Operator (linguistics)
Encyclopedia
In linguistics
, an operator is a special variety of determiner including the visible interrogatives
, the quantifiers, and the hypothetical invisible pronoun denoted Op. Operators are differentiated from other determiners by their ability to produce topicalization and to have trace
s that "jump" over other trace chains.
In English, the wh-words are considered visible operators. Acceptance of invisible operators in syntactic theory has been justified on the basis of visible operators or topic marker
s in languages such as Japanese
.
All operators are subject to the bijection principle, first proposed by Koopman and Sportiche: Every operator A'-binds exactly one variable and every variable is A'-bound by exactly one operator.
In classical government and binding theory
, an operator is usually understood to be a wh-word or a quantifier in an A'-position.
In the following example, the trace of acts as the complement to the verb "shot", and the trace of the operator acts as a modifier to the entire verb phrase:
Example of an invisible, or non-overt, operator:
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, an operator is a special variety of determiner including the visible interrogatives
Interrogative word
In linguistics, an interrogative word is a function word used for the item interrupted in an information statement. Interrogative words are sometimes called wh-words because most of English interrogative words start with wh-...
, the quantifiers, and the hypothetical invisible pronoun denoted Op. Operators are differentiated from other determiners by their ability to produce topicalization and to have trace
Trace (linguistics)
In transformational grammar, a trace is an empty category that occupies a position in the syntactic structure. In some theories of syntax, traces are used in the account of constructions such as wh-movement and passive....
s that "jump" over other trace chains.
In English, the wh-words are considered visible operators. Acceptance of invisible operators in syntactic theory has been justified on the basis of visible operators or topic marker
Topic marker
A topic marker is a grammatical particle found in the Japanese, Korean, and, to a limited extent, Classic Chinese languages used to mark the topic of a sentence. This often overlaps with the subject of the sentence, causing confusion with learners, as most other languages lack it...
s in languages such as Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
.
All operators are subject to the bijection principle, first proposed by Koopman and Sportiche: Every operator A'-binds exactly one variable and every variable is A'-bound by exactly one operator.
In classical government and binding theory
Government and binding theory
Government and binding is a theory of syntax and a phrase structure grammar in the tradition of transformational grammar developed principally by Noam Chomsky in the 1980s...
, an operator is usually understood to be a wh-word or a quantifier in an A'-position.
Examples
- Who said he killed John?
- Everyone likes someone.
In the following example, the trace
- There was a time <when> would have been shot
for such behavior .
Example of an invisible, or non-overt, operator:
- John is easy [<Opi> PRO to please