
But suppose the interrogative sentence is one without an auxiliary modal to be shifted around the subject noun phrase? Suppose the sentence is:
Is John good?
In this sentence, a segment has been introduced in the deep structure by the COPULA TRANSFORMATION. If only auxiliaries can be shifted around the subject noun phrase by the INTERROGATIVE TRANSFORMATION, how did this segment become an auxiliary? They were not auxiliaries in the deep structure, since they originated as features of verbals.
The deep structure of
Is John good?
is roughly the following:

Question

NP
I

N

I

john

]

[ :ingular

AUX
I ~ ++ApUrXesent
[ -modal

VP
,I
VB
gOOd] [ +VB
-V

The auxiliary is not a modal in this deep structure. It is an abstract entity containing the feature [+present], which indicates that the sentence is in the syntactic present tense. The COPULA TRANSFORMATION is now applied, giving:

100

s

Ques- tion -- NP ~-- AUX ----VP

I
i I J~:n

] [~-mI:osdealnJJ ~co~ pul~ rg~B~~J

[ +singular

L-v

The AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION is now applied. The AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION, which shows how the copula comes to be an auxiliary, copies the features of the first segment of the verb phrase, if this segment is not a verbal, onto the auxiliary segment and then deletes the first segment of the verb phrase. The following structure results:

-- Question -:N:P :=t-AUX-----~-VP

! J [Jux j JI~n
[ +singular

+~~co:p:u~lnat

LrgJ-~IvB~~J

The YES/NO QUESTION and QUESTION DELETION TRANSFORMATION are now applied. The important thing to remember here is that when a segment which will ultimately end up as either a form of "be" or a form of "have" is the first segment of the verb phrase, the features of this segment are incorporated into the auxiliary, unless the auxiliary is a modal.

101

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. The girl is beautiful. 2. The girls are beautiful.

Students also work with the features of person ([+lJ, G-llJ, [1l11) and number ([+singu1ar], ~singu1arJ). By discussing such sentences and the features of person and number, students discover that the
AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION .

1. copies the number and person features of the subject onto t;he ~lU~i1iary segment so that the auxiliary agrees with the
surface subject in person and number.

Students represent the AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

AUX AGREE

the girl beau'tifu1

the girl is beautiful

AUX AGREE

the girls beautiful

the girls are beautiful

102

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
AUXILIARY AGREEMENT: TRANSFORMATION
Agreement in English involves three transformations. The first of these is the AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION, which copies the number and person of the subject onto the auxiliary segment. In a sentence like
The girls are beautiful. the COPULA TRANSFORMATION introduces a copula segment before the adjective "beautiful." The AUXILIARY INCORPORATION TRANSFORMATION then incorporates the copula into the auxiliary. The following structure results:

The third person plural form of the copula is needed if the auxiliary is to agree' with its surface subject. The auxiliary must have the features [+11~ and ~singu1a~, the last two features marked on the subject. The AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION copies the number and person features of the subject onto the auxiliary segment:

----,------ S

NP

AUX

VP

I

I

I

N

+AUX

VB

I

+present

I

g~i:rfilnS ite]

~-m~o~d~all a

[beaU~t~ifBUl]

[ -s1ng +111

+111

The word in the lexicon with features matching that of the auxiliary segment is "are."
103

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

VERB AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the VERB AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. The girl laughs. 2. The girls laugh. 3. Snow falls and,winds blow in winter.
Students also work with the feature of person (DJ, [l1J, [J111),
mnnber ([+singular], [-singula~), and tense ([+present]', [-present]) .

By discussing such sentences arid'the features of person, number, and tense, students discover that the VERB AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION

1. is preceded by the AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION (all sentences have an auxiliary in the deep structure)
2. copies the relevant features of number, person, and tense onto the verbal from the auxiliary if the auxiliary is non-modal and if it does not carry the features of [+copulaJ and [+perfect]

Students represent the VERB AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

VERB AGREE

the girl is laugh

~ the girl laughs

VERB AGREE

the girls are laugh

the girls laugh

. . VERB AGREE
stJ.ow is fall and winds are blow in winter .====~~ snow falls and winds blow

104

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

VERB AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION

Agreement in English involves three transformations. One of these is the VERB AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION, which (1) copies the same features plus the tense feature of the auxiliary onto a verb segment just in case the auxiliary immediately precedes the verb segment and is neither [+modal] nor [+copula] nor [+perfect], and (2) deletes the auxiliary. .

