In Norbert Hornstein, Howard Lasnik, Pritty Patel-Grosz and Charles Yang, eds., Syntactic Structures after 60
Years: The Impact of the Chomskyan Revolution in Linguistics, de Gruyter Mouton, Berlin, 255-282. (2018)

Transformations in the Quest for a Simpler, more Elegant Theory*
Mamoru Saito

1. Introduction
Syntactic Structures is the work that made transformational grammar widely known, and, toborrow David Lightfoot’s expression in the Introduction to the 2002 edition, was “the snowballwhich began the avalanche of the modern ‘cognitive revolution’.” The purpose of this chapter is to
discuss how transformational rules are motivated in this work and how the relevant discussion andproposals led to the remarkable development of syntactic theory in the subsequent 60 years.
Simply put, the motivation for the transformational rules is that its incorporation makes agrammar much simpler and enables us to capture deeper generalizations. It is however instructive
to go over what kinds of simplicity Chomsky had in mind and how the same quest for simplicity
and elegance led to later developments in syntactic theory. In order to do this, I discuss the famous
analysis of the English auxiliary system in the following section and the passive transformation in
Section 3. The proposal of transformations in Syntactic Structures started intense investigations on
their properties, which in turn made it possible to raise the fundamental question why Language
has transformations. In Section 4, I consider the recent developments on this question in the
Minimalist framework.
Before I start the discussion of transformations, let me briefly comment on ‘simplicity of theoverall system’ as a motivation because this itself marked a sharp departure from the dominantview on linguistic theory at the time. In Chapter 6, titled “On the Goals of Linguistic Theory,”
Chomsky lays out the methodological foundation for linguistic research. He first argues against theposition widely held in American structuralism that it is among the goals of linguistic theory toprovide a discovery procedure for grammars, a manual of mechanical method to construct agrammar on the basis of a given corpus. His alternative is stated as follows:
The point of view adopted here is that it is unreasonable to demand of linguistic theory thatit provide anything more than a practical evaluation procedure for grammars. (p.52)*

I would like to thank Norbert Hornstein for his helpful feedback on the initial version of this manuscript.

2

An evaluation procedure is a way to choose among proposed grammars. And the criterion for theevaluation, aside from adequacy in description, is nothing but simplicity. This, Chomsky states,
necessitates investigation into the notion of simplicity itself. At the same time, he proceeds withsyntactic analysis with the following statement:
Nevertheless, it should be fairly clear that under any reasonable definition of “simplicity ofgrammar,” most of the decisions about relative complexity that we reach below will stand.
(p.55)
Transformations, then, are motivated because they yield simpler, or more elegant, grammars.
Chomsky emphasizes here that the simplicity at issue is not simplicity at a particular level orwithin a particular component of grammar but is overall simplicity. In this context, he also argues
against another idea that is closely associated with a discovery procedure, that is, that linguistic
research should proceed in a bottom-up fashion, from phonemic analysis to morphology and thento syntax. Chomsky notes that “the higher levels of linguistic description depend on results obtainedat the lower levels” but “the converse is true” as well. (p.59) This is amply demonstrated throughout
the discussion in Syntactic Structures. Then, we simply try to formulate the general theory of syntax
and the grammars of particular languages as precisely and as elegantly as possible, and continue todevelop them on the basis of empirical and conceptual considerations. This is taken for granted in
the current research in generative grammar, which makes no methodological distinction between
linguistics and (other) natural sciences. But it is worth noting that it is this approach to linguistics
that led to the proposal of transformational rules over 60 years ago.

2. Inadequacy of Phrase Structure Rules for Discontinuous Elements
In this section, I briefly go over the analysis of the English Auxiliary system in Syntactic
Structures and discuss the model of syntax it leads to.
2.1. English Auxiliary System
After Chomsky introduces phrase structure rules of the following kind in Chapter 4 to capture
constituent analysis, he points out their inadequacies in Chapter 5:

3

(1)

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Sentence à NP + VP
VP à Verb + (NP)NP à (Art) + N
Art à theN à man, ball, book, etc.
Verb à hit, took, etc.

One case concerns the auxiliary system. (2) illustrates the point.
(2)

The man had been reading the book.

Here, the perfect is expressed by have and the affix en on the following element, and the progressiveby be and the affix ing on the following verb. In other words, the perfect and the progressive areexpressed by discontinuous elements. Phrase structure rules fail to capture elements of this kind.
Chomsky then goes on to propose the celebrated transformational analysis. He first adds thephrase structure rules in (3) to (1a-e).
(3)

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Verb à Aux + V
Aux à Tense + (Modal) + (have + en) + (be + ing)1V à hit, take, walk, read, etc.
Tense à past, present
Modal à will, can, may, shall, must

Note that have and be are contiguous with their associated affixes in (3b). Then, he introduces therules in (4) to derive the surface form.
(4)

a.

b.

Let Af stand for any of the affixes past, present, en, ing. Let v stand for any Modal or
V, or have or be (i.e., for any non-affix in the phrase Verb.) Then:
Af + v à v + Af #, where # is interpreted as word boundary.
Replace + by # except in the context v – Af. Insert # initially and finally.

(4a), which later came to be called ‘affix hopping’ and more recently ‘phonological merger’,
1

In Syntactic Structures, C is employed instead of Tense and it expands to past, s (for singular subject) orÆ (for plural subject). I use the more familiar Tense here and accordingly in (3d).

