Transcript Syntax
1. Categories and Structure 1.1 Word-level Categories Table 1 Syntactic categories Lexical categories Examples Noun (N) Tom, boy, wheat, bravery Verb (V) discuss, like, hear, remain Adjective (A) good, tall, old, intelligent Adverb (Adv) silently, slowly, quickly Preposition (P) to, in, on, near, by, at Non-lexical categories Examples Determiner (Det) the, a, this, these Degree word (Deg) too, so, very, more, quite Quantifier (Qual) always, often, never, almost Auxiliary (Aux) will, can, may, must, should Conjunction (Con) and, or, but 1.2 Phrase Structure XP Specifier X Complement Head Figure 1 The phrase structure template Ex: a. VP Qual V never drink b. NP the water NP Det N the man 1.3 Sentences S (=InflP) NP VP Infl Det A N scientist NP V will discover Det the N answer 2. Complement Options Subcategorization: The classification of words in terms of their complement options (e.g., the verb devour is subcategorized for a complement NP) Table 2 Some examples of verb complements Complement option Sample heads Example vanish, arrive, die The child vanish. NP devour, cut, prove The teacher proved [the theorem]. AP be, become The man became [very angry]. PP dash, talk, refer The dog dashed [to the door]. NP NP give, spare, hand We handed [the man] [a map]. NP PP to hand, send, give He gave [a diploma] [to the student]. NP PP for buy, cook, reserve We bought [a hat] [for Andy]. NP PP PP open, fix We opened [the door] [for Tom] [with a crowbar]. 1.4 Tests for Phrase Structure (1) The substitution test Ex: [NPThe citizens] rebelled after they discovered the truth. (they = the citizens) (2) The movement test Ex: They stopped [PP at the corner] [PP At the corner], they stopped. (3) The coordination test Ex: The children [VP often sweep the floor] but [VP never make the bed]. 1.5 X’ Categories XP X’ Specifier X Head Complement Figure 2 The phrase structure template (revised) Table 3 Some examples of noun complements Complement option Sample heads Example car, boy, electricity the car__ PPof memory, failure the memory [of a friend] PPof PPto presentation, donation the presentation [of a medal] [to the winner] PPwith PPabout argument, discussion an argument [with Stella] [about politics] Complement Clauses: Ex: [The psychic knows [that/whether/if the contestant will win]]. 3. Transformations 3.1 Inversion In Yes-No Questions Inversion: Move Infl to the left of the subject NP. Ex: The boy will leave. Will the boy __ leave? (Deep Structure/ D-structure) (Surface Structure/ S-structure) The XP Rule Deep Structure (Subcategorization restricts choice of complements) Transformations Surface Structure Figure 3 The syntactic component of the grammar 3.2 WH Movement Wh Movement: Move the wh phrase to the beginning of the sentence. Ex: Which car should the man fix? (S-structure) The man should fix which car. (D-structure) Which car should the man __ fix __ ? Inversion Wh Movement 3.3 A More Detailed Look At Transformations l Inversion (revised): Move Infl to C. l Do Insertion: Insert interrogative do into an empty Infl position. l Wh Movement (revised): Move a wh phrase to the specifier position under CP. 3.4 Constraints On Transformations l Movement of an auxiliary to the nearest C position: [CP[IP Harry should know [CP that the bottle could explode]]]. [CP Should [IP Harry __ know [CP that the bottle could explode]]]. *[CP Could [IP Harry should know [CP that the bottle __ explode]]]. The Subject Constraint: No element may be removed from a subject phrase. The Coordinate Structure Constraint: No element may be removed from a coordinate structure. Ex: The author might write [a story or a poem]. *What might the author write [a story or __]? l Movement of a wh word from inside a complement phrase: a. Carl should see [a picture of Dracula]. (Deep Structure) Who should Carl see [a picture of __]? (Surface Structure) b. [A picture of Dracula] could frighten John. (Deep Structure) *Who could [a picture of __] frighten John? (Surface Structure) 4.Universal Grammar and Parametric Variation Universal Grammar: The system of categories, mechanisms, and constraints shared by all human languages. 4.1 Variation in Syntactic Categories Ex: a. The cat is hungry. b. The cat has hunger. The cat hungers. 