Syntactic nominalizations in Turkish: A principles and parameters framework

IV ABSTRACT SYNTACTIC NOMINALIZATIONS IN TURKISH: A PRINCIPLES AND PARAMETERS FRAMEWORK Yılmaz YALDIR Ph.D. Thesis, English Language Education Department Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Cem CAN September 2004, 280 + xv pages This study aims to investigate the internal structure of syntactic nominalizations in Turkish within the framework of Principles and Parameters Theory. To do this, it restricts the attention to the prototypical syntactic nominalizations in argument positions of matrix sentences in Turkish. Chapter 1 introduces the major points concerning the problem and provides an outline of the adopted theoretical framework. It also expresses the research questions and the hypotheses of the study. Chapter 2 offers reviews of a number of earlier studies concerning syntactic nominalizations from generative viewpoints as well as other descriptive and typological perspectives. Chapter 3 presents a descriptive survey of major types of embedded clauses in English and in Turkish. Chapter 4 concentrates on the general morphosyntactic characteristics of prototypical syntactic nominalizations in Turkish. It examines various patterns of syntactic nominalizations by comparing them with the corresponding simple sentences sharing the same D-structure representation, supposedly the pure manifestations of thematic relations between the lexical categories. Chapter 5 summarizes the evolution of a particular analysis of noun phrases in the light of the major principles and subtheories of generative syntax, especially, the X-bar Theory. Adopting this analysis, the study suggests that noun phrases are extended phrasal projections containing a series of layered successive maximal projections of functional heads, such as D (Determiner), AGRN (Nominal Agreement) and NUM (Number). Furthermore, it examines the prototypical syntactic nominalizations in Turkish in terms of such functional heads and the nominal TAM (Tense, Aspect, Mood) category. It adopts the view that these functional categories are responsible for transforming a verbal phrase into a referential expression capable of occupying an argument position. Chapter 6 discusses the major findings of the study and concludes it by highlighting the implications of these findings for prospective studies.Keywords: syntactic nominalizations, Principles and Parameters Theory, functional head categories, DP-analysis, Turkish syntax