Transcript 1. What is grammar?

Chapter 5
Syntax
Outline
Introduction
4. Sentence structure
1. What is grammar?
5. Functions of tree structures
2. Category
6. Embedded sentences
2.1 Lexical category
2.2 Subcategorization
3. Phrases
3.1 Phrase structure rules
3.2 VP structure rules
3.3 PP structure rules
3.4 Other PS structure rules
3.5 Internal structure of phrases
7. Transformation rules
7.1 Inversion rules
7.2 Wh-movement
8. Summary
Introduction (1/3)
Syntax concerned with
structure of sentences
leading linguistic research in theories
inspired by Noam Chomsky
tenet
finite basic structures for infinite sentences in a language
Introduction (2/3)
Issue explored
Why can a child acquire a language in such a short time?
usually mastering native language before 12 years old
twofold assumption
Universal Grammar
LAD (language acquisition device)
in our brain
There are a certain common
properties among languages.
If that language is innate,
it is not learned but acquired.
Introduction (3/3)
Utterances
basic unites
sentences
different in appearance
Different languages share a lot of common structures.
E.g., composed of
NP (Noun phrase) + VP (Verb phrase)
This chapter includes:
(1) category
(4) sentence structure rules
(2) subcategory
(5) transformation (inversion, Wh-movement,
(3) phrase structure rules
NP-movement)
1. What is grammar
1. What is grammar? (1/9)
English grammar
To most of the Taiwanese students
a nightmare
has suffered from
tests and memorization of
grammatical terms & structures
pedagogical grammar
Very different
in this chapter
be part of our linguistic
knowledge or language
intuition
1. What is grammar? (2/9)
One who does not have any deficiency in language
(e.g., articulator disorder or heavy retarded)
be able to
(1) speak her/his own native language (NL)
(2) understand what he hears if s/he is spoken to in his own NL
(3) judge what sentences are ungrammatical
1. What is grammar? (3/9)
E.g., (1) a. The boy met the girl.
b. The met boy the girl.
All the words are the same, but
different in word order.
(2) a. The girl met the boy.
b. The girl the boy met.
English native speakers
knowing that both are not good sentences
although
might not be able to point out what makes them weird or unacceptable
language faulty
stop from speaking ungrammatical sentences
Q: What is the nature of language faculty or language competence?
1. What is grammar? (4/9)
language faulty
creativity
a. innovation of new sentences
b. if you listen carefully what you are told
autonomy
Each grammar is independent,
& to some extent is arbitrary.
would find
few sentences are repeated (Red)
although topics might be Red & Red.
the same finding as reading
(to check quotation dictionaries)
All sentences might be foreign to you,
but you understand what they mean
even if it is your first time reading
1. What is grammar? (5/9)
Autonomy
E.g., English V.S. Chinese sentences
(1) a. He studied in the classroom in the evening.
b. Ta dushu zaijaoshi zhaiwanshang
unacceptable
translated
translated
word by word
He study in the classroom in the evening
(2) a. Wanshang ta zaijiaoshi dushu
acceptable
b. In the evening he in the classroom studied.
1a & 2a implication
a. Grammar is different in a certain respect.
b. Each grammar is unique & autonomous.
1. What is grammar? (6/9)
Q: What does it mean by unacceptable or ungrammatical?
Are they are the same?
(1) Grammatical but unacceptable
modify
reasonable, e.g. pretty girl, colorful pictures
E.g., a. Colorless green sleeps furiously. structure/grammar
adjective
subject verb adverb
but
perfect
unacceptable,
for (a) (b) (c)
common
(a) no green without any color
(c) Sleep can be sound but not furious,
(e.g. He had a sound sleep last night.)
(b) Green never sleeps.
(Only animate can do the action of sleeping)
1. What is grammar? (7/9)
(1) Grammatical but unacceptable
E.g., b. He killed the dead umbrella.
c. The excited pencil walked gigantically in the park.
(2) Not entirely grammatical but acceptable & frequently used
E.g, a. Sally poured the glass with water.
grammatically should be
Sally
poured water into the glass.
filled the glass with water.
b. Been there, done it.
has become an idiomatic use
in pragmatics
simplification
= We have been there and we have done it.
forgotten
1. What is grammar? (8/9)
Conclusion
Grammatical sentences
acceptable
not always
Acceptable sentences
grammatical
However
The target of this chapter is grammatical & acceptable sentences.
1. What is grammar? (9/9)
Review
1. What do you think is linguistic knowledge? Please try to answer this
question on the basis of some examples.
2. What is linguistic creativity? Please give at least two sentences to argue
for it.
3. What does autonomy mean in linguistics? Please give a good example
to show what autonomy means to you.