4moves affixes to the end of the following elements. (4b) specifies the word boundaries.
(5) illustrates how (2) is derived by the rules in (1), (3) and (4).
(5)

a.
b.
c.

the + man + past + have + en + be + ing + read + the + bookthe + man + have + past # be + en # read + ing # the + book# the # man # have + past # be + ing # read + ing # the # book #The phrase structure rules generate the string in (5a). (4b) applies to this string and places past after
have, en after be, and ing after read as in (5b). (4c) inserts word boundaries except before thesuffixes to yield (5c). Finally, it is assumed that morphophonemic rules of the following form apply
to (5c):(6)

walk à /wɔk/, take + past à /t Uk/, have + past à /həd/, be + en à /bIn/, …

What matters here is the simplicity and the elegance of this analysis. Chomsky never claimed
that phrase structure rules cannot accommodate the English auxiliary system. The rules in (7), forexample, can be employed instead of (3b) and (4a) to generate the grammatical patterns.
(7)

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

Verb à V + Tense
Verb à Modal + Tense + V
Verb à have + Tense + V + en
Verb à be + Tense + V + ing
Verb à Modal + Tense + have + V + en
Verb à Modal + Tense + be + V + ing
Verb à have + Tense + be + en + V + ing
Verb à Modal + Tense + have + be + en + V + ing

But this is clearly more complex than the analysis that employs (4a), and misses the generalizationthat the perfect is expressed by two discontinuous elements have and en and the progressive by be
and ing.
The analysis outlined above leads to the model of grammar quoted in (8) from p.46 of
Syntactic Structures.

5

(8)

S: Sentences:
F: X1 à Y1.
.
Xn à Yn
T1.
.
Tn
Z1 à W1.
.
Zn à Wn

Phrase structure

Transformational structure

Morphophonemics

Phrase structure rules generate strings with structures that constitute inputs to transformational rules.
Then, transformations yield strings that morphophonemic rules apply to. This raises the question
whether the outputs of phrase structure rules and transformations encode specific information andif they do, what sorts of information they express. The pursuit of this question led to the postulationof D-structure, S-structure and PF in the Standard Theory of the 1960’s and the Extended Standard
Theory (EST) later.
2.2. The Generality of the Affix Hopping Analysis
The beauty of the affix hopping rule in (4a) is that it applies quite generally to any structure
regardless of how the structure is created, and further, leads to an explanation of an otherwise
mysterious phenomenon, namely, the appearance of the “dummy verb” do in some contexts. Let us
consider a few cases from Syntactic Structures.
Chomsky observes that a sentence can be analyzed as having three parts, 1 – 2 – 3, as in (9),and elements of negation, not and n’t, occur after the second.
(9)

a.
b.
c.
b.

NP – Tense – V …
NP – Tense + Modal – …
NP – Tense + have – …
NP – Tense + be – …

Thus, not appears after have and be in (10a) and (10b) respectively.

6(10) a.
b.

The man had not taken the book.
The man was not taking the book.

The derivation of (10a) is illustrated in (11).
(11) a.
b.
c.
d.

the + man + past + have + en + take + the + bookthe + man + past + have + not + en + take + the + bookthe + man + have + past # not + take + en # the + book# the # man # have + past # not # take + en # the # book #The phrase structure rules generate the string in (11a), and then, not is inserted after have in (11b).2
The affix hopping transformation in (4a) applies as in (11c), placing past after have and en after
take. The example shows that (4a) serves to generate negative sentences as well as affirmative ones.
The interesting case is (9a), instantiated by (12).
(12)

The man did not take the book.

The derivation of this example is as in (13).
(13) a.
b.
c.
d.

the + man + past + take + the + bookthe + man + past + not + take + the + book# the # man # past # not # take # the # book ## the # man # do + past # not # take # the # book #The insertion of not after Tense blocks the application of (4a) to Tense + V as (13b) shows. Hence,take does not appear in past tense and past as an affix is stranded after the insertion of wordboundaries in (13c). Chomsky, then, proposes the rule in (14), now known as ‘do-support’, in orderto save the stranded tense affix.
(14)

2# Af à # do + Af

It is thus proposed in Syntactic Structures that negative elements are inserted into the structure by atransformation. But this is not important for the point to be made here, that is, the generality of the applicationof the affix hopping rule in (4a).

7This rule inserts do before a stranded affix as in (13d) and yields (12) correctly. Note that thisanalysis is possible because the phrase structure rule (3b) treats Tense and V as independent
elements and (4a) serves to combine them when they are adjacent. If V + Tense enters the structure
as a single element, there is no straightforward way to account for the appearance of do in (12).
Chomsky goes on to show that basically the same analysis applies to other independent
constructions. One of them is yes/no questions, exemplified in (15).
(15) a.
b.
c.

Had the man taken the book?
Was the man taking the book?
Did the man take the book?

