Transcript Syntax Continued

Syntax Continued
Constituency Tests
Phrase Structure Rules
How to determine constituency
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Semantic Intuitions
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sometimes, we just know that certain strings
of words go together as a unit.
Constituency Tests (more reliable)
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tests that can be applied to string of words in a
given sentence to determine if the string is a
constituent or not.
Three kinds of constituency tests
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Stand Alone Test
Substitution Test
Movement Test
Stand Alone Test
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A constituent can often be replaced
by a question expression such as who,
what, where, how, why, or do/did
what.
The replaced constituent can then
stand alone as an answer to the
question.
Stand Alone Test
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Clarice played the accordion under the table.
Q: Where did Clarice play the accordion?
A: under the table
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Clarice played the accordion under the table.
Q: Clarice played what under the table?
A: the accordion
Substitution Test
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Only constituents can be replaced by pro-forms.
Pro-form
pronouns
pro-verbs
pro-adverbs
pro-adjectives
examples
she, he, it, they, us, her, that
do, be
there, then, here
such, so, thus
Substitution Test
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Clarice played the accordion under the table.
Clarice played the accordion there.
Clarice played the accordion under the table.
Clarice played it under the table.
Clarice played the accordion under the table.
Clarice did. (Who played the accordion under
the table?)
Movement Test
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If a string can be moved to the beginning of a sentence, it
is a constituent.
Clarice played the accordion under the table.
Under the table, Clarice played the accordion.
? The accordion Clarice played under the table. (We
already know this is a constituent.)
* Played the accordion under the table Clarice.
(We already know this is a constituent.)
Sometimes, constituency tests won’t work for strings that
are actually constituents.
When applying constituency tests,
keep this in mind…
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The tests are not foolproof. Often a constituent
will only pass two of the three tests.
Decide whether or not a string is a constituent
based on how convincing the test results are.
One strong pass is enough to determine
constituency in some cases.
When applying constituency tests,
keep this in mind…
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We can only say whether or not a string is a
constituent relative to a particular sentence.
Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.
We watched shooting stars all night
The Milky Way was shooting stars from the
galactic center.
Phrase Structure Rules
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Our Grammar Consists of a set of rules
acquired in order to form sentences
They are formed by putting words from
different lexical categories together
PSRs (Phrase Structure Rules) differ from
language to language.
Lexical category
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Parts of speech
Many words, limited categories
What you learned in school
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Noun
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Verb
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Person, place or thing
Action word
Adjective
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Describes something
But…
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“bad”
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“oops, my bad”
“sandwich”
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“to sandwich something between two things”
Determiners
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a, an, the, every, this, that, those, her, his,
my, yours
______ (Adj) N
Det
Nouns
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______ + plural morpheme {-s}
Det (Adj) ______
N
Adjectives
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______ + comparative/superlative
morpheme (-er, -est)
more/most ______; very/quite ______
linking verb ______ (seems, feels, is)
Det ______ N
A
Verbs
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______ + progressive morpheme {-ing}
______ + past tense morpheme {-ed}
auxiliary verb ______ (must, will, might)
to ______
___ (NP) (PP)
V
Prepositions
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at, up, over, into, above, through
right ______ NP
___ NP
P
Phrasal Categories
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Phrasal Categories: A set of constituents
that behave the same and share the same
function.
Phrasal Category is named after its head
element:
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The boy, a girl, girls are NP’s.
NP[The boy] VP[hit him]
Phrase Structure Rules (PSRs)
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Make observations about language
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subject and predicate (NP and VP)
Make a rule
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S  NP VP
“a sentence consists of an NP and a VP”
Noun phrases (NPs)
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Cats make good pets
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The book is red
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NP  N
NP  Det N
My friendly neighbor enjoys jogging
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NP  Det Adj N
Collapse the rules
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NP  N
NP  Det N
NP  Det Adj N
= NP  (Det) (Adj) N
English PSRs
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S  NP VP
NP  (Det) (AP) N
VP  V (NP) (PP)
AdjP  (Adv) Adj
PP  P NP
Building trees
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Words and rules
Different ways
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top-down
bottom-up
Top-down
S
Top-down
S
VP
NP
Top-down
S
VP
NP
NP
V
Top-down
S
VP
NP
Det A
NP
N
V Det
A
N
Top-down
S
VP
NP
Det A
NP
N
V
Det
A
N
My new roommate eats my leftover food
Bottom-up
My new roommate eats my leftover food
Bottom-up
Det A
N
V Det
A
N
My new roommate eats my leftover food
Bottom-up
NP
Det
A
NP
N
V Det
A
N
My new roommate eats my leftover food
Bottom-up
VP
NP
Det A
NP
N
V Det
A
N
My new roommate eats my leftover food
Bottom-up
S
VP
NP
Det A
NP
N
V Det
A
N
My new roommate eats my leftover food
Practice Sentences
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The energetic boy ran up the hill.
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The little dog ate the biscuits.