VLC001 - Demo Course

On the highest level, VP consists of a specifier, typically a numeral such as all, and V'. The linear ordering of V' is highly dependent on the typological parameters of each language. In SOV languages, like Japanese, the verbal head occurs in sentence-final position; in English, a typical SVO language, the verbal head precedes its complements and adjuncts.

V' can be recursively expanded to allow the repetitive occurrence of phrasal categories, for example PPs, within VP:

( V: drive
  ( V' ( PP: with his car )
    ( V' ( PP: to the river )
      ( V' ( PP: in June ) ))))

The rule system
1.	VP	⇨	Spec V'
2.	V'	⇨	V' (PP)
3.	V'	⇨	V (NP)
recursive expansion of rule 2