Yes/no questions are formed by the question transformation that fronts the second element in (9) tothe sentence-initial position. And interestingly, do appears in (15c) just as in (12). The derivationof the example is shown in (16).
(16) a.
b.
c.
d.

the + man + past + take + the + bookpast + the + man + take + the + book# past # the # man # take # the # book ## do + past # the # man # take # the # book #The fronting of past by the question transformation in (16b) blocks the application of (4a) andproduces a stranded Tense as in (16c). This triggers the do-support rule in (14) and yields the formin (15c). Thus, the forms of questions are explained by exactly the same set of rules as negative
sentences.3
It is mentioned in Syntactic Structures that the apparent asymmetry in (17) follows as aconsequence of the analysis.

3

Chomsky points out that the same set of rules accounts for examples of conjunction with so as in (i).

(i) a.
b.

John has arrived and so have I.
John arrives and so do I.

It extends to examples of VP-ellipsis and VP-preposing as well, as it is now standardly taught in introductorysyntax courses.

8(17) a.
b.

What did the man take?
Who took the book?

As (17a) indicates, a wh-question is generated with further fronting of a wh-word (or phrase).4
However, do does not show up and there is apparently no word-order change in (17b) with a whword in the subject position. It seems then that neither the question rule nor the wh-fronting rule
applies in this case. Are wh-questions generated in two distinct ways depending on the location of
the wh-word? Chomsky’s answer is negative. The derivation of (17b) with the questiontransformation and wh-fronting is shown in (18).
(18) a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

who + past + take + the + bookpast + who + take + the + bookwho + past + take + the + bookwho + take + past # the + book# who # take + past # the # book #The question transformation fronts past to the sentence-initial position as in (18b). At this point,
the subject intervenes between past and take. However, the wh-fronting rule fronts the wh subject
as in (18c), making past and take adjacent again. Then, the affix hopping rule (4a) can apply andform take + past. Thus, the question transformation and the wh-question rule apply uniformly
regardless of the location of the wh-word. The analysis is clearly simpler than having two sets ofdistinct phrase structure rules for subject and non-subject wh-questions.
In the discussion above on the affix hopping rule (4a), I introduced a few moretransformations from Syntactic Structure. Each of them can be motivated on the basis of simplicity.
For example, one may assume the phrase structure rules in (19) and (20) in place of the questiontransformation.
(19) a.
b.

Sentence à Do + Tense + NP + VP1
Sentence à Modal + Tense + NP + VP2

4

More precisely, the transformation is defined in Footnote 2 on p.69 as a rule that adds wh to pronouns andfronts wh + pronoun. Then, morphophonemic rules of the following form apply:(i)wh + he/she à /huw/, wh + it à /wat/

I assume for the sake of simplicity that phrase structure rules directly generate strings with wh-words.

9

c.
d.
(20) a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.

Sentence à have + Tense + NP + VP3
Sentence à be + Tense + NP + VP4
VP1 à Verb1 + (NP)
Verb1 à V
VP2 à Verb2 + (NP)
Verb2 à have + be + en + V + ing
Verb2 à have + V + en
Verb2 à be + V + ing
Verb2 à V
VP3 à Verb3 + (NP)
Verb3 à be + en + V + ing
Verb3 à V + en
VP4 à Verb4 + (NP)
Verb4 à V + ing

It should be obvious that this is far more complex than the question transformation and that it misses
generalizations on the formation of questions and the placement of affixes. According to theanalysis in Syntactic Structures, questions are formed by fronting the second element in (9) and therest of the derivation is automatically taken care of by the independently motivated affix hopping
rule and do-support. On the other hand, it is not clear that the complex set of rules in (19) and (20)expresses any generalization. For example, given these rules, it is simply an accident that what
appears before the subject NP in (19) is missing from the VP in the same rule. One can in fact easily
restate the rules so that this generalization does not obtain.
2.3. Refinements of the Analysis
As argued and demonstrated in Lasnik (1995), the essential part of the analysis introduced inthis section still remains a viable possibility even today, 60 years after it was proposed. It was infact refined in the details over the years.5
Recall that the formulations of negative placement and question transformations are based on
the tri-part analysis of sentences as in (9), repeated below in (21).

5See, in particular, Lasnik (1981) and the references cited there.

10(21) a.
b.
c.
d.

NP – Tense – V …
NP – Tense + Modal – …
NP – Tense + have – …
NP – Tense + be – …

This indicates that Tense forms a unit with the following Modal, have or be, but not with a mainverb V. This is captured by the generation of Modal under Tense and the head-movement of haveand be to Tense. Then, the elements of negation, not and n’t, occur right after Tense, and it is Tense
that is fronted in question formation. The derivation of (15b), repeated in (22), in more modern
terms is shown in (23).
(22)

Was the man taking the book?

(23)

CP
C

TP
DP

T’
T
Past

VP
V
be

Then, Tense combines with have and be by head movement, and with the main verb by affix
hopping.
There is a remark in Syntactic Structures on why the forms in (24) are both attested in dialects
whereas (25b) is excluded.
(24) a.
b.

Have you the book?
Do you have the book?

(25) a. Are you comfortable?
b. *Do you be comfortable?

11

It is stated that (24a) and (24b) are both permissible because the main verb have can be analyzed ashave in (21c) or as V in (21a). The proposal for (25) is that the main verb be does not belong to theclass of verbs and hence can only be analyzed as be in (21d).
The head movement analysis captures the facts more straightforwardly. Be, whether it is an
auxiliary verb or a main verb undergoes head movement to Tense when it is the first element amongauxiliaries and verbs. Whether the main verb have moves to Tense depends on the dialect. Emonds(1978) extends the analysis to French where all main verbs are raised to Tense in appropriate
contexts. Thus, contrasts such as that in (26) obtain between French and English.
(26) a.
b.

