Syntax: Inflectional Phrases

So far we have seen simple sentences involving only NP adjoined to VP. However, this structure fails to account for more complex verb forms such as those with auxiliary and modal verbs. Inflectional Phrases (IP) allow for this level of detail to be represented in the syntactic trees. In this structure all sentences are generated in deep structure under IP. In simple tree diagrams IP à NP IP, and the second IPà I VP. In X-bar diagrams, IP--> NP I' and I'--> I VP. (NP is in the subject position). Auxiliary verbs are used to show tense such as past, present, and future. They appear under the I node and are abbreviated as “aux.” Past: Harriet has seen the Van Gogh exhibit. Present: Harriet is living with her mother. Future: Harriet will travel to New Orleans with her colleague. Modal Verbs indicate verbal mood such as volition, possibility, condition, and contingency. Common modal verbs aremay, might, can, could, should, would, must, and ought. Harriet might see the Van Gogh exhibit with her mother. Harriet should live with her mother. Harriet would travel to New Orleans with her colleague if they can arrange to fly together. Notice that it is the aux/modal verb that is in agreement with the subject, rather than the lexical verb in the sentence. This is due to the fact that agreement between subjects and verbs is located at the I node. Sentences in which the aux/modal verb does not agree with the subject are ungrammatical: Harriet has seen the movie. Harriet and Lois have seen the movie. *Harriet and Lois has seen the movie. Ken travels. Ken will travel. *Ken will travels. For each of the sentences below, draw a tree diagram using IP in both simple and X-bar form and then compare your trees with the 'answers' below.