Syntactic Hierarchy Research Articles

Word Order Universals and Their Relationship to Structure

Word order provides important clues to underlying syntactic structure. Despite great crosslinguistic variation, some generalizations are robust enough to inform theory development. This article reviews patterns of major clause elements and their derivation and discusses a pair of generalizations relating syntactic hierarchy to surface order—namely, the Universal 20 generalization (U20) and the Final-over-Final Constraint (FOFC). U20 rules out basic orders in which a lower modifier precedes a higher modifier to the left of the head, as in *adjective-demonstrative-noun (*Adj-Dem-N). FOFC rules out basic orders in which a head-final projection contains a head-initial one, as in *verb-object-auxiliary (*V-O-Aux). In each case, there are two frequent orders (Aux-V-O and O-V-Aux, Dem-Adj-N and N-Adj-Dem) that reveal the underlying hierarchies transparently. The two constraints differ, however: In the order ruled out by U20, *Adj-Dem-N, the middle element is structurally the highest, while FOFC rules out an order, *V-O-Aux, in which the middle element is lowest.

PREDICATIVE POSITION OF ADJECTIVES IN ENGLISH AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS WHEN TRANSLATING INTO ALBANIAN

Predicative adjectives play a crucial role in language by providing additional information about the subject of a sentence. This paper explores the significance and characteristics of predicative adjectives in linguistic analysis. The paper examines the syntactic structures and patterns governing the translation of predicative adjectives from English into Albanian language. Through a comparative analysis, this paper investigates how syntactic differences between the two languages influence the placement and construction of predicative adjectives in Albanian language sentences. Furthermore, the paper explores the impact of word order, agreement, and syntactic hierarchy on the translation process. Drawing on linguistic theories and principles, this research clarifies the syntactic adjustments required to maintain grammatical coherence and preserve the intended meaning when rendering predicative adjectives into Albanian. Predicative adjectives in English typically exhibit a relatively minor difference from Albanian translation, with exceptions found among adjectives whose predicative only usage is specific to the English language. Adjectives falling into this category necessitate substantial adjustments during translation, often resulting in their representation not solely as adjectives but also as nouns, verbs, or adverbs within the translated context. By shedding light on the syntactic complexities of translation, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges and strategies involved in conveying predicative adjectives across linguistic boundaries.

Continuous Theta-Burst Stimulation on the Left Posterior Inferior Frontal Gyrus Perturbs Complex Syntactic Processing Stability in Mandarin Chinese

Abstract The structure of human language is inherently hierarchical. The left posterior inferior frontal gyrus (LpIFG) is proposed to be a core region for constructing syntactic hierarchies. However, it remains unclear whether LpIFG plays a causal role in syntactic processing in Mandarin Chinese and whether its contribution depends on syntactic complexity, working memory, or both. We addressed these questions by applying inhibitory continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) over LpIFG. Thirty-two participants processed sentences containing embedded relative clauses (i.e., complex syntactic processing), syntactically simpler coordinated sentences (i.e., simple syntactic processing), and non-hierarchical word lists (i.e., word list processing) after receiving real or sham cTBS. We found that cTBS significantly increased the coefficient of variation, a representative index of processing stability, in complex syntactic processing (esp., when subject relative clause was embedded) but not in the other two conditions. No significant changes in d′ and reaction time were detected in these conditions. The findings suggest that (a) inhibitory effect of cTBS on the LpIFG might be prominent in perturbing the complex syntactic processing stability but subtle in altering the processing quality; and (b) the causal role of the LpIFG seems to be specific for syntactic processing rather than working memory capacity, further evidencing their separability in LpIFG. Collectively, these results support the notion of the LpIFG as a core region for complex syntactic processing across languages.

The Structure of Chinese Compounds: The Perspective of Predicative Implicitness

This paper examines Chinese nominal compounds with respect to their internal structure, thematic relations, generation process, and constraint mechanism from the perspective of predicate implicitness. Findings reveal that constituent functions in these compounds vary based on their structural positions, closely aligning morphological and syntactic structures. Predicate implicitness necessitates hierarchical adjunction, disallowing cross-layered adjunction. Corresponding relations exist between theta-roles, semantic relations, syntactic, and morphological structures. The study delineates differences between agentive and non-agentive compounds and explores how syntactic structure influences morphological structure. It also delves into theta-roles, argument structure, and linear order, arguing that constituent word order adheres to the Prominence and Locality Principles, dictated by their syntactic hierarchy positions.

