ECM verb
Encyclopedia
Exceptional case-marking (ECM) is a concept of the government and binding theory
of syntax
to analyze certain verbs. Verbs in English that have been analyzed as involving exceptional case-marking include believe and prove, as in:
This construction is traditionally referred to as accusativus cum infinitivo
in the context of Latin grammar
.
Under the GB analysis, the words in boldface
used in the above examples, including an accusative determiner phrase
(DP) and an infinitive
verb phrase
(VP), form a syntactic constituent
, classified inflection phrase (IP). The verb is capable of granting accusative case
. Therefore, the DP is analyzed as the specifier
of the IPn IP-complement; otherwise the overt DP (him or her in the examples above) would not be assigned to any case, which would violate the Case Filter (which states that all overt DPs must have a case). The head I ('to') in the subordinate clause has a [-Tns] feature that is unable to assign a case. If the IP were embedded in a complementizer phrase (CP), this would certainly block case assignment; thus ECM verbs are analyzed as taking an IP-complement.
ECM verbs are often studied in relation to control verb
s and raising verb
s, as all three types of verbs involve relations between the argument
of a verb in a main clause
and the verb of what is analyzed as a non-finite clause
. What makes ECM verbs different is that there is no thematic relation
assigned by the verb in the main clause to the argument that receives accusative case (him and her in the examples above). Because there is no thematic relation between the main verb and the subject of the non-finite clause, the assignment of the accusative case is unexpected under GB theory. For this reason, this phenomenon is called exceptional case-marking.
Currently, theorists have mostly rejected this analysis in favor of subject-to-object raising.
In the case of -ing verbs, the use of an accusative or a genitive case
pronoun can create an NP or a CP. In "I was surprised by their winning the race," "their winning the race" is an NP, while using "them" in lieu of "their" creates a CP: "them winning the race."
Government and binding theory
Government and binding is a theory of syntax and a phrase structure grammar in the tradition of transformational grammar developed principally by Noam Chomsky in the 1980s...
of syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
to analyze certain verbs. Verbs in English that have been analyzed as involving exceptional case-marking include believe and prove, as in:
- Tim believes him to be innocent
- The prosecutor proved her to be guilty
This construction is traditionally referred to as accusativus cum infinitivo
Accusative and infinitive
In grammar, accusative and infinitive is the name for a syntactic construction of Latin and Greek, also found in various forms in other languages such as English and Spanish. In this construction, the subject of a subordinate clause is put in the accusative case and the verb appears in the...
in the context of Latin grammar
Latin grammar
The grammar of Latin, like that of other ancient Indo-European languages, is highly inflected; consequently, it allows for a large degree of flexibility in choosing word order...
.
Under the GB analysis, the words in boldface
Emphasis (typography)
In typography, emphasis is the exaggeration of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text—to emphasize them.- Methods and use :...
used in the above examples, including an accusative determiner phrase
Determiner phrase
In linguistics, a determiner phrase is a syntactic category, a phrase headed by a determiner. The noun phrase is strictly speaking a determiner phrase, and NP designates a constituent of the noun phrase, taken to be the complement of the determiner. This is opposed to the traditional view that...
(DP) and an infinitive
Infinitive
In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
verb phrase
Verb phrase
In linguistics, a verb phrase or VP is a syntactic unit composed of at least one verb and the dependents of that verb. One can distinguish between two types of VPs, finite VPs and non-finite VPs . While phrase structure grammars acknowledge both, dependency grammars reject the existence of a...
(VP), form a syntactic constituent
Constituent (linguistics)
In syntactic analysis, a constituent is a word or a group of words that functions as a single unit within a hierarchical structure. The analysis of constituent structure is associated mainly with phrase structure grammars, although dependency grammars also allow sentence structure to be broken down...
, classified inflection phrase (IP). The verb is capable of granting accusative case
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
. Therefore, the DP is analyzed as the specifier
Specifier
In X-bar theory in linguistics, specifiers, head words, and complements together form phrases. Specifiers differ from complements because they are not sisters of the head, but rather sisters of the phrase formed by the head and the complement...
of the IPn IP-complement; otherwise the overt DP (him or her in the examples above) would not be assigned to any case, which would violate the Case Filter (which states that all overt DPs must have a case). The head I ('to') in the subordinate clause has a [-Tns] feature that is unable to assign a case. If the IP were embedded in a complementizer phrase (CP), this would certainly block case assignment; thus ECM verbs are analyzed as taking an IP-complement.
ECM verbs are often studied in relation to control verb
Control verb
In linguistics, a control construction is a clause that contains a main clause , the predicate of which has two complements — an embedded clause complement and a nominal complement that acts as the semantic argument of the main clause and of the embedded clause...
s and raising verb
Raising verb
In linguistics, raising is a form of argument control in which an argument that belongs semantically to a subordinate clause is realized syntactically as a constituent of a higher clause...
s, as all three types of verbs involve relations between the argument
Verb argument
In linguistics, a verb argument is a phrase that appears in a syntactic relationship with the verb in a clause. In English, for example, the two most important arguments are the subject and the direct object....
of a verb in a main clause
Clause
In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. In some languages it may be a pair or group of words that consists of a subject and a predicate, although in other languages in certain clauses the subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase,...
and the verb of what is analyzed as a non-finite clause
Non-finite clause
In linguistics, a non-finite clause is a dependent clause whose verb is non-finite; for example, many languages can form non-finite clauses from infinitives...
. What makes ECM verbs different is that there is no thematic relation
Theta role
In generative grammar , a theta role or θ-role is the formal device for representing syntactic argument structure required syntactically by a particular verb. For example, the verb put requires three arguments...
assigned by the verb in the main clause to the argument that receives accusative case (him and her in the examples above). Because there is no thematic relation between the main verb and the subject of the non-finite clause, the assignment of the accusative case is unexpected under GB theory. For this reason, this phenomenon is called exceptional case-marking.
Currently, theorists have mostly rejected this analysis in favor of subject-to-object raising.
ECM verbs and complementizers
ECM verbs such as "believe" or "expect" take a complementizer phrase and assign accusative case to the subject of that non-finite clause. For example, "Max expects Maria to word letters carefully." The non-finite clause is "Maria to word letters carefully." This non-finite clause is equivalent to a finite clause, as in "Max expects that Maria will word letters carefully."In the case of -ing verbs, the use of an accusative or a genitive case
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
pronoun can create an NP or a CP. In "I was surprised by their winning the race," "their winning the race" is an NP, while using "them" in lieu of "their" creates a CP: "them winning the race."
See also
- Control verbControl verbIn linguistics, a control construction is a clause that contains a main clause , the predicate of which has two complements — an embedded clause complement and a nominal complement that acts as the semantic argument of the main clause and of the embedded clause...
- Raising verbRaising verbIn linguistics, raising is a form of argument control in which an argument that belongs semantically to a subordinate clause is realized syntactically as a constituent of a higher clause...
- Small clauseSmall clauseIn some descriptions of grammar, small clauses are minimal predicate structures: they possess arguments and predicates but no tense. Small clauses usually occur within the context of full clauses and may act as the direct object of the verb. In the examples below, the small clause is italicized...