4. Please write down at least two grammatical but unacceptable sentences.
5. What difference is there between pedagogical and linguistic grammar?
2. Category
a grouping so that each group of words
may occur in a certain position
2.1 Lexical category
2.2 Subcategorization
2.1 Lexical category (1/2)
Words or lexica
with the same properties
a category
e.g., desk, cup, tiger, water
nouns
referring to
naming of persons, events, time,
places, or materials
a. occurring in the nominative position
b. used as an object in a sentence
E.g., The book is on the table
nominative or subject
2.1 Lexical category (2/2)
category
abbreviated
examples
noun
N
desk, pen, food, air, Tom
verb
V
walk, read, cry, smile, give, put
adjective
A
beautiful, calm, tall, low, thin
preposition
P
in, on, under, above
frequently used in syntactic
structures
adverb
Adv.
slowly, yesterday, where, furiously
auxiliary
Aux.
can, ought to, might, will
articles
you, him, they, she
indefinite
quantifiers
pronoun
Pro
determiner
Det.
a, an, the, this, some, many, any, few
conjunction
Conj.
and, but, neither…nor, when
2.2 Subcategorization (1/2)
Subcategorization (SUB)
has been assumed
in lexical categories
There are further subcategories.
be part of the language faculty
Children
Children
in the process of English acquisition
knowing
Vs
Ns
when acquiring mother tongues
putting all the categories & SUB
in their mental lexicon
E.g., verbs (Vs) & nouns (Ns)
transitive (vt.)
countable (e.g., book, pen, table)
intransitive (vi.) uncountable (e.g., water, paper, air)
2.2 Subcategorization (2/2)
In the mental lexicon of an English child, word inputs are listed below:
V. = verb; NP = noun phrase; PP = preposition phrase
(1) a. cry, V. ____
a verb (vi.) independently
b. buy, V. _____ NP
a verb (vt.) that must + NP
c. give, V. ____ NP, NP
a dative verb that must + 2 NPs
d. put, V. ____ NP, PP (location)
(2) a. He put a book on the table.
b. He put a book here.
c. He put a book.
d. He put on the table.
a verb that should + an NP & a PP
good sentences
bad sentences
no PP following put
no NP following put
2. Category
Review
1. Please sort out the following words according to their lexical categories.
insert
cancel
beautiful
about
excited
hospitality
could
we
those
quickly
but
behind
into
several
some
2. What is subcategorization? Please write down the subcategorizatin of the
following lexicon.
send
water
dance
pen
kill
John
smile
beauty
deliver
3. Phrases
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
Phrase structure rules
VP structure rules
PP structure rules
Other PS structure rules
Internal structure of phrases
3. Phrases
Phrases
based on grammatical use
a phrase
constructed by
phrase structure rules
(1) NP: noun phrase
(2) VP: verb phrase
composed of
more than 1 word
(3) PP: preposition phrase
(4) AP: adjective phrase
(5) Adv.P: adverb phrase
3.1 Phrase structure rules (1/5)
Phrase structure rules (PS-rules) are written as follows: E.g., NP
(1) a. NP
b. NP
(Det) N
generating
(Det) (AP) N
a NP = a Det (article) + a noun
(Det)
( ) indicating
(2) a. NP
N
water
b. NP
Det
N
the book
optional,
Det may be skipped.
article
tree diagrams
3.1 Phrase structure rules (2/5)
(2)
b.
node ; mother node
NP
dominating
node
Det
node
N
sister nodes (to each other)
the
book
daughter nodes
can be written
c. [NP [Det the][N book]]
domain
3.1 Phrase structure rules (3/5)
(2) a. NP
node
N
node
b.
node
water
node
NP
Det
N
the
book
node
lexical insertion
(finding lexicon for each node)
Only an uncountable noun can be inserted.
Any types of noun can be inserted,
e.g. the water or the pen.
3.1 Phrase structure rules (4/5)
(1) b. NP
(3) a.
AP
based on the presence
or absence of a Det
(Det) (AP) N
NP
b.
N
NP1
Det
A
NP2
AP
N
A
cold
water
the
colorful
book
3.1 Phrase structure rules (5/5)
Review: the relation of each node
(3)
b.
dominating
NP1
Det
grandmother node
NP1
mother node
Det
NP2
AP
NP2
AP
N
A
A
the
colorful
sister nodes
(to each other)
N
book
head
the
colorful
is mother of
book
sister
(to each other)
3.2 VP structure rules (1/3)
VP structure rules are written as follows:
(1) a. VP
V (PP)
( ) indicating
The verb is vi.
The verb is vt.
b. VP
V NP
c. VP
V NP PP
Tree diagrams (2) a.
optional
implies
VP
V
b.
VP
V
cry
PP
P
NP
Det
cry
in
N
the morning
3.2 VP structure rules (2/3)
(1) b. VP
V NP
c. VP
V NP PP
Tree diagrams
(3)
head
a.
b.