An electrophysiological exploration of modifiers embedded in different hierarchies: Insight from short passives in Mandarin

This event-related potentials study explored the processing of Mandarin short passives. We used a syntactic violation paradigm to compare the processing of two auxiliary phrases (i.e., a verb-modifier di-phrase and a noun-modifier de-phrase). In the control condition, the syntactic hierarchy of the di-phrase was lower than that of the de-phrase. In the violation condition, the low-level violation was created by replacing di with de in the auxiliary phrase, while the high-level violation was created by replacing de with di in the auxiliary phrase. The ERP data showed that the noun-modifier elicited the greater left anterior negativity (LAN) and the P600 than the verb-modifier, in both the control condition and the violation condition. We also observed that the LAN induced by the verb-modifier phrase was greater in the control condition than that in the violation condition, while the LAN induced by the noun-modifier was greater in the violation condition than that in the control condition. These results suggested that the greater cortical LAN-P600 might differentiate the high-level hierarchy from the low-level hierarchy. In addition, we tentatively claimed that given the same predicate argument structure, long passives might be the default representational mode of short passives (generally, a constructional alternation might be activated during the processing of the target structure).

Grammar in 'agrammatical' aphasia: What's intact?

Aphasia following cerebro-vascular accidents has been a primary source of insight for models of language in the brain. However, deviant language patterns in aphasia may reflect processing limitations and cognitive impairment more than language impairment per se. We sought to obtain new evidence from spontaneous speech in Broca's aphasia (BA) for the intactness of grammatical knowledge, operationalized as the preservation of the basic hierarchical structure of syntactic projections. Speech obtained with the AphasiaBank protocol from 20 people with BA, which were independently rated as also being agrammatic, was analyzed and compared to 20 matched non-brain-damaged controls. We quantified (i) marking of Aspect, Tense, and Modality (A-T-M), which are located at specific (high) layers of the syntactic hierarchy and ordered in relation to one another ([M…[T…[A…]]]); (ii) hierarchies of clausal units ([C…[C]]); (iii) discourse markers embedding clauses, located at the highest layer of the hierarchy; and (iv) attachment of adjuncts at different heights of a given hierarchical syntactic structure. Supplementary evidence was obtained from a typology of errors and from pauses subcategorized according to their hierarchical syntactic position. Groups did not quantitatively differ on rates of either Aspect or Modality but underproduced T and embedded clauses. Evidence for compensatory effects was seen in both of the latter two cases. While all adjunct types were underproduced in BA, and pauses overproduced, both showed the same relative proportions within both groups. Errors were largely restricted to omissions, of a kind that would also be expected in condensed neurotypical speech. Overall, these patterns support the hypothesis of intactness of grammatical knowledge in BA clinically rated as agrammatic, questioning it as a disease model of language impairment.

Application of Syntactic Analysis in Children's Fiction Essays by Slow Learner Students in Primary School: Focus on Sentence Building

This study focuses on the application of syntactic analysis in the aspect of sentence building in children's fiction essays by slow learner students in primary school in Selangor and Putrajaya, Malaysia. The objectives of this study are: to analyze the structure of syntactic elements produced in children's fiction essays by a selected sample; to associate the structure analysis of the syntactic elements with the ability of the study sample in the writing of children's fiction essays from a language point of view; as well as to recommend teaching and learning (PdP) strategies in the aspect of writing for slow learner students. The syntactic aspect selected for the analysis of this study is the build-up of the sentence, which includes a single sentence, a combined compound sentence, a plural sentence of spikes and a mixed compound sentence. The construction aspect of a sentence is a basic aspect of syntax that needs to be mastered in order to convey information. The syntactic analysis model used is a model highlighted by Awang (2015), which is an adaptation of the Short and Leech Models (1981, 2007) in the fictional prose analysis method. From the analysis, it was found that the sample of this study consists of slow learner students who are able to apply syntactic analysis to produce sentences in syntactic hierarchies, from single sentences (the simplest sentences) to more complex sentences (combined compound sentences and spike compound sentences).

Apparent syntax-semantics mismatches in the distribution of adverbs. Why semantics alone is not enough

Fortuin (2022) argues that the syntactic analysis of two types of syntax-semantics mismatches in the distribution of adverbs proposed in Barbiers (2018) can be reduced to semantics. This would have the advantage that syntactic movement does not need to be assumed. Although I agree that the syntactic analysis I provided in (2018), and, more generally, the syntactic hierarchy of adverbs proposed in Cinque (1999), needs to be complemented with a semantic analysis, I would like to claim in this reply that the semantic analysis provided by Fortuin cannot do the job and does not make syntactic movement a superfluous ingredient of the analysis.

