HPSG Analysis of Subject-Auxiliary Inversion #
@cite{sag-wasow-bender-2003}
Connects the HPSG [INV ±] analysis of inversion
(Theories/Syntax/HPSG/Inversion.lean) to the theory-neutral SAI data
(Phenomena/WordOrder/SubjectAuxInversion.lean).
The HPSG analysis uses a binary [INV] feature:
- Matrix questions require [INV +], forcing auxiliary-before-subject order.
- Embedded questions require [INV −], forcing subject-before-auxiliary order.
Each theorem pairs a Data judgment with the corresponding HPSG licensing result, verifying that the theory's predictions match the empirical pattern.
Matrix wh-questions #
The Data file marks inverted matrix wh-questions as grammatical and non-inverted ones as ungrammatical. HPSG licenses the former via [INV +] and blocks the latter because [INV +] requires aux < subj.
ex01 "What can John eat?" — grammatical per Data, licensed per HPSG
ex02 "*What John can eat?" — ungrammatical per Data, not licensed per HPSG
Matrix yes/no questions #
ex04 "Can John eat pizza?" — grammatical per Data, licensed per HPSG
ex05 "*John can eat pizza?" — ungrammatical per Data, not licensed per HPSG
Embedded questions #
ex07 "I wonder what John can eat" — grammatical per Data, licensed per HPSG
ex08 "*I wonder what can John eat" — ungrammatical per Data, not licensed per HPSG
Summary #
The HPSG [INV ±] analysis correctly captures all 6 core SAI data points:
| Datum | Sentence | Data | HPSG |
|---|---|---|---|
| ex01 | What can John eat? | ✓ gram. | ✓ licensed |
| ex02 | *What John can eat? | ✗ ungram. | ✗ blocked |
| ex04 | Can John eat pizza? | ✓ gram. | ✓ licensed |
| ex05 | *John can eat pizza? | ✗ ungram. | ✗ blocked |
| ex07 | ...what John can eat | ✓ gram. | ✓ licensed |
| ex08 | *...what can John eat | ✗ ungram. | ✗ blocked |