VP
V
NP
Det
head
V
N
VP
NP
Det
PP
N
P
NP
Det
buy
a
book
put
the book on the
N
desk
3.2 VP structure rules (3/3)
be unlikely generated
(4)
VP
V
lexical
insertion
cry
subcategorization
NP
Det
N
the
book
cry, V. ___ (PP)
V. ___ NP
ungrammatical
No NP is allowed.
3.3 PP structure rules
A PP structure rule is written below:
(1) PP
P NP
Tree diagrams
(2)
head
a.
PP
P
in
b.
NP
head
Det
N
the
room
PP
P
of
NP
Det
N
the
value
3.4 Other PS structure rules
After getting the basic knowledge of NP, VP, & PP,
other PS rules are quite obvious, for which reason
we would like to skip other PS rules here.
3.5 Internal structure of phrases (1/5)
There is a head node for each phrase structure (PS).
(1) a. NP
N
b. VP
V
c. PP
P
d. AP
A
X (as a variable) = V, N, P, or A
(2) XP
X
3.5 Internal structure of phrases (2/5)
a. NP
N
E.g.,
b. VP
V
(1) very beautiful,
P
(2) to slowly speak (to speak slowly)
A
(3) a beautiful lady.
c. PP
a modifier +
d. AP
used in linguistics
Specifier (Spec)
XP
Spec X
Tree diagram:
Spec
XP
X
3.5 Internal structure of phrases (3/5)
VP
V NP
object
complement
vi.
XP
a. AP
X C (E.g., X = A, P, N; C = PP, NP, PP)
A PP
He is fond of reading.
I am satisfied with his achievements.
b. PP
P NP
He lives in Taipei.
c. NP
N PP
I believe his capability of doing that job.
3.5 Internal structure of phrases (4/5)
XP
X C
XP
Spec X C
further revised as
Tree diagram:
Spec
XP
X
C (Complement)
X-bar theory
X’’
Spec
maximal projection
X-bar
X’
X
an independent unit
X
C
XP = VP, PP, NP, AP
(X-double bar)
3.5 Internal structure of phrases (5/5)
E.g., a Taiwan tea party
X-bar theory
cannot be independent
X’’
Spec
X’
X
X
C
N’’
a.
N’
Det
N’
N
N
Taiwan
N’’
b.
N’
Det
a
an NP
usually occurring
N’
N
tea party
N
N
N
a Taiwan tea
party
3. Phrases (1/2)
Review
1. What are PS-rules? Please draw a tree diagram for the phrase
“a magic kiss.”
2. Please draw tree diagrams according to the given PS rules.
3. Phrases (2/2)
Review
3. Please draw a tree diagram for each phrase below.
a. buy a piece of chocolate for John
b. cry sadly in the park near my house
c. to the beautiful garden in the school
d. a very tall gentleman with white hair
4. Sentence structure
With the general backgrounds of phrase structure rules
and how different phrase structures are generated, it will
be not so difficult to get the idea of sentence generation.
4. Sentence structure (1/3)
The rule for sentence structure:
(1) S
NP VP
(1) rule + PS-rules
(2) a. S
NP VP
b. NP
Det N
c. VP
V NP
PS-rules for sentence generation:
(3)
S
NP
Det
VP
N
V
NP
Det
The
boy
N
bought that book
4. Sentence structure (2/3)
More examples in the following:
(4) a. Mary mailed a book to Harris.
b. John put a flower on the table.
S
S
N’’
V’’
NP
V’
V
P’’
N’’
Det
P
N’’
N
Mary mailed a book to Harris
VP
V
N’’
Det
N
P’’
P
N’’
Det
N
John put a flower on the table
4. Sentence structure (3/3)
Review
Please write down PS-rules responsible for the following sentences
and draw a tree diagram for each sentence.
a. buy a piece of chocolate for John
b. cry sadly in the park near my house
c. to the beautiful garden in the school
d. a very tall gentleman with white hair
5. Functions of tree structure
Q: Why should we use tree diagrams for syntactic structure?
A: Ambiguous sentences can be made clear by way of tree structures.
5. Functions of tree structures (1/3)
E.g., The man saw the girl in the garden. (There are 2 possible meanings.)
a.
S
NP
Det
N
b.
VP
V
S
NP
NP
Det
Det
NP
N
N
VP
V
PP
P
VP
PP
NP
Det N
P
NP
Det
N
NP
Det
N
The man saw the girl in the garden
The man saw the girl in the garden
with a telescope
5. Functions of tree structures (2/3)
E.g., The man saw the girl in the garden.
Bracket label can save the space:
a. [[[Det The N man] NP [V saw [[Det the N girl] NP [P in [Det the N garden] NP] PP]NP]VP]S
b. [[[Det The N man] NP [V saw [Det the N girl] NP [P in [Det the N garden] NP] PP]]VP]S
5. Functions of tree structures (3/3)
Review
1. What are ambiguous sentences? How can ambiguous sentences be
clarified in meaning?