The sentence

The girl laughs.

has no surface structure auxiliary. But this sentence, like all others, does contain an auxiliary in its deep structure. The AUXILIARY AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION copies the relevant features of the subject onto the auxiliary segment:

iF-----,AS-i -----vr

g~rl
:efinite
+111 +sing

[ ~~U~~;~easlenJ +sing

[. lj:B~~h] +V

A non-modal auxiliary immediately preceding a verbal is deleted if it does not carry either the [+copul~ or the ~erfec;] feature. As the auxiliary in the above structure does not meet the conditions for retention, the VERBAL AGREEMENT TRANSFORMATION copies the relevant features of NUMBER, PERSON and TENSE onto the verbal from the auxiliary and deletes the auxiliary segment. Application of this transformation to the above structure generates:

105

s
NP
I
N

gIrl

]

[ +:. 11e1finite +sing

The girl laughs.

VP
I
VB
I
laugh +VB +V +present
+111 +sing

106

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS I OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. The girl laughs. 2. The girls laughed. 3. The girls laughed.

Students also work with the features of person ([lJ, [llJ, [lllJ) , number ([+singular], !:singular]), and tense ([+present], [:present]

By discussing such sentences and the features of person, number, and tense, students discover that the VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION

1. adds an "s" suffix to the verb segment when the segment is singular, third person, and in the present tense
2. adds an "ed" suffix to the verb segment when the segment is regular and in the past tense.

Students represent the VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

VERB SUFFIX

the girl laugh

.. the girl laughs

VERB SUFFIX

the girl laugh

... the girl laughed

VERB SUFFIX

the girls laugh

the girl laughed

108

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION

Agreement in English involves three transformations. One of these is the VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION, which adds a suffix to the verb segment (1) when the segment is singular, third person, and in the present tense, or (2) when the segment is regular and in the past tense.

The VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION may add an affix segment that later becanes "s" or "ed." When the verbal has the features [+111], [+singular] and &present], the transformation creates a verb affix with these features:

NP
I
N
I
g~ierlfinite]
[ +111 +sing

S

VP

---=VIB-----

la+uVgBh

[++aVffiX ]

+V

+111

+111

+present

+present

+sing

+sing

Where all other transformations have been completed, the lexicon supplies the suffix "s" .to replace the affix segment:

S

NP
If
the girl

Vr
VB
/'-.
laugh s

Another occasion when the VERB SUFFIX TRANSFORMATION may be applied is when the verbal has the feature [-present]. In the case the affix segment is:

+affix ]
[ ~~resent

109

This affix is later replaced from the lexicon by "ed." The number and person features are irrelevant here:
The girl laughed. The girls laughed.
110

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)

WH QUESTION TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences which they compose themselves work with the WH QUESTION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the follOWing:

1. What will Mary do? 2~ Whom did you see? 3. When will Jack arrive? 4. Where is your book?

Students also work with the features of interrogative pronouns
([+WH], [-WIil; [+humartl, [-humati]; &place], l:-place]; G-timeJ,
(:time]; [+definite], [:definite]).

By discussing such sentences and the features of interrogative pronouns, students discover that the WH QUESTION TRANSFORMATION

1. is preceded by the INTERROGATIVE TRANSFORMATION 2. replaces the question constituent with the noun phrase con-
taining a noun (pronoun) with the features [+WH].

Students represent the WH QUESTION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

WH QUESTION

(QUESTION) will Mary do

. . what will Mary do?

WH QUESTION

(QUESTION) did you see

... whom did you see?

WH QUESTION

(QUESTION) will Jack arrive

,.. when will Jack arrive?

WH QUESTION

(QUESTION) is your book

... where is your book?

112

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

WH QUESTION TRANSFORMATION

Two kinds of question sentences--The YES/NO question and the tag question--have been discussed. The YES/NO questions are the question sentences that elicit a "Yes" or "No" answer, such as "Did the boy fall?." The tag questions are the question sentences with a tag question at the end, such as: "The boy fell, didn't he?"

Another kind of question sentence is the WH question which is never answered by."Yes".or "No" and which does not have tag questions at the end. These are questions such as: "Who is here?" "When are we going?" "What is the name of the teacher?" The answer to the WH question is usually a noun phrase, such as: "the boy," "to the game," ''Mrs. Jones."

WH questions are questions about noun phrases. The WH question words "who," "what," "when," "where," and "which" are interrogative pronouns. These pronouns, like all other pronouns, originate in tenus of features on n.oun segments in the. deep structure. In deep structures, interrogative pronouns possess the feature[+WEJ, all other pronouns possess the feature [-WH].
When a noun segment contains [+WH] in deep structures, it is being
questioned. The features [wHJ and ~WHJ must also accompany pro-
nouns in the lexicon in order that the correct pronoun, i.e., interrogative versus personal, may be chosen.