Jean (n’) aime pas Marie.
(ne) love Neg
John does not love Mary.

The main verb precedes pas in (26a) as it raises to Tense whereas it follows not in (26b).

3. Phrasal Movements and Selection
There are very important discussions on passive in Syntactic Structures, which pave the way
to the postulation of D-structure in later works. In this section, I go over the presented arguments
for the passive transformation and discuss their consequences.
3.1. The Passive Transformation
The passive transformation is proposed in the following form in Chapter 4:(27)

If S1 is a grammatical sentence of the form NP1 – Aux – V – NP2,
then the corresponding string of the form NP2 – Aux + be + en – V – by + NP1
is also a grammatical sentence.

This rule derives (28b) as in (29).
(28) a.
b.

Sincerity frightens John.
John is frightened by sincerity.

12(29) a.
b.
c.
d.

sincerity + present + frighten + John
John + present + be + en + frighten + by + sincerity
John + be + present # frighten + en # by + sincerity# John # be + present # frighten + en # by # sincerity #The phrase structure rules generate (29a), which underlies the active sentence (28a). The passive
transformation applies to this string, yielding (29b). The rule exchanges the positions of the subject
and the object, adds by before the postposed subject, and adds be + en after Aux. The affix hopping
rule applies to the output of the passive rule as in (29c), and finally (29d) is produced as the input
to morphophonemics.
Chomsky considers the possibility to introduce be + en as part of Aux in the phrase structurerule as in (30).
(30)

Aux à Tense + (Modal) + (have + en) + (be + ing) + (be + en) (cf. (3b))

However, he rejects the possibility as heavy restriction must be placed on the selection of be + en.
The following V must be transitive and at the same time the V cannot be followed by NP. The
statement of these complicates the grammar.
It is worth noting here that the now standard argument on the basis of selectional relations isalready presented in Syntactic Structures for the passive rule. The comparison of (28a) and (31a)shows that frighten selects an animate object.
(31) a. # John frightens sincerity.
b. # Sincerity is frightened by John.
And the ungrammaticality of (31b), as opposed to (28b), indicates that the same selectional
requirement is imposed on the subject instead of the object in the passive counterpart. In short, theselectional requirements on the object and the subject are reversed in passives. If passive sentences
are directly generated by phrase structure rules, the selectional requirements must be statedseparately for active and passive sentences, which would be an inelegant reduplication. With thepassive transformation, the same requirements can be imposed on the output of phrase structurerules uniformly for both active and passive sentences.
It is sometimes stated that the passive transformation is motivated because an active-passive

13

pair are synonymous. It is also often assumed that the active sentence is the “basic form” because
it directly represents the predicate-argument structure. Neither of these is assumed in Syntactic
Structures. In Chapter 7, Chomsky considers the possibility that the passive rule only introduces
be + en and by, and does not exchange the positions of the subject and the object (or more precisely
the NP that immediately follows V). He notes first that this would complicate the statement of
selectional requirements because the rule derives (31b) from what underlies (28a). Then, he goeson to present another similar argument against this option on the basis of the contrast between (32)and (33).
(32) a.
b.

All the people in the lab consider John a fool.
John is considered a fool by all the people in the lab.

(33) a. * John considers all the people in the lab a fool.
b. * All the people in the lab are considered a fool by John.
Chomsky analyzes consider + a fool in (32a) as a complex V that selects a singular object. The
object John is then placed before a fool by a transformation. If the passive transformation isformulated as in (27) and makes NP2 the new subject, (32b) is correctly predicted to be grammatical.
The selectional requirement of consider + a fool is met by the singular NP, John, before thetransformation applies. The rule also correctly predicts (33b) to be ungrammatical. All the people
in the lab originates in the object position and it contradicts the selectional requirement of thecomplex V in that position. Thus, (33b) is ruled out in exactly the same way as (33a).
On the other hand, if the passive rule preserves the positions of the subject and the object,(33b) would be derived from (32a). A stipulation would then be required to exclude the example.
Similarly, it would have to be explained why (32b) is grammatical despite the fact that it is derived
from a string that underlies the ungrammatical (33a). Then, the overall simplicity is attained withthe formulation of passive that exchanges the positions of NP1 and NP2 as in (27). Note that thisargument stands independently of the complex V analysis of consider + a fool. Suppose that John+ a fool in (32a) constitutes a small clause with the predicate a fool and the subject John as proposedby Stowell (1981). Then, the predicate a fool selects a singular subject. The NP, John, satisfies thisrequirement in the example. With the passive transformation in (27), exactly the same analysis canbe given to (32b). The example is grammatical because the subject, John, originates as the subjectof the small clause. (33b), on the other hand, is not because the subject, all the people in the lab,fails to satisfy the selectional requirement of the predicate, a fool, in its initial position.

14

Chomsky also argues on the basis of simplicity that a passive sentence should be derived
from what underlies its active counterpart and not vice versa. The specific argument given in thiscontext is based on the examples in (34).
(34) a.
b.

The wine was drunk by the guests.
John was drunk by midnight.

