April 8, 2022 // The Biblical Languages Podcast

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In this episode of the Biblical Languages Podcast, Kevin Grasso shares core concepts that are essential for doing the task of syntax.
Introduction
Outline
- Key terms
- Phonological and logical form
- Heads and phrases
- Arguments and adjuncts
- Complements and specifiers
- Movement
- Ordered phrases
- The VP
- The IP
- The DP
- The CP
Key terms: Phonetic and logical form
- The order we see or hear on the surface is not always the order in which we interpret the morphemes.
- Interpretation may not always be visible/audible.
Key terms: Heads and phrases
- Morphemes that occur in the same phrase are interpreted together.
Key terms: Arguments and adjuncts
- Limited number of arguments, but potentially infinite adjuncts.
- Arguments and adjuncts are often interpreted differently.
Key terms: Complements and specifiers

Arguments may have different positions in the syntax, and this affects how they are interpreted, e.g. the no-agent idiom hypothesis.
Key terms: Movement
- Things move: why and are there constraints?
- Movement is often a signal to interpret something differently.
The ordering of functional and lexical morphemes
Ordered phrases: The vP
- The pot broke
- The engine coughed.
- I broke the pot.
- *I coughed the engine.


- Words can have the same surface structure in some instances but have different underlying structure that result in those structures, e.g. two different kinds of intransitives. You have to look at all the uses!
- Derived words (nominalization

Ordered phrases: The IP

- Different languages are going to encode different semantic categories, though the order is logical and is, therefore, presumed to be fairly universal across languages.
- Aspect is lower than modality/verbal mood and tense, which means we can have aspectual distinctions with different moods/tenses (e.g. in Greek).
- Word order of a language is dependent on the order of the specifier of IP (the subject position) and its relationship to the VP.
Ordered phrases: The DP

- Articles (the, a), demonstratives (this, that), quantifiers (some, all), and numbers (two, three) all need a place in the syntax and need to be logically ordered.
- The final output of a DP is something that can be referred to and can serve as an argument of a verb.
Ordered phrases: The CP
- What did Ezra give to a child?
- May Ezra give his stuffed animal to a child!

- Any element in the CP may affect the word order of a clause.
- Verbs such as wayyiqtol and weqatal that cannot be subordinated have moved to the complementizer position.
Conclusion
- Key terms
- Phonetic and logical form
- Heads and phrases
- Arguments and adjuncts
- Complements and specifiers
- Movement
- Ordered phrases
- The vP
- The IP
- The DP
- The CP
Series
Part 1: Basic Semantic Concepts
Part 2: Basic Morphology Concepts
Part 4: Basic Pragmatics Concepts
Where to listen
Listen to the full episode, share your feedback, and let us know topics you'd like to hear on future episodes!

The Biblical Languages Podcast hosts discussions and interviews related to learning the biblical languages and issues relevant to biblical exegesis. Episodes cover topics in 4 major categories: language acquisition, linguistics, cultural backgrounds, and exegesis.
Listen & subscribe here: https://biblingo.org/podcast/
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