Features of pronouns--it, one, what, who(m), when, where--are given below:

it it
-+N
+pronoun
-WH
-human +singular +definite

what

what
-+N
+pronoun
+WH
-human -place -definite

one

-o+nNe

]

+pronoun

[ =:finite

who(m) [:o(m) ]
+pronoun +htnllan -+WH

r when

When ::::ronoun

-htnllan

L+time +WH

where

where
-+N
+pronoun -htnllan +place
-+WH

113

The generation of YES/NO questions depends upon the application of the INTERROGATIVE TRANSFORMATION, which moves the auxiliary in front of the subject noun phrase. WH questions involve not only the INTERROGATIVE TRANSFORMATION but also the WH QUESTION TRANSFORMATION, which replaces the QUESTION constituent with a noun
phrase in which the noun carries the feature [+WHJ.

WH questions, then, are generated by two question transformations. The sentence

What will Mary do?

has the deep structure

S

Question

iP

AUX

N

J[i11 J I

[

Mary 1:ingular

~~al

_+present

VP

VB~NP

I~

[

~~B]
+V

[~ronounJ -human

+WH

The INTERROGATIVE TRANSFORMATION moves the auxiliary in front of the subject noun phrase. The application of this transformation to the preceding structure produces:

Question

__ S -::;.-,......-~r-------- VP

AUX
I

+wAiUlXl ]

[

+modal +present

NP

I
N
I

Mary

]

[ :ingular

VB~NP

I

I

[1~B] f

+V

[ ~ronounJ

-human

+WH

114

The WH QUESTION TRANSFORMATION replaces the QUESTION constituent with the noun phrase containing a noun with the feature [~.

When the segments in this structure are replaced by words from the lexicon, the following surface structure is generated:

s

-NP
I
N
I
What

;;;/
T
will

~
NP
I
N
IMary

-IP
jB
do

115

INFORMAL TRANSFORMATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THI S FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. Henry said that he would play. 2. Mary said that she could go. 3. The students implied that they should study. By discussing such sentences, students discover that the PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION 1. is applied when two identical noun phrases are not in the
same simple sentence 2. converts the subject noun phrase of the embedded sentence
into a pronoun. Students represent the PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION in the folloWing way:
PRONOUN Henry said that Henry would play ===:I'~ Henry said that he would play
PRONOUN Mary said that Mary could go ===::I"'~ Mary said that she could
go PRONOUN
the students implied that the students should study======~..... the students implied that they should study
116

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION

Pronouns get into the surface structure in two different ways: The pronoun is actually present in the deep structure, or it is introduced by the PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION when two identical noun phrases appear in deep or intermediate surface structures.

The PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION requires for its application that the

two identical noun phrases not be in the same simple sentence. In

a sentence like

---

Henry said that he would play.

"he" could refer to Henry or to some entirely different masculine referent. If the sentence is changed to the string

Henry said that Henry would play.

the PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION can be applied, converting the subject noun phrase of the embedded sentence into a pronoun, ultimately

Henry said that he would play.

the PRONOUN TRANSFORMATION changes the feature f'pronoutD on nouns into the feature [3-pronounJ to give a structure like:

S
NrI

rV-P-----

N

VB

,.iiIiiN:;:;:P:--

~ / ' "
N

NP

AUX

said

J wo!ld

[HE:oun] Hen-TryN

"J

[

-pronoun +singular

it

+singular

_
VP I
IVB
play

117

Now that the subject noun of the complement sentence has been converted into a noun marked [+pronoun], all of the transformations applying to such segments apply as if the segments had already been marked [+pronounu in the deep structure. When words are introduced from the lexicon, the subject noun segment of the complement sentence is replaced by "he."
118

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN lANGUAGE PATTERNS)

CASE TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the CASE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. My friend avoided me.
2. John liked her. 3. The girls prefer him.
4. The boys wanted them to go.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the CASE TRANSFORMATION

1. converts the basic nominative form of a noun, [-accusative], into the accusative form, [+accusative], most commonly when the noun is not the subject noun in the surface structure.