Production of Sentential Negation in German and Italian Non-fluent Aphasia

The ability of persons with non-fluent aphasia (PWAs) to produce sentential negation has been investigated in several languages, but only in small samples. Accounts of (morpho)syntactic impairment in PWAs have emphasized various factors, such as whether the negative marker blocks or interferes with verb movement, the position of the Negation Phrase in the syntactic hierarchy or the interpretability of negation. This study investigates the ability of German- and Italian-speaking PWAs to construct negative sentences, as well as the role of verbal working memory (WM) capacity and education in task performance and production of sentential negation. German and Italian differ in the syntactic properties of the negative markers that are relevant here (nicht and non, respectively). A sentence anagram task tapping into the construction of negative and affirmative declarative sentences was administered to 9 German- and 7 Italian-speaking PWAs, and to 14 German- and 11 Italian-speaking age- and education-matched healthy volunteers. We fitted generalized linear mixed-effects models to the datasets. There was no significant difference between negative and affirmative sentences in either group of PWAs. There was a main effect of verbal WM capacity on task performance, but no interaction between verbal WM capacity and production of negative vs. affirmative sentences. Education did not affect task performance. The results are discussed in light of different linguistically-informed accounts of (morpho)syntactic impairment in non-fluent aphasia.

Neural segregation in left inferior frontal gyrus of semantic processes at different levels of syntactic hierarchy

Humans are unique in their ability to parse hierarchical structures of sentences. Previous studies demonstrated that syntactic processes at different hierarchies are subserved by distinct subregions in left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG), in which BA45 is mainly involved in processing lower-level syntactic structures and BA44 is mainly involved in processing higher-level syntactic structures. However, little is known about whether semantic processes at different syntactic hierarchies show similar dissociations in LIFG. In the present fMRI experiment, participants read sentences with the structure “subject noun + verb + numeral + classifier + object noun”, in which the object noun is constrained by the classifier at the lower-level and by the verb at the higher-level. The object noun was manipulated to be either semantically congruent or incongruent with the classifier at the lower-level and/or with the verb at the higher-level. Both the whole brain contrasts and the region of interest (ROI) analyses showed that, in LIFG, the semantic process of integrating the object noun with the classifier induced stronger activation in BA45 whereas the semantic process of integrating the object noun with the verb induced stronger activation in BA44. This dissociation demonstrates a neural segregation for semantic processes at different syntactic hierarchies, with the lower-level process relying more on neural substrates for general semantic processes and the higher-level process relying more on neural substrates for processing structural hierarchies.

The linguistic impairment of the perfect aspect in Alzheimer’s disease and logopenic primary progressive aphasia

Taking into account that neuropsychological studies with subjects with language pathologies can contribute to the investigation of the organization of syntactic knowledge, the objective of this work is to investigate the syntactic representation of the perfect aspect based on data from subjects with pathologies that affect their language. More specifically, we aimed to investigate the possible phrases associated with the types of the perfect aspect and the hierarchy among them. This work aims to investigate the syntactic representation of the perfect aspect. Therefore, we sought to verify a possible linguistic impairment of this aspect in individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Primary Progressive Logopenic Aphasia (LPPA). A double case study was carried out with one patient with AD and another with LPPA. The methodology consisted of applying functionality tests, neuropsychological tests, and linguistic tests. The results indicated that both the AD patient and the LPPA patient present functional decline and cognitive impairment, with the degree of impairment of the first patient being more extensive than that of the second one in both cases. Regarding language, the patient with AD showed impairment with all four types of perfect, present tense, and imperfective aspect, whereas the LPPA patient has shown impairment only in perfect of recent past and present tense. Based on the results we propose the existence of a phrase to perfect of recent past and the dominance of the temporal phrase over the perfect phrases in the syntactic hierarchy.

Hierarchical syntactic processing is beyond mere associating: Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence from a novel artificial grammar.

