from Part I - Configuration and Hierarchy
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This chapter looks at the syntactic, i.e. phrase-structural, definitions of grammatical functions put forward in Chomsky (1965), which we restate using X-bar theory. We then submit these definitions to the ‘relational-grammar critique’, to adopt a term coined by Baker (2001), which suggests not just that Chomsky’s definitions are incorrect, but that something closer to the traditional idea that grammatical functions are primitives of syntactic theory is the right approach. One aspect of this critique is that constituency tests do not give clear results in many languages (English being something of an exception). Instead, we propose that asymmetries in c-command relations can provide us with a more reliable and general guide to constituency, and hence phrase-structural relations. This allows us to maintain a configurational definition of grammatical relations. In the final section of this chapter, we look at a construction which appears to centrally involve grammatical functions: the passive. We will see how the passive can be elegantly and usefully defined in purely phrase-structural terms. The conclusion is that grammatical relations can be reduced to phrase-structural relations, and as such are not primitive elements of syntactic theory. This is an important step in establishing the primacy of configurational, hierarchical, phrase-structural relations.
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