2. Please draw tree diagrams for the following sentences:
a. I sent a letter to John.
c. The chicken is ready to eat.
b. He danced happily.
3. Each of the following sentences is ambiguous. Please use tree
diagrams for the distinction of meaning.
a. He looked at the girl with glasses.
b. He met the polite woman and man.
c. Visiting professors might be boring.
6. Embedded sentences
1. Embedded sentences (1/4)
embedded sentences (ESs)
a. a sentence put into another one,
like relative clauses.
a. an ES
signified with
b. used to be called subordinate clauses
S-bar (S’)
PS-rule
c. usually led by conjunctions like
that, which, or what.
inserted under
COMP (Complementizer)
S’
COMP S
6. Embedded sentences (2/4)
(1) + (2) = (3)
(1) a. S
b. NP
c. VP
NP VP
(2) S’
S
Det N
V NP
NP
Det
(3) a. S
b. NP
c. VP
d. S’
e. VP
NP VP
COMP S
N
VP
V
S’
COMP
VP
Det N
V S’
COMP S
V NP
NP
Det
N
VP
V
NP
Det
N
The boy said that his friend bought that book
6. Embedded sentences (3/4)
(3) a. S
b. NP
c. VP
d. S’
e. VP
E.g.,
NP VP
Det N
V S’
recursive
if applied
continuously
generating
infinite sentences
COMP S
V NP
because of our memory span
a. The boy said that his friend bought that book.
b. The woman said that the boy said that his friend bought that book.
c. The girl said that the woman said that the boy said that his friend
bought that book.
An ES follows a transitive verb.
6. Embedded sentences (4/4)
Review
1. What are embedded sentences? What are the specific properties of
embedded sentences?
2. Please draw tree diagrams for the following sentences:
a. Mary claimed that she would marry John.
b. I don’t believe that he has told me the truth.
c. The man that we met last night is John’s father.
d. He told me a story about John.
e. Bill said that he would help you with the homework.
7. Transformation rules
are responsible for sentence variations
7.1 Inversion rules
7.2 Wh-movement
7.1 Inversion rules (1/2)
grammatical
(1) a. He will leave tomorrow.
b. Will he leave tomorrow?
according to PS rules (S
Aux (auxiliary verbs) + NP + VP
NP VP)
cannot be generated by
any PS rules
However
(1b) is a very good sentence & used quite often.
How can we account for this phenomenon?
Generative Grammar
7.1 Inversion rules (2/2)
Framework of Generative Grammar:
Deep structure  Transformation rules  Surface structure
is
because of no TRs
(1) a. He will leave tomorrow.
works
together
is
b. Will he leave tomorrow?
Inversion rule:
NP (Aux) V  Aux NP V
1 2 3
3 1 2
a statement  an interrogative sentence
7.2 Wh-movement (1/2)
The rule of Wh-movement:
Wh-words (when, what, who, where, which, & how) in the sentences
moved to
the beginning of a sentence
E.g., (1) Which car did he put in the garage?
(2) He put which car in the garage.
(Which car) He put which car in the garage.
Deep structure
7.2 Wh-movement (2/2)
applying 2
transformation rules
(1) Which car did he put in the garage?
(2) He put which car in the garage.
S’
COMP
Aux
S
NP
VP
N
VP
V
PP
NP
Det
P
N
NP
Det
N
He (did) put which car in the garage
Inversion
Wh-movement
7. Transformation rules (1/3)
Why should there be transformational rules?
a. not entirely answered yet
b. might be due in part to the creativity of languages
However
a. Not everything can be moved in a sentence.
b. Some constraints are there to keep something stable in a sentence.
7. Transformation rules (2/3)
E.g.,
(1) a. I would like to buy that book for him.
b. For him I would like to buy that book.
one thing
in common c. That book I would like to buy for him.
The Subject (NP) always precedes the V (VP)
if anything in a sentence can be moved out
no chance in communication
without any answer so far
so
some constraints: to stop movement from happening
7. Transformation rules (3/3)
Review
1. What is a transformation?
2. What is the inversion rule? In which circumstances, Inversion Rule
has to be applied?
3. What is Wh-movement? Please try to illustrate your answer with
examples.
8. Summary
8. Summary (1/2)
This chapter
goal
to explore what underlies our linguistic knowledge
To know a language
to possess the grammar of that language
be able to
a. produce all the possible grammatical sentences
b. stop any ungrammatical sentences from being spoken out
8. Summary (2/2)
in
Deep structure

Framework of syntax
can be applied

Transformation rules
resulting in
Surface structure
based on X-bar theory
There are PS rules
Lexicon is inserted
generating
based on
different types of sentences
PS + subcategorizations of each word