Grammar is central to any natural language. In the past decades, the artificial grammar of the AnBn type in which a pair of associated elements can be nested in the other pair was considered as a desirable model to mimic human language syntax without semantic interference. However, such a grammar relies on mere associating mechanisms, thus insufficient to reflect the hierarchical nature of human syntax. Here, we test how the brain imposes syntactic hierarchies according to the category relations on linearized sequences by designing a novel artificial “Hierarchical syntactic structure‐building Grammar” (HG), and compare this to the AnBn grammar as a “Nested associating Grammar” (NG) based on multilevel associations. Thirty‐six healthy German native speakers were randomly assigned to one of the two grammars. Both groups performed a grammaticality judgment task on auditorily presented word sequences generated by the corresponding grammar in the scanner after a successful explicit behavioral learning session. Compared to the NG group, we found that the HG group showed a (a) significantly higher involvement of Brodmann area (BA) 44 in Broca's area and the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG); and (b) qualitatively distinct connectivity between the two regions. Thus, the present study demonstrates that the build‐up process of syntactic hierarchies on the basis of category relations critically relies on a distinctive left‐hemispheric syntactic network involving BA 44 and pSTG. This indicates that our novel artificial grammar can constitute a suitable experimental tool to investigate syntax‐specific processes in the human brain.

Hierarchical clause structure as a tool for cognitive advances in early childhood

Humans have non-verbal means for various types of mental computations, particularly those that involve concrete objects and events accessible to direct sensory experience. Unlike other species, however, (adult) humans are also capable of reasoning about abstract or psychologically distant (i.e., beyond one's direct sensory access) concepts and events, such as hidden causes, other people's beliefs and desires, counterfactual situations, and distant past and future. While reasoning about such constructs may be possible without language, it is at best inefficient (slow, imprecise, and inconsistent).We present an argument that the development of clausal structure in children between the ages of 2–5 provides a representational tool for stage-like cognitive advancements of early childhood, previously documented in developmental research. In our view, this influence goes beyond the conceptual domain, but involves layers of syntactic hierarchy, which augment non-verbal representations and allow children to go beyond their primary, core non-linguistic (sensory-perceptual and affective), systems in reasoning about psychologically distant phenomena. We present the Gradual Emergence theory of syntax acquisition, in which the layers of sentence structure emerge in child language in a universal progression, beginning from the least complex, Small Clause, structure, progressing first to the development of transitivity, then finiteness, and finally to full clause. We review a broad swath of evidence from developmental psychology and detail our proposal that the acquisition of hierarchical syntax in the first few years of life provides the foundation for learning about the spatially, temporally and socially distant objects and events.

Light verb ellipsis constructions in Korean

Abstract Drawing on the fact that the light verb ha- ‘do’ in Korean may or may not be elided in negative sentences, I offer a syntactic analysis for the light verb ellipsis in which the various types of light verbs belong to distinct heads, such as v, Appl, and Voice. Hierarchically, they occupy different syntactic positions. Thus, the light verb ellipsis ascribes itself to a syntactic hierarchy. The ellipsis behavior of various types of the light verb distinguishes them in a way that implicates structure, not other factors, such as semantics. The syntactic analysis put forth here constitutes substantive evidence supporting the configurational theory of argument structures in which different theta roles can be mapped into various syntactic positions.

Sequence and hierarchy in vocal rhythms and phonology.

I explore the neural and evolutionary origins of phonological hierarchy, building on Peter MacNeilage's frame/content model, which suggests that human speech evolved from primate nonvocal jaw oscillations, for example, lip smack displays, combined with phonation. Considerable recent data, reviewed here, support this proposition. I argue that the evolution of speech motor control required two independent components. The first, identified by MacNeilage, is the diversification of phonetic “content” within a simple sequential “frame,” and would be within reach of nonhuman primates, by simply intermittently activating phonation during lip smack displays. Such voicing control requires laryngeal control, hypothesized to necessitate direct corticomotor connections to the nucleus ambiguus. The second component, proposed here, involves imposing additional hierarchical rhythmic structure upon the “flat” control sequences typifying mammalian vocal tract oscillations and is required for the flexible combinatorial capacity observed in modern phonology. I hypothesize that phonological hierarchy resulted from a marriage of a preexisting capacity for sequential structure seen in other primates, with novel hierarchical motor control circuitry (potentially evolved in tool use and/or musical contexts). In turn, this phonological hierarchy paved the way for phrasal syntactic hierarchy. I support these arguments using comparative and neural data from nonhuman primates and birdsong.

