Syntax

1. Syntax • Phrasal Categories • In addition to Lexical Category, there is another kind of syntactic category: the phrasal category. • Recall that we can determine a word’s category by finding characteristics it shares with other words.

2. Syntax • That is, we can find words which behave the same, or have the same distribution, as other words, and these sets of words we group into a category and give it a name, such as noun or verb. • Then recall that words can combine with other words to form semantically coherent groupings, or constituents.

3. Syntax • Larger chunks of words, called Phrases also behave the same • A phrasal category is a set of constituents which behave the same, or share the same functions and distribution. • Consider the following: • (1)The joggers ran through the park.

4. Syntax • One constituent of this sentence consists of the words the joggers, since it is a natural, semantically coherent group of words that can stand on its own. • If we put this in terms of the lexical categories we have discussed, we see that this constituent is formed by the combination of a determiner and a noun.

5. Syntax • Now consider each of the words or groups of words that follow. • Note that each of them could be substituted for the phrase the joggers in sentence (1), and a grammatical sentence would result:

6. Syntax • a. Susan • b. students • c. you • d. many dogs • e. some children • f. a huge, loveable bear • g. my friend from Brazil

7. Syntax • Each of the examples could likewise be shown to be a constituent in this sentence if it occurred in the place of the joggers.  • Note, however, that some have different structures than the DET + N constituent in the joggers.

8. Syntax • For example, (a) and (b) are single Ns, (f) is composed of DET + ADJ + ADJ + N, and (g) is made up of DET + N + PREP + N • Also note that other sets of words that are constituents cannot be substituted for the joggers, such as in the treeor made a cake.

9. Syntax • What we have proven is that constituents with different structures can have the same functions because they can be used in the same position in a sentence. • This means that they belong to the same category, and since some constituents may involve combinations of more than one word, these categories are called phrasal categories. 

10. Syntax • What are those categories? • Noun Phrases • In the category we just discussed, a noun alone or a noun plus other words forms a noun phrase(NP). • Sometimes, a single word can count as a NP all by itself, but not always.

11. Syntax • For example, the word dog cannot be substituted for the NP slot in: • (2) __________ ran through the park. • Thus, in the sentence The dog ran through the park, dog is a N, but not a NP (whereas dogs and other nouns in the plural, would count as both if placed alone in the slot).

12. Syntax • So we observe from (1) and (2) that proper nouns, pronouns, and plural nouns can be used individually as NPs, but some types of singular Ns cannot be.

13. Syntax • Verb Phrases • Now consider the sentence: • (3) The mothers visited their children. • visited their childrenis a constituent • It is composed of V + NP.

14. Syntax • Note that this particular structure does not share the same properties of the structures grouped into the category of NP because we could not insert visited their childrenin the slot in (2).

15. Syntax • Other structures can be substituted for visited their children, however. • For example: • a. snored • b. loved music • c. walked the dog through the park • d. believe that dogs are smart • e. wanted to leave

16. Syntax • f. will sleep soundly • g. can lift 100 pounds • h. are wearing sunglasses

17. Syntax • All of the structures behave the same, and thus can be grouped into another phrasal category, namely that of verb phrase(VP). • Note that VPs can consist of a single V or a V + other words. • For example, (c) is V + NP + PP and (f) is AUX + V + ADV.

18. Syntax • Adjective Phrases • Another phrasal category is that of adjective phrases(ADJPs), such as: • a. smart • b. very tall • c. as tall as his father • d. smarter than the average bear • e. certain to win

19. Syntax • Note that each of these could be inserted into the syntactic frame: • (4). John is ________________ . • Again, they can be made up of a wide range of structures, all of which can serve to describe John.

20. Syntax • Adverbial phrases(ADVPs) are often used to modify verbs and adjectives and adverbs: • a. soundly • b. fiercely • c. as fluently as a native • d. almost certainly

21. Syntax • Thus, they often appear as constituents of VPs and ADJPs, as in: • a. speak French as fluently as a native (VP) • b. fiercely loyal (ADJP) • c. sleep soundly (VP)

22. Syntax • Prepositional Phrases • Another phrasal syntactic category is that of prepositional phrases(PPs). • PPs always consist of a preposition plus an NP, as in the following: • a. from Brazil • b. with Howard and his dog • c. for nothing • d. to the Principal’s office

23. Syntax • A PP can be a constituent within a wide range of phrases: • a. go to the movies (VP) • b. my friend from Brazil (NP) • c. angry with Howard and his dog (ADJP) • d. separately from the others (ADVP)

24. Syntax • Sentences • Sentences(S) also form a phrasal syntactic category. Sentences are, of course, often used by themselves: • a. It is raining. • b. I like apple pie.

25. Syntax • The sentence: • (5). I like steak but Fred prefers chicken. • actually contains two conjoined Ss.

26. Syntax • In fact, any expression resulting from the combination of two or more smaller expressions by a conjunction belongs to the same category as the smaller ones do.

27. Syntax • Thus, in Howard and his dog, both Howard and his dog are each separate NPs. • But they also combine to make an NP higher up in the hierarchical structure.