http://glottopedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Chain Chain - Revision history 2026-04-22T22:56:35Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.34.2 http://glottopedia.org/index.php?title=Chain&diff=5891&oldid=prev Luo: from Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics 2008-04-16T15:00:39Z <p>from Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>In syntax, a '''chain''' is a set of syntactic elements subject to specific conditions. <br /> <br /> Formally:<br /> <br /> (a&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;,...,a&lt;sup&gt;n&lt;/sup&gt;), 1 =&lt; n, is a chain iff<br /> (i) every ''a'' has the same subscript, i.e <br /> (a&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;,...,a&lt;sup&gt;n&lt;/sup&gt;) = (a&lt;sub&gt;j&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;,...,a&lt;sub&gt;j&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;n&lt;/sup&gt;)<br /> (ii) for every i &lt; n, a&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; [[antecedent-govern]]s a&lt;sup&gt;i+1&lt;/sup&gt;<br /> <br /> Given this definition a&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; is called the ''head'' of the chain, an the foot, and each pair (a&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;,a&lt;sup&gt;i+1&lt;/sup&gt;) is a link. The superscripts only serve to distinguish elements which are otherwise identical; so, superscripts are left out in the notation if the elements are not identical. Different kinds of chains are distinguished. A chain is an A-chain if a&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; is in an [[A-position]], and an [[A-bar-chain]] if a&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; is in an [[A-bar position]].<br /> <br /> ===Examples===<br /> In (i) both (''John''&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;, t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;) and (''the car''&lt;sub&gt;j&lt;/sub&gt;) are A-chains. The chain (''John''&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;, t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;) consists of one link, ''John''&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt; being the ''head'' and t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt; being the ''foot''. The chain (''the car''&lt;sub&gt;j&lt;/sub&gt;) has no link, and ''the car''&lt;sub&gt;j&lt;/sub&gt; is both its head and its foot.<br /> <br /> (i) John&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt; was hit t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt; by the car&lt;sub&gt;j&lt;/sub&gt;<br /> (ii) Who&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt; ti&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; seems t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; to have been hit t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt; by the car&lt;sub&gt;j&lt;/sub&gt;<br /> <br /> In (ii), the chain (''who''&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;, ti&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;, t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;) is an A-bar-chain, since the head ''who''&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt; is in an [[A-bar-position]]. The foot (i.e. t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;) of this chain is theta-marked (by ''hit''). The element t&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; is case marked (by the matrix INFL). Hence, the chain satisfies the [[case filter]] and the [[theta criterion]]. The A-chain (t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;) is an example of a non-maximal chain, since this chain, being part of the maximal chain (''who''&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;, t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt;, t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;, t&lt;sub&gt;i&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;3&lt;/sup&gt;) contains no theta-position. <br /> <br /> ===Comment===<br /> Grammatical properties, such as [[theta-role]]s and Case visibility ([[visibility condition]]) are properties of maximal chains. A chain is maximal if it contains a [[theta-position]]. In general, maximal chains are simply called chains. <br /> <br /> ===Link===<br /> [http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Chain&amp;lemmacode=863 Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics] <br /> <br /> ===See also===<br /> *[[CHAIN]] <br /> *[[chain composition]]<br /> <br /> ===References===<br /> *{{: Chomsky 1981}}<br /> *{{: Chomsky 1986}}<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> {{dc}}<br /> [[Category:Syntax]]</div> Luo