Glossarycategory variable: in X-bar theory and the rules of X-bar theory X is a category
variable that can be substituted by any of the categories. XP can be
NP, VP, PP, DP, etc.
central determiner: traditionally these are determiners following pre-determiners
and preceding post-determiners. In GB central determiners occupy the
head position of DP this way defining the definiteness of the phrase
(e.g. a man/the man)
chain: a moved element and its associated traces functioning as a single object
made up of several parts. See also head of the chain, foot of the chain.
clause: a structure containing a (visible or invisible) subject and a predicate.
cognate object: objects that are strongly related to the verb (mostly intransitive),
usually they repeat the meaning of the verb: smile an evil smile, live a happy
life.
coindexation: an indication of coreference between two constituents by giving
them the same subscript index symbol. In Peteri knows that Mary likes himi
the i index indicates that in the sentence him is to be understood as referring
to Peter, though in theory it could also be understood as referring to a third
party previously mentioned.
comment: it forms a full sentence together with a topic. The comment is the new
information in the information structure of the sentence.
comparative form of adjectives: this form is used for comparison to a higher (or in
the case of less lower) degree when two constituents are compared: He is
taller than I am. This sentence contains inflectional comparative, but
there is another, periphrastic way of comparison: This car is more
expensive than that one.
complement: an argument which follows the verb, or, more generally, a phrase
selected by a head.
complement rule: one of the three rules of X-bar theory of the following form:
X' Æ X YP
which states that the intermediate category X' can be rewritten as X
(the head) and YP (the complement, always a full phrase of some
kind), in this order.
complementary distribution: two constituents are in complementary distribution if
one of them never appears in any of the environments where the other
appears. If two constituents are in complementary distribution it indicates
that they compete for the same structural position. E.g. we cannot have both
an inflectional ending and a modal auxiliary in the same clause as
these two occupy the head position within an IP, thus the
ungrammaticality of *She can dances.
complementiser: a constituent introducing a sentential complement. The
complementisers in English are that, if ,and for. They occupy the head
position of CP and have selectional restrictions on the force and
finiteness of the clause. Feature composition: [+F, –N, –V]
complementiser phrase (CP): a phrase headed by one of the three complementisers
that, if or for (in structures like It is important [for Jim to pass this exam]