Do-Support Rule and Negation in Transformational Grammar, Lecture notes of Grammar and Composition

Lesson #13

Rule III: Do-Support Rule.

In some sentences, a do-support has to be supplied.

Tense – (NP) Do-supp. Tense-do- (NP)

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Here is a situation where, as a result of the interrogative rule, only the tense is

placed outside the NP as there is no be or have or modal attached to the tense. Now,

the tense is a Bound Morpheme. It cannot stand alone. It must be attached to some

verbal element (not to any NP like Wattana). Therefore, a dummy verb, namely do, is

supplied here to be attached to the tense. This rule is called the do-support rule. It

states: ‘Support the tense with do when the tense is followed by a non-verbal item’.

So the third step in the above series of transformations is:

Do – support: past – do – Wattana – meet – him.

Now, one can apply the affix-switch rule.

Affix: do – past – Wattan – meet – him

Interrogative rule: past. – Bunjob – accept – your – proposal.

Do-support: past – do – Bunjob – accept – your – proposal.

Affix: do – past – Bunjob – accept – your – proposal.

(did)

Wh –type questions

In order to derive why-questions, two more transformation rules have to be

applied. These rule are:

1. wh – substitution

2. wh – fronting