X-bar theory and categories

[dawnstar22]

Hi!

For my home assignment I need to draw the tree diagram of the following sentence according to X-bar theory: "He ran awkwardly yesterday." My question is, what is the syntactic category of the word yesterday, and should it be part of which phrase in the sentence?

Thank you in advance for your help. 

[Daniel]

We won't do homework for you, but we can help with specific questions if you try it yourself. So what analysis do you have for the sentence at this point?

As for the category of "yesterday", you could argue it's a few different things, at least noun or adverb. That's less important than where you attach it structurally.

[dawnstar22]

So far I have this:

The whole sentence is an IP. Its subject is a DP (he). Then in the I bar there is the I (past tense) and a VP. In the V bar there is the verb (ran) and and an AdvP (awkwardly). I was told that the AdvP has to be sister to the verb, because that it what it modifies, and it's there in my analysis. Yet, there can't be more than two branches coming from the same bar or phrase, so I don't know where yesterday, which I think is another AdvP, would fit. I don't think it should be in the previous AdvP, because it modifies the whole sentence and not just some of it.

[Daniel]

X-bar theory claims that all branching is binary: you can't have more than two branches at a single level. That's why the X' level was added.

To explain this, the idea of adjuncts and complements was added.

Before using X-bar theory, you might have the adverb as sister to the verb, but within X-bar, it would not be.

Have you learned that in your class yet? Which parts do you not understand?

[dawnstar22]

Yes, and I've managed to figure out that the AdvP of yesterday has to be an adjunct, so I attached it to the VP in a way that both its mother and its sister are V bars. After the 2nd V bar I put awakwardly and the verb, but the AdvP of awkwardly is a complement. Is this correct? The words of the sentence seem to be in the right order.

[dawnstar22]

In another example I read that awkwardly also has to be an adjunct, and if it were a complement, the sentence would be ungrammatical without it. But "He ran yesterday" seems grammatical to me, so should I turn the AdvP (awkwardly), which is a complement now, into another adjunct?

[Daniel]

Your last post is correct.

[dawnstar22]

Do you mean this one? Thanks a lot! 

In another example I read that awkwardly also has to be an adjunct, and if it were a complement, the sentence would be ungrammatical without it. But "He ran yesterday" seems grammatical to me, so should I turn the AdvP (awkwardly), which is a complement now, into another adjunct?

[Daniel]

Yes, that's right.

[dawnstar22]

What is the difference between the two adjuncts? I guess that as yesterday refers to the whole sentence and not just the verb, unlike awkwardly, whose mother and sister are V bars, in this case they should be I bars. Is it ok to do that?

[Daniel]

Adverbs can attach a few places, with very subtle differences in meaning. Your ideas sound about right. Generally we assume that most adverbs attach within the VP, so you would have multiple levels of V' as needed. What's most important is getting the word order and scoping right, so that you have yesterday outside of awkwardly. Beyond that, the sentence is actually ambiguous regarding the other possibilities. But in short, just add enough levels of V' to have one for each adverb (again, remember binary branching in X-bar theory).

[dawnstar22]

OK, thanks!