(34a) is a passive sentence whereas drunk in (34b) is an adjective, as the following contrast attests:(35) a. * The wine was very drunk by the guests.
b.
John was very drunk by midnight.
If the “active transformation” applies to what underlies (34a) to generate (36a), then it would
incorrectly generate (36b) as well.
(36) a.
The guests drank wine.
b. * Midnight drank John.
Stronger arguments can be built also on the basis of simplicity and elegance. For example, if
active transitive sentences are produced only by “active transformations,” then there should be two
distinct ways to generate active sentences. When V is not immediately followed NP, the sentenceis generated by phrase structure rules. On the other hand, a sentence with a V + NP sequence isproduced by the “active transformation.” This clearly misses important generalizations that apply
to all active sentences. Suppose instead that active transitive sentences can be generated either byphrase structure rules or by the “active transformation.” Then, the transformation would just be
redundant. In any case, what is noteworthy here is that Chomsky considers all possibilities without
preconception, including the derivation of active from passive, and argues for a set of specificproposals on the basis of the simplicity of syntactic analysis and the overall system. And as will be
discussed in the following subsection, the set of proposals in Syntactic Structures lays thefoundation for research in syntactic theory for the next 40 years.
3.2. The Emergence of a Model for Syntax
Chomsky argued for transformations in pursuit of the simplest and most elegant theory, andarrived at the model of derivation in (8), which can be restated as in (37).

15phrase structure rules à transformations à morphophonemic rules(37)This is only a step away from the Standard theory of Chomsky (1965) with D-structure as the output
of phrase structure rules (and lexical insertion) and S-structure as the output of the transformational
component, and from the Extended Standard Theory pursued, for example, in Chomsky (1981),
with the added level of representation, Logical Form. Particularly important in this context is the
proposal that selectional relations are represented at the output of phrase structure rules before
transformations apply. This leads to the postulation of D-structure as a pure representation of
selectional or thematic relations. The pursuit of the simplest theory of the constituent structure,described initially by the phrase structure rules, culminated into X’ principles applying at Dstructure. Accordingly, the clause structure was reanalyzed as in (38).6
(38)

CP
C

TP
DP
T(ense)T’
VP

Syntactic Structures also suggests directions for later research on the transformational component
and its output, S-structure. Relevant here is its discussions on rule ordering and optional vs.
obligatory transformations. I briefly go over them in this subsection.
Rule ordering is first introduced with respect to the affixing hopping rule (4) and do-supportin (14), repeated below as (39) and (40) respectively.
(39) a.

b.
(40)

Let Af stand for any of the affixes past, present, en, ing. Let v stand for any Modal or
V, or have or be (i.e., for any non-affix in the phrase Verb.) Then:
Af + v à v + Af #, where # is interpreted as word boundary.
Replace + by # except in the context v – Af. Insert # initially and finally.
# Af à # do + Af

Let us consider (41a), which underlies (41b).
6

See, for example, Chomsky (1970, 1986a), Stowell (1981), and the references cited there for thisdevelopment on clause structure.

16(41) a.
b.

the + man + past + take + the + book
The man took the book.

If (39b) is applied first to (41a) as in (42a), then the context is set for the application of do-support
as in (42b).
(42) a.
b.

# the # man # past # take # the # book ## the # man # do + past # take # the # book #This generates (43) incorrectly in non-emphatic context.
(43)* The man did take the book.

Then, (39a) must apply before (39b) and (40), and (40) must be construed as a “last resort” rule, anassumption that is maintained even today.
More serious cases of rule ordering arise when the interaction of (39)-(40) and the whfronting rule is considered. (44) is a relevant case.
(44)

Who took the book?

(45a) is the input to the transformational component.
(45) a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

who + past + take + the + bookpast + who + take + the + book# past # who # take # the # book ## do + past # who # take # the # book ## who # do + past # take # the # book #The question rule fronts past as in (45b). The application of (39)-(40) to this string yields (45d).
Finally, the wh-fronting rule places the wh-word in the sentence-initial position as in (45e). This
results in (46), which is again illicit in non-emphatic context.
(46)* Who did take the book?
The problem here is that (39)-(40) apply before the wh-fronting rule. If wh-fronting is ordered17before (39)-(40), only the grammatical form is generated as in (47).
(47) a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

who + past + take + the + bookpast + who + take + the + bookwho + past + take + the + bookwho + take + past # the + book# who # take + past # the # book #Then, (39)-(40) are ordered after the other transformations. This was taken later as evidence thatthese rules map the output of the transformational component to the morphophonemic orphonological component. The revised model of derivation in (48) obtains.
(48)

phrase structure rules à D-structure à transformations
à affix-hopping/do-support à phonological component

In addition to rule ordering, there is what appears to be an ordering paradox in the analysis in
Syntactic Structures. Tense, which is called C in Syntactic Structures, is expanded by the following
rule:

(49)

Cà

S in the context of NPsing _Ø in the context of NPpl _pastThis looks like a phrase structure rule although it is context-sensitive. However, as Chomsky points
out, it must apply after the passive transformation as present agrees with the surface subject. Then,(49) is included among the transformational rules in Syntactic Structures. But, aside from the factthat it has a peculiar format as a transformation, it leads to further rule ordering. For example, it not
only has to apply after passive but also has to apply before the question transformation in examples
like (50).
(50)

What do the men eat?

