Analysing English Sentence Structure An Intermediate Course in Syntax

This chapter discusses how constituents come to be dropped in abbreviated registers of English. It begins (Module 7.1) by examining Subject Drop in colloquial English sentences like ‘<I> can’t find it’, discussing whether they involve Truncation of the periphery above SUBJP. Module 7.2 then goes on to look at Auxiliary+Subject Drop in sentences like ‘<Are you> doing anything tonight?’ and considers whether this results from Weak Syllable Drop in the phonology. Next Module 7.3 considers Article Drop in newspaper headlines, and whether this results from syntactic Truncation, or Article Drop. Module 7.4 goes on to look at omission of Be in newspaper headlines (and its correlation with Article Drop), asking if this involves Truncation, or a tense/agreement deficit. Subsequently Module 7.5 examines Object Drop in product labels (like ‘Don’t stir <it>’), arguing against Topic Drop and in favour of pro-drop. The chapter concludes with a summary (Module 7.6), Bibliography (Module 7.7), and Workbook (Module 7.8), with some Workbook exercise examples designed for self-study, and others for assignments/seminar discussion.