Students represent the CASE TRANSFORMATION in the folloWing way:

CASE

my friend avoided I

~ my friend avoided me

CASE John liked me . . John liked her

CASE the girls prefer he .. the girls prefer him

CASE the boys wanted they to go ... the boys wanted them to go

120

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

CASE TRANSFORMATION

The CASE TRANSFORMATION converts the basic nominative form of a noun, [-accusative], into the accusative form, [+accusativeJ, most coonnonly when the noun is not the subject noun in the surface
structure. Traditionally, the pronouns l, he, she, ~, they are
said to be in the nominative case; the pronouns ~, him, her, ~, them are said to be in the accusative case. One way to represent the distinction between them is to assume the existence of a fea-
ture E:-accusative] for the nominative forms and [+accusative] for the accusative forms. In the deep structure, all pronouns (and
nouns also) are nominative [:-accusative]. Whether or not a noun segment acquires the feature [+accusative] during the CASE TRANSFORMATION depends entirely on where in the constituent structure the segments happens to appear. In the following sentences:

1. My friend avoided me. *my friend avoided I

2. I avoided my friend. *me avoided my friend

it is clearly seen that the transformation converting a segment from [-accusative] to [+accusative] may not normally be applied to a segment in the subject position.

121

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS I OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. The boys and the girls played. 2. The boys sang and played. 3. Owen and Keith wrote a grammar and read a poem, respectively.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION

1. conjoins constituents if they are the same type and have the same syntactic function, and then introduces a higher label of the same type to dominate them
2. accounts for the generation, from conjoined sentences, of compound constituents other than sentences.

Students represent the CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

CONJ RED

the boys played the girls played

~ the boys and the

girls played

CONJ RED
... the boys sang the boys played -=====~~ the boys sang and
played

CONJ RED

Owen wrote a grammar Keith read a poem

~ Owen and

Keith wrote a grammar and read a poem, respectively

122

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY

CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION
Sentences are described as compound if their deep structure contains two or more compound sentences. All compound sentences have deep structure sentences which consist of a number of sentences equal to the number of constituents connected in the surface structure. The CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION conjoins constituents if they are the same type and have the same syntactic function and then introduces a higher label of the same kind to dominate them. Sentences of the same type may be conjoined as the two sentences below, making a conjunctive compound sentence.
Owen wrote a grammar. Keith read a poem.

~
Owen wrote a grammar

r~

and

Keith read a poem

In a sentence like

The boys played. The girls played.

greater reduction is possible. The sentences may be conjoined thus reducing them to a single sentence with conjoined constituents.

The boys and the girls played.

The two noun phrases, "the boys" and "the girls" have been conjoined to produce a compound noun phrase with this surface structure:

S

Nfi
/Y
the boys

NP
NP
Ii
and the girls

VP
I
VB
played

123

A sentence like

The boys sang and the boys played.

becomes

The boys sang and played.

Here the two verb phrases, "sang" and "played" have been conjoined to fonn a.compound verb phrase with the following surface structure:

S

NP

/1

the

boys

VP
I

rV

VB

VB

I r sang and played

The CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION applies even for sentences which share no meaning or lexical content. The two sentences conjoined must, however, have a similar structure--this appears to be -the only requirement.

Compound sentences fonned by the CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION may be reduced to conjoined noun phrases, verb phrases, verbals, complements, relative clauses, nouns, and even prepositions in the surface structure.

124

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THI S FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. Mary sang and danced. 2. John and Bill are brilliant. 3. Henry and Tommy played baseball Saturday. 4. Susan and Bill went swimming last week.
By discussing such sentences, students discover that the IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION
1. reduces strongly identical compound noun phrases 2. reduces either strongly or weakly identical compound verb
phrases.
Students represent the IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
ID CONJ RED Mary sang and Mary dancecid.-=====::J~~ Mary sang and danced
ID CONJ RED John was brilliant and Bill was brilliant =====:::I~"John
and Bill were brilliant

Henry played baseball Saturday and Tommy played baseball Satur-

ID CONJ RED

day

. . Henry and Tommy played baseball Saturday

Susan went swimming last week and Bill went swimming last week
.. t;r:D CONJ RED
=====~ ~ Susan and Bill went swimming last week

126

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION
In deep structures, constituents which are weakly identical have the same meaning only. Constituents which are strongly identical have both the same meaning and the same reference. When two constituents of a compound constituent are identical to the extent that they have identical reference, an IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION reduces them to a single non-compound constituent.
A sentence with the surface structure
Mary sang and danced.
has the deep structure below:

The CONJUNCTION REDUCTION TRANSFORMATI(B, which does not delete words but simply conjoins constituents if they are of the same
type and have the same syntactic function and introduces a higher
level of the same type to dominate them, aea.era~ the intermediate
structure:

S

VP

iP

NP
I

N

N

I

I

Mary and Mary

VP

VP

I

I

VB

VB

I

I

sana

played

127

In the string

Mary and Mary sang and played.

the two words "Mary" refer to the same person and are said to have identical reference. The IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION reduces them to a single non-compound constituent.