In this example, present agrees with the men, not with what.
The ordering of “agreement” with passive is avoided in later works such as Chomsky (1981)
by making agreement apply or be checked after the transformational component, that is, at S-

18

structure. The copy (or trace) theory of movement accommodates (50) as illustrated below.
(51)

CP
C

TP
DP

T’
T

VP

agreement
movement
The movement of T(ense) to C leaves a copy behind, and the copy participates in agreement withthe subject. The copy theory, in turn, suggests that the passive transformation does not involve
rightward movement of the subject NP and simply moves the object NP to a “vacant” subject
position. If the subject NP moves rightward, its copy should block the movement of the object NP.
This simplification of passive is supported by the optionality of by-phrase as shown in (52).7(52)

The book was stolen (by a thief).

The considerations above have narrowed the range of transformations and have led to thefollowing model:(53)

D-structure … X’ principles, selectional relationstransformations
S-structure … agreement
affix-hopping, do-support
Phonetic Form

The phrase structure rules specified the possible constituent structures and raised the question why
those structures and only those structures are possible. This led to the proposal of X’ principles,
which resulted in radical simplification of syntactic theory and particular grammars. Similarly, thetransformational rules described how movement takes place and raised the question why movement
7

The treatment of by-phrase under this approach poses interesting questions and has been discussed over
the years. See, for example, Jaeggli (1986), Baker, Johnson and Roberts (1989), and Collins (2005).

19

applies in the way it does. This was a major research topic in the 1970’s that led to the LGB theoryof Chomsky (1981).
Important in this research topic was the distinction between obligatory and optional
applications of transformations raised in Syntactic Structures. There, the passive transformation
which derives a passive sentence from what underlies its active counterpart is mentioned as a typicaloptional transformation. If it applies, a passive sentence is generated, and if it does not, thederivation proceeds to generate an active sentence. On the other hand, the affix hopping rule wasincluded among the obligatory transformations. The later research on transformations focused on
NP movement to subject position as in passive and operator movement to Spec, CP as in whquestion movement, and the question on the obligatory vs. optional applications of transformations
took a somewhat different shape. For example, movement to the subject position is apparently
obligatory in the example of passive in (54) and the example of raising in (55).
(54) a. * (There) was stolen a book.
b.
A book was stolen _ .

(55) a. * (It) is likely [John to succeed].
b.
John is likely [ _ to succeed].

The question was why the movements in (54) and (55) are obligatory.
An answer was proposed in Chomsky and Lasnik (1977), which showed that independentlyof movement, the distribution of NPs in English is limited to the four positions in (56).
(56) a.
b.
c.
d.

the position following a transitive verb
the position following a preposition
the subject position of a tensed clause
the subject position of a noun phrase(54a) and (55a) are ungrammatical simply because a book and John appear in illicit positions inthese examples. As is well known, this kind of analysis led to the unification of all movementtransformations as Move-a, which states, “Move anything anywhere optionally.” Move-a may but
need not apply to John in (55a). If it does not, the sentence is ruled out as John appears in an illicit

20

position. If it applies to John and move it to the end of the sentence, the result is still ungrammaticalbecause the NP ends up in a position that is not included in (56). Finally, if Move-a yields (55b),locating John in the matrix subject position, then the sentence is grammatical because the NP is in
the subject position of a tensed clause, the position specified in (56c).
It was Jean-Roger Vergnaud’s Case theory that provided an explanation for the distributionof NPs in (56). He proposed that nouns need to be specified for Case to assume proper phonetic
forms, as can be witnessed in the paradigms of pronouns as in he – him – his, and (56) lists the
positions where nouns can receive Case. For example, (56a) and (56c) are the positions for
accusative and nominative respectively. Chomsky (1981) proposed the Case filter in (57) toformally accommodate the idea.
(56)* NP if NP has phonetic content and no Case.

The Case filter applies at S-structure as indicated in the revised model in (57).
(57)

D-structure … X’ principles, selectional relations
Move-aS-structure … agreement, Case filter
affix-hopping, do-support
Phonetic Form

(57) shows only part of the model proposed in Chomsky (1981), but its significance should
be clear. Syntactic theory consists of levels of representations, in particular, D-structure and Sstructure, and the principles that define them. Transformations are now reduced to a single principle
on the relation between the two levels, Move-a. As often noted, this revolutionalized syntactic
theory as it conceives of grammar as a set of principles (and parameters) instead of a system ofrules. Yet, it is a direct descendent of the model of Syntactic Structures in many ways. Notably, thevery same quest for simplicity and elegance led to this model. The transformational component isradically simplified and the addition of the Case filter not only aids the simplification but broadens
the empirical coverage of the overall theory. And the core part of the model retains its shape. First,
the basic constituent structure is specified, reflecting the selectional relations. Then,transformations apply to this structure and produce the input to morphophonemic (ormorphophonological) operations.