4.2 Variation in Phrase Structure Rules l Japanese (head-final): XP (Specifier) (Complement*) X l XP rule used in Thai for Ss: XP (Specifier) X (Complement*) l XP rule used in Thai for phrases smaller than S: XP X (Specifier) (Complement*) 4.3 Variation in the Use of Transformations l Yes-no questions l Wh questions l Verb Raising: Move verb to Infl. 5. Some Extensions l Coordination: coordination of NPs, VPs, PPs, Aps, and Ss. Ex: [the man] and [a child] [go to the library] and [read a book] l Modifiers: A very tall man walked into the room. Ellen proceeded carefully. He stayed for three days. l Relative Clauses: Sue knows the man [who Bob criticized __]. Harry visited the village [which Sue walked to __]. 6. Other Types of Syntactic Analysis (1) Passive Structures (2) Relational Analysis Functional Analysis Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of Languages 1. Syntax: the rules of sentence formation; the component of the mental grammar that represent speakers’ knowledge of the structure of phrase and sentence. Sentences are not simple random strings or words; they conform to specific patterns determined by the syntactic rules of the language. Grammaticality judgments do not depend on whether the sentence is meaningful or not. e.g. My father went to Taipei by bus at 8 this morning. My father took a bus to Taipei at 8 this morning. 2. The hierarchical structure (tree diagram) (Recursive) The child found the puppy the child the found the puppy child ound the puppy the puppy 3. Syntactic Categories: A family of expressions that can substitute for one another without loss of grammaticality is called a syntactic category. e.g. The child found the puppy. A police officer found the puppy. Your neighbor found the puppy. This yellow cat found the puppy. He found the puppy. The child, a police officer, your neighbor, this yellow cat, he belong to the syntactic category. 4. Phrase Structure Tree: a linear string of words a hierarchical structure 5. lexical categories: the lowest categories, whose members are words Ambiguity S NP VP Art N V the boy saw NP PP Art N P the man with NP Art N the telescope S NP VP Art N V the boy saw NP Art N the man PP P with NP Art the N telescope 6. Phrasal categories: The categories that occur to the left of the arrow in a phrase structure rule are called phrase categories; categories that never occur on the left side of any rule are lexical categories. 7. Phrase Structure Rule: (1) (X-bar theory) NP (Swedish) Art n the man (2) VP→V : buy VP→V NP : buy the book VP→V NP PP : buy the book from the store (3) PP→P NP (4) NP→Art : in the store (Japanese) (Adj.)* N (PP) e.g. The large fierce black dog looked out the window 8. Subcategorization: A transitive verb must be followed by a Noun Phrase, its “ directive object.” This additional specification is called subcategorization, and is also included in the lexical entry of each word. 9. complementizer: A syntactic category of words that precede the S in an S-bar. e.g. that in “I know that you know…” NP Pronoun VP VS’ S’(Comp) S He believes that she loves the cat. S NP Pronoun He VP V believes S’ comp that S NP VP Pronoun V She loves NP Art N the cat 10. Phrase Structure Tree: Syntactic Categories Phrasal Categories Lexical Categories 11. Transformational Rules e.g. The boy who is spelling is dreaming. Is the boy who is spelling dreaming? S NP The boy who is sleeping Aux VP is dreaming Transformational Rules Applied S Aux Is NP The boy who is sleeping VP dreaming 12. Long-Distance Relationships In English, the verb in the present-simple tense has an “s” added whenever the subject is the third person singular. Such a relationship is called subject-verb agreement. And this agreement may take over a long distance; besides, there is no limit to how many words may intervene, as the following sentences illustrates: e.g. The guy we met at the party next door seems kind of cute The guys we met at the party next door seem kind of cute The guys(guy) we met at the party next door that lasted until three A.M. and was finally broken up by the cops who were called by the neighbors seem(seems) kind of cute 13. A Summary Of All The Phrase Structure Rules Presented In This Chapter S NP (Aux) VP S’ (Comp) S NPArt (Adj)* N (PP) NPPronoun VPV (NP) (PP) VPV S’ PPP NP These rules do not constitute all the rules that English speakers know. English speakers know many other rules of this kind, and produce many sentences and phrase structures using rules other than these.