S

NP
I
N
Mary

VP

VP

P

I

I

VB

VB

I
sang

and

I
played

The IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION reduces only strongly identical compound noun phrases, but this transformation can reduce either strongly or weakly identical compound verb phrases. In the sentence

Henry played baseball Saturday and Tommy played baseball Saturday.

The IDENTICAL CONJUNCT REDUCTION TRANSFORMATION, which must be applied to all identical verb phrases--weak or strong--produces the following surface structure:

Henry and Tommy played baseball Saturday.

128

1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
1 1 1

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN lANGUAGE PATTERNS)
CONJUNCTION SHIFT TRANSFORMATION
Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the CONJUNCTION SHIFT TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:
1. Henry played baseball Saturday with Tommy. 2. Susan went swimming last week with Bill. By discussing such sentences, students discover that the CONJUNCTION SHIFT TRANSFORMATION 1. may shift the latter of the two noun phrases in the com-
pound noun phrase to the end of the sentence and convert the "and" to "with" 2. is an optional transformation. Students represent the CONJUNCTION SHIFT TRANSFORMATION in the following way:
CONJ SHIFT Henry and Tommy played baseball Saturday========..~.... Henry
played baseball Saturday with Tommy CONJ SHIFT
Susan and Bill went swimming last week ====~~~ Susan went swimming last week with Bill
130

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
CONJUNCTION SHIFT TRANSFORMATION
When verb phrases in the deep structure are strongly identical, an optional transformation, CONJUNCTION SHIFT, may shift the latter of the two noun phrases in the compound noun phrase to the end of the sentence and convert the "and" to "with." If the CONJUNCTION SHIFT TRANSFORMATION is applied to the sentence
Henry and Tommy played baseball Saturday. the latter noun phrase in the compound noun phrase, "Tommy," is shifted to the end of the sentence and the "and" is converted to "with" to yield:
Henry played baseball Saturday with Tommy.
131

NON-RESTRICTIVE TRANSFORMATION

INFORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY (TEACHERS MAY ADAPT THIS FOR USE WITH THE STUDENTS' OWN LANGUAGE PATTERNS)
CLAUSE

Students using sentences that they compose themselves work with the NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION. They use sentences similar to the following:

1. Henry, who is strong, plays baseball. 2. Teachers, who enjoy poetry, are idealistic. 3. John, who is an angry boy, will arrive soon.

By discussing such sentences, students discover that the NONRESTRICTIVE CIAUSE TRANSFORMATION

1. incorporates a conjoined sentence into a sentence with which it is conjoined.

Students represent the NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION in the following way:

NON-RES CL
Henry plays baseball and Henry is strong ========:.j~ ... Henry, who is strong, plays baseball

NON-RES CL
.... teachers are idealistic and teachers enjoy poetry ========~~ teachers, who enjoy poetry, are idealistic

===:=:::.. NON-RES CL

John will arrive soon and John is an angry boy

~

John, who is an angry boy, will arrive soon

132

FORMAL PRESENTATION FOR TEACHERS ONLY
NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSE TRANSFORMATION
In English there is an extremely general process which allows the incorporation of a conjoined sentence into a sentence with which it is conjoined. From the underlying structure of the compound sentence
Henry played baseball and Henry is strong. it is possible to generate a grammatical sentence:
Henry, who is strong, played baseball. The second conjoined sentence has been introduced inside of the first conjoined sentence. This process involves the NONRESTRICTIVE ClAUSE TRANSFORMATION. The tenn, non-restrictive clause, is used to refer to sentences in the surface structure which have been introduced into other sentences by this transformation. It is characteristic of non-restrictive clauses that they are interpreted as assertions which could stand in their own right as independent sentences without changing the meaning of the sentence in which they appear. Restrictive clauses are generated from a sentence embedded in a noun phrase containing another noun phrase. Non-restrictive clauses are independent conjoined sentences introduced into noun phrases by the NON-RESTRICTIVE ClAUSE TRANSFORMATION. In other words, when two compound sentences exist, this transfonnation introduces one of these sentences into the other immediately after a noun phrase. If the NON-RESTRICTIVE ClAUSE TRANSFORMATION is applied to the structure below:
the following structure is generated:
133

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

s

1 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1