21

4. A Minimalist Perspective on Transformations
It was seen in the preceding sections that the LGB theory of Chomsky (1981) can be viewed
as a direct descendant of the model proposed in Syntactic Structures. In both, there is a sharp
distinction between what generates the basic phrase structure, phrase structure rules in the case of
Syntactic Structures, and transformations. They are distinct in form and the latter applies to the
output of the former. An effort to eliminate this distinction was initiated in the Minimalist research,in particular, in Chomsky (1994). Although this led to departure from the conception oftransformations in Syntactic Structures, I discuss it in this section because it addresses afundamental question that originates in the work, namely, what transformations are, and brings us
right to the current research. Section 4.1 concerns the last resort nature of phrasal movementtransformations and Section 4.2 discusses the issue of movement of NPs into selected positions.
4.1. Merge and the Last Resort Nature of Phrasal Movement
The Minimalist model proposed in Chomsky (1993) eliminates D-structure and S-structure.
Pursuing this model, Chomsky (1994) proposes that phrase structure is constructed by Merge, theminimal operation required for Language. It takes two objects a and b, and forms a constituent asin (58).
g = {a, b}(58)

When a and b are independent objects as in (59a), the operation is called external Merge.
g(59) a.
a

g

b.
b

a

b
… a…

On other hand, when a is contained within b, and Merge applies a and b as in (59b), it is calledinternal Merge. Both are instances of the minimal operation Merge, and phrasal movement isnothing but internal Merge.
The derivation of the simple example in (60) is illustrated in (61).

22

(60)

The man took the book.

(61)

TP
NP

T’
T

vP
NP

v’
v

VP
V

NP

The structure assumes the predicate-internal subject hypothesis as formulated in Chomsky (1995),
and consequently, the subject NP is initially merged at the specifier position of vP.8 The structureis straightforwardly built with Merge, including internal Merge of the subject NP to the surface
subject position.
The conception of phrasal movement as an instance of Merge eliminates its special status,
and answers the question why phrasal movement exists. Language has phrasal movement justbecause it has the minimally required operation, Merge. However, a few more steps were required
to make this hypothesis truly feasible. Recall that movement transformations were unified as asingle principle, Move-a, which allows movement of anything anywhere. This overgenerates vastly
as the examples in (62) and (63) show.
(62) a.
The man ate nothing.
b. * Nothing, the man ate _ .

(63) a.
The man did not eat anything.
b. * Anything, the man did not eat _ .

The objects in (62a) and (63a) are merged with TP in (62a) and (63b) respectively, and the results
are ungrammatical. A proposal to avoid this problem is made in Chomsky (1986b). He notes that
8

See, for example, Koopman and Sportiche (1991) for arguments for the predicate-internal subject
hypothesis.

23

the movement in (64), for example, applies with “a purpose.”(64)

John is likely [ _ to succeed].

If John stayed in the original position, it cannot receive Case. Hence, it must move to the matrix
subject position for Case reasons. Chomsky then proposes that movement, or internal Merge,
applies as a last resort, that is, only when it is necessary for the moved element. This is incorporated
into the definition of movement in Chomsky (1995). But then, internal Merge is distinguished fromexternal Merge as there is no such restriction on the latter.
A solution to this problem, as far as I know, was first provided in Chomsky (2013). There heproposes that Merge must accompany a labeling algorithm that specifies the nature of the newly
formed object. When a verbal element and a nominal element are combined, for example, theinterpretive component must be informed whether the formed object is verbal (VP) or nominal (NP).
Chomsky first notes that the three cases of Merge in (65) must be considered in this respect.
(65) a.
b.
c.

g = {H, aP}
g = {aP, bP}
g = {H1, H2}

A head and a phrase are merged in (65a). Chomsky states that the head determines the label of g inthis case as search into g immediately yields a unique head. On the other hand, (65b) and (65c), themergers of two phrases and two heads respectively, are problematic because the labels cannot be
determined straightforwardly in this way. Chomsky notes, however, that (65b) occurs in actual
derivations and make two proposals for this case.
Let us consider the derivation of (60) again, repeated in a somewhat different form in (66).

24?2 à <f, f>

(66)
NP

TP
?1 à vP

T
NP

vP
v

VP
V

NP

First, the verb take merges with the object the book. This is unproblematic as it instantiates (65a),the merger of a head and a phrase. Then, v merges with VP, which is also straightforward. But then,a problem arises when the subject NP the man merges with vP. Chomsky notes that the subject NPinternally merges with TP after T is introduced into the structure. Then, ?1 only dominates a copyof this NP and does not contain it in full. He proposes that this disqualifies the NP as a label provider
for ?1 and consequently vP does the work. When the subject internally merges with TP, anotherconfiguration of (65b) is created. In this case, T and NP share the same f-features (person, number
and gender features) because of agreement. Chomsky proposes that this enables ?2 to be labeled <f,f>. This captures the fact that movement always terminates with the internal merge of two phrases
that share some features.
Chomsky extends the analysis to wh-question movement, as illustrated in (67).
(67)[?2 which book [CP do you think [?1 which book [CP John bought which book]]]]On the assumption that movement takes place cyclically, the wh-phrase which book moves as
indicated by the arrows in (67). In this case, the movement cannot terminate at the edge of theembedded CP. This is predicted because the first internal merge creates ?1 = {NP, CP}, which fails
to be labeled. A wh-phrase always ends up at the edge of a question sentence, and (67) is indeed
fine when the wh-phrase moves on to the matrix-initial position. This is also expected. As the whphrase moves out of ?1, it can now be labeled by the CP it properly contains. The internal merge inthe matrix clause creates ?2 = {NP, CP}. But in this case, NP is a wh-phrase and CP is a question.
Then, they share the feature Q(uestion) and ?2 is labeled <Q, Q>.
The hypothesis on labeling in Chomsky (2013) provides an independent explanation for the25last resort nature of internal Merge. Consider again (63b), repeated in (68).
(68)* Anything, the man did not eat _ .

