Complementizer Selection

The following features are used to ensure the appropriate distribution of complementizers:
comp, possible values: that, if, whether, for, rel, inf_nil, ind_nil, nil
assign-comp, possible values: that, if, whether, for, ecm, rel, ind_nil, inf_nil, none
mode, possible values: ind, inf, sbjnct, ger, base, ppart, nom, prep
wh, possible values: +, - The value of the comp feature tells us what complementizer we are dealing with. The trees which introduce complementizers come specified from the lexicon with their comp feature and assign-comp feature. The comp of the Comp tree regulates what kind of tree goes above the Comp tree, while the assign-comp feature regulates what kind of tree goes below. e.g. the following equations are used for that:

(594)0(594

(595)

S_c.b:comp Comp.t:comp   (595)0(595

(596)

S_c.b:wh Comp.t:wh  (596)0(596

(597)

S_c.b:mode ind/sbjnct  (597)0(597

(598)

S_r.t:assign-comp Comp.t:comp  (598)0(598

(599)

S_r.b:comp nil 

By specifying S_r.b:comp nil, we ensure that complementizers do not adjoin onto other complementizers. The root node of a complementizer tree always has its comp feature set to a value other than nil. Trees that take clausal complements specify with the comp feature on their foot node what kind of complementizer(s) they can take. The assign-comp feature of an S node is determined by the highest VP below the S node and the syntactic configuration the S node is in.