Thus Universal Grammar must make provision for them in either the syntax or the syntax–semantics interface
(depending on one's theory of grammar).
It is time to extract ourselves from the embedded depths of this discussion and see what overall conclusion can be
drawn. The past two sections have shown that the syntactic argument structure of a sentence results from a complex
interaction of factors:
- The number and type of semantic arguments in a sentence is a consequence of the conceptual formation
rules, and is not entirely predictable fro mthe syntax. - The number, type, and order of syntactic arguments in a sentence is predictable only in part from the
semantic arguments. - Some aspects of the category and order of syntactic arguments are consequences of general syntactic
formation rules. For instance,
a. Adverbs have no syntactic arguments.
b. NPs and APs have only PP and clausal arguments.
c. NP arguments precede AP and PP arguments, which precede clausal arguments.
d. PP arguments are freely ordered. - Some aspects of the number and category of syntactic arguments are consequences of lexical constraints
imposed by particular lexical items. - Some aspects of the order of syntactic arguments are consequences of a general interface principle that
interacts with the semantic argument structure of verbs. - Some aspects of syntactic argument structure are governed by language-particular violations of the Head
Constraint.
The particular formulations given here are by no means universally accepted, but the overallflavor recurs in every
serious account of the problem. The solutions, despite differences in theoretical apparatus, reflect similar insights.^75
In turn, these conclusions about argument structure reflect on the main theme of this chapter: the decomposition of
the grammar into independent generative
148 ARCHITECTURAL FOUNDATIONS
(^75) The discussion in this section has concerned verbs primarily. The situation is parallel in NPs, APs, and PPs, but much simpler because there are far fewer combinations of
arguments:•
The number of syntacticarguments is alwaysequal to or fewer than thenumber of semantic arguments. There are no supernumerary arguments of thesort in(42).
- Therearesome casesofnounsand adjectivesthatstipulateeither thecategoryoftheir syntacticargumentora governedpreposition;someexamplesare seenin(38)
and (39). - Theorderofsyntacticargumentsisgoverned syntacticallyby(47),exceptthatnounsandadjectiveshaveonlyPPand clausalarguments. Theonlykindofarguments
that can occur multiply are PPs, which are freely ordered, as seen in (49c). - Argument structure in NPs, APs, and PPs observes the Head Constraint as a default. We have seen violations of the Head Constraint in NPs in (57b, c).