As the negative polarity item anything does not qualify as a topic, the example is not an instance of
topicalization. It is then simply internally-merged with the matrix TP as in (69).
(69)

?
NP

TP
… NP …

But in this case, there is no feature sharing between the NP and TP, and consequently, ? cannot belabeled. Thus, (68) is excluded because of failure in labeling.
If this analysis is correct, last resort is not a property of internal Merge per se. Phrasal
movement always creates an {XP, YP} structure. And there are two ways to label this. One is to
move XP out of the structure. This is effective, but one cannot keep using this strategy forever as
the movement must terminate at some point. And movement can terminate when it creates aconfiguration of feature sharing, the other case in which {XP, YP} can be labeled. This is the reason
why movement appears to take place as the last resort.
4.2. Transformations and the Selectional Relations
There is another issue that arises when phrasal movement transformation is analyzed simply
as Merge. Recall that it is argued in Syntactic Structures that selectional relations are represented
at the pre-transformation structure. Phrase structure rules build the basic phrase structure thatreflects selectional (thematic) relations, and transformational rules modify this basic structure. If
external Merge and internal Merge apply in the parallel manner, a hypothesis can be entertainedthat NPs enter the structure at their selected positions by external Merge and then may move to
non-thematic positions by internal Merge. In (66), for example, the subject NP is initially mergedwith vP at its thematic position and moves to the specifier position of TP, a non-thematic position.
But the hypothesis implies that there is after all a distinction between external Merge and internal

26

Merge as only the former can create configurations of selection.
However, arguments against this distinction have been presented in Hornstein (1989) andBošković (2000), among others. They both argue that movement into thematic positions takes place.
Hornstein, for example, first argues that there is good reason to allow this type of movement on
conceptual grounds. In the LGB theory of Chomsky (1981), it is assumed just as in Syntactic
Structures that selectional relations are represented at the pre-transformation structure, namely, Dstructure. Hornstein points out that it followed from this assumption that a movementtransformation cannot create a new selectional relation between a predicate and an argument. If it
does, this new selectional relation was not represented at D-structure in contradiction with theassumption. However, once D-structure is abandoned, nothing blocks movement into a thematic
position unless it is prohibited by stipulation. Then, it would be conceptually desirable to allow thistype of movement.
Then, Hornstein goes on to reanalyze examples of control, such as (70a), in terms of
movement as in (70b).
(70) a.
b.

The man tried [PRO to buy the book].
The man tried [ _ to buy the book].

The man enters into selectional relation with the matrix verb try as the subject. Then, the LGB
theory demands that it appears in the matrix subject position at D-structure. Since the embedded
verb buy also selects for a subject, an independent element must appear in the position at D-structure.
It was therefore assumed that a pronominal without phonetic content, PRO, appears in the position.
However, Hornstein argues that given the elimination of D-structure, the example is best analyzed
with movement as in (70b). The man is externally merged at the embedded subject position andreceives the agent role there. Then, it internally merges at the matrix subject position, where it isinterpreted as the agent of try.9 If this analysis is on the right track, the distinction between external
Merge and internal Merge is eliminated completely. Both freely apply and can create configurations
that satisfy selectional requirements.

9

More precisely, the NP is merged at the specifier position of vP and receives a theta role there in both theembedded and the matrix clauses. Independent support for this movement analysis of control can be found,for example, in Hornstein and Polinsky (2010).

27

The discussion above suggests that phrasal movement transformation, now called internal
Merge, can be totally assimilated into Merge, a minimal operation that is required of Language.
Then, it is clear why language has phrasal movement transformations. A language must have Merge,
and phrasal movement comes with it.

5. Conclusion
Transformations were proposed in Syntactic Structures as they yield a simple, elegant theory.
Further quest for simplicity and elegance led to the unification of phrasal movementtransformations as a single principle Move-a on the relation between D-structure and S-structure.
This, together with the elimination of D-structure and S-structure in the Minimalist program, madeit possible to address deeper questions such as what transformations really are and why Language
has them. Chomsky (1994) proposes that phrasal movement is an instance of the operation Merge,
which forms a constituent of two elements. As discussed in the preceding section, efforts have been
made to completely assimilate phrasal movements into Merge. If this project is successful, it
identifies transformations, proposed on the basis of simplicity in Syntactic Structures, as instancesof the minimal operation required of Language.
There was a great progress in the research on transformations in the last 60 years, and the
Minimalist analysis entertained now is drastically simpler than its predecessors. And the progress
undoubtedly will continue, as stated in the following passage from Syntactic Structures:
Notice that neither the general theory nor the particular grammars are fixed for all time, inthis view. Progress and revision may come from the discovery of new facts about particularlanguages, or from purely theoretical insights about organization of linguistic data – that is,
new models for linguistic structure. … At any given time we can attempt to formulate asprecisely as possible both the general theory and the set of associated grammars that mustmeet the empirical, external conditions of adequacy. (p.50)
That is, Syntactic Structures initiated research on syntax as a science, and the quest for simplicity
will continue as long as syntax continues to be pursued as a science.

28

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