Syntactic Hierarchy Depth: Distribution, Interrelation and Cross-Linguistic Properties

This paper, with data from five languages, focuses on discussing cross-linguistic syntactic hierarchy depth, including its probability distribution, interrelation with position and sentence length, and linguistic and cognitive properties regarding mean depth of syntactic hierarchy. It is found that: (1) syntactic hierarchy depth abides by the negative binomial distribution, (2) syntactic hierarchy depth is a power function of position and sentence length and the co-increase interrelation indicates that all languages have the universality of a depth saving principle but not necessarily based on the right-branching preference, (3) mean depth of syntactic hierarchy is an index of global syntactic complexity and a reflection of the capacity limit of working memory; syntactic hierarchy may be the principal but not the only way to reduce memory load. Mean depth may correlate as well with language typology.

Порядок атрибутивных прилагательных в истории русского языка и статус прилагательного в структуре именной группы

The paper discusses ordering of different semantic classes of attributive adjectives and possible implications for the syntactic hierarchy based of the (non-)observed linearization. Two corpus-driven studies are presented: the first one considers Russian, the second one deals with the complex corpus, consisting of Old Church Slavonic and Old Russian texts from XI to XVII centuries. Although quantitative analysis shows the tendency towards ordering of attributive adjective, this tendency is not strong and regular enough. The paper concludes that attributive adjectives can be hardly viewed as representing syntactically ordered functional structure and soon argue in favor of attributive adjunction.

S one strane muzike i s one strane reči - psihoanalitičko istraživanje

Relationships between language and music have always been lively and dynamic, from their syncretic unity in rituals, to setting text to music, verbal accounts of musical works, musicalization of literature, to abundance of linguistic and literary metaphors in discourse about music. Both language and music unfold in time; both possess a hierarchy of elements that are combined according to a set of rules. This paper will first indicate some linguistic (primarily syntactic) concepts that inform music theory. An analogy can also be established between the Chomskyan concept of the deep structure of language and Schenkerian Ursatz. Music, however, is not always organized along the lines of syntactic hierarchy. Music is also capable of simultaneity in a way inaccessible to language. In order to negotiate this ambiguous relationship between music and language, we invoke the psychoanalytic model of the mind. It postulates that the archaic experience of the world is associated with the auditory sphere. This auditory, pre-verbal mode of conceiving the world will gradually yield to subsequent developmental phases: the visual, and then verbal communication. The deep structure of music is necessarily analogous to verbal structures. However, owing to its pre-verbal origin, music is also organized according to the more archaic modes of mental functioning. For instance: the precepts of logic do not apply; music allows condensation much more readily than language. This explains polyphony in music and imprecisions in parsing music flow into discrete units.

When linearity prevails over hierarchy in syntax

Hierarchical structure has been cherished as a grammatical universal. We use experimental methods to show where linear order is also a relevant syntactic relation. An identical methodology and design were used across six research sites on South Slavic languages. Experimental results show that in certain configurations, grammatical production can in fact favor linear order over hierarchical structure. However, these findings are limited to coordinate structures and distinct from the kind of production errors found with comparable configurations such as "attraction" errors. The results demonstrate that agreement morphology may be computed in a series of steps, one of which is partly independent from syntactic hierarchy.

The syntax and semantics of dative DPs in Russian ditransitives

In this paper we propose a syntactic analysis of dative DPs in ditransitive constructions in Russian, answering three questions: (I) what semantic roles the indirect object realizes; (II) how it is syntactically ordered with respect to the direct object realizing the theme argument, and (III) how the first two issues are related to the morphological encoding of the indirect object, as a PP or as a morphologically case-marked DP. Addressing first question (II), we show that two kinds of syntactic hierarchies between the two internal arguments of a ditransitive configuration coexist, and that there are two sorts of datives that are hierarchically higher than the theme: those that can reconstruct and those that cannot. We then establish an interpretative correlation between these two types of dative DP, showing that the former is locational and the latter is not, providing the answer to question (I) and elucidating what underlies the morphological similarity, question (III). The interpretative and syntactic differences between scrambled and base generated high datives lead us to claim that in Russian, dative ditransitives have two distinct underlying structures that are not derivationally related. A scalar approach to event structure enables us to pinpoint the interpretative correlate of each type of dative (locational vs. non-locational) and provides a conceptual argument in favour of a non-synonymy non-derivational approach we pursue here: a path scale encoding event schema cannot be transformed into a different scale based event schema due to movement of the dative DP. Finally, the scalar approach allows us to identify the lexical correlates of a possessive interpretation of the high dative vs. a more beneficiary-like interpretation. Extent scales allow the former whereas property and path scales facilitate the other.