A Study On The Syntactic Derivation Of English Resultative Constructions Under The Framework Of Phase Theory

The English Resultative Construction(RC)has its unique syntactic,semantic features,which has been a focus in the study of linguistics.Under the framework of Phase Theory,on the basis of the critical review of the previous researches,this thesis presents a detailed discussion on the classification and properties of English RCs,and puts forward a new proposal of unified reasonable explanation.The existing literature classifying RCs is mainly according to three criteria: the categories of resultative phrases,the semantic relations of resultative phrases to the primary predicates,and the properties of primary predicates.From the perspective of generative grammar,the previous studies on English RCs are mainly on syntactic analysis and lexical analysis: Syntactic analysis includes Direct Object Restriction Analysis,VP Shell Analysis and Small Clause Analysis;Lexical analysis regards resultative predicates as complex predicates,and find a relatively reasonable explanation.Nevertheless,there are still some problems,such as the incomplete classifications of English RCs,the analyses not covering all types of English RCs,and violating some theoretical principles.The current study found that,based on the various properties of the primary predicates,the resultative phrases in different RCs distinctively selecting their HOSTs – the subjects of the secondary predicates,and the semantic distinctions,English RCs are classified into typical and atypical types.Typical English RCs mainly include RCs with transitive matrix verbs and RCs with intransitive matrix verbs.Transitive RCs be subdivided into the active subtype and the passivized subtype;Intransitive RCs can be subdivided into the unaccusative subtype and the unergative subtype.There are two types of atypical RCs: the remote-HOST subtype with active transitive matrix verbs and the implicit-HOST subtype with unergative matrix verbs.Under the framework of the Phase Theory,and adopting Small Clause Analysis,all types of English RCs can be generated grammatically.Every resultative small clause contains a null BECOME as the predicate,is the Adjunct to the matrix verb,and is considered as a defective TP,that is,the head T cannot assign any Case for the subject of the small clause.Except that the subjects of the small clauses in typical unergative RCs are fake objects and get exceptionally Case-marked through raising to the object position of the matrix verbs,all other RC types are control structures,and the subject in each small clause is a null subject PRO.In typical subtypes of RCs as control structures,the subjects PROs of the resultative small clauses select the internal arguments DPs of the matrix verbs as their antecedents.The syntactic derivation process of these subtypes is: Within the resultative small clause,the resultative phase XP(AP,PP or DP)merges with V(null BECOME)to form VP;v*selects VP as its Complement and thereby forms v*’;PRO is base-derived at the specifier position of v*,and merges with v*’ to form the first Phase v*P.Thereafter,v*P merges with T to form T’;T probes the EPP feature of the PRO and attracts the PRO to the [Spec,T] position to merge with T’ and thus form TP;the defective T is not capable of assigning nominative Case for the PRO,so PRO only obtains its THEME theta-role from the V but no Case.The resultative small clause TP,as the Adjunct of the matrix verb,enters the derivation processes of the transitive or intransitive sentence related to the matrix verbs.Through step-by-step merges,the second and third Phases are constructed.Each argument DP gets a theta role of THEME or AGENT from the V.The T or V inherits the uninterpretable features from the Phase head C or v*,the Probe T or V and the Goal DP establish Agree with each other,and the uninterpretable features get valued.DP is assigned accusative Case by the V,or acquires its nominative Case from the T.Whenever the next Phase is constructed,the domain of the last Phase is to be transferred,but the null BECOME and PRO are not spelled out at the phonetic interface.After the DP,at the edge of v*P,acquires its nominative Case,in order to get its EPP features interpretable,it moves to the[Spec,T].The syntactic derivation process of a typical unergative RC is that the subject of the resultative small clause is an overt DP,but because of not being able to get its Case from the defective T,the DP is triggered to move to the object position of the matrix verb and get exceptionally Case-marked.Hence,not Complement but Adjunct though the resultative small clause is,the unergative matrix verb can only be transitivized when there is the resultative small clause having the over DP as the subject.The syntactic derivation process of an atypical remote-HOST RC is similar to that of a typical active transitive RC,but because the small clause is the Adjunct rather than the Complement,it is acceptable that the PRO does not take the closer but the remote DP as its antecedent.The syntactic derivation process of an atypical implicit-HOST RC is different from that of a typical unergative RC.There is no exceptional Case-marking,the decision on the antecedent of the PRO in the small clause needs basing semantic interpretation.The legal derivations of English RCs fully validate the principle of universal grammar as well as the explanatory power of Phase Theory,have some theoretical and empirical merits,and can contribute to the development of Generative Grammar.