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Syntax II

Syntax II. “I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences.” --Gertrude Stein. A Reminder. The final exam for this class has been scheduled. Monday, December 17th from 3:30-5:30 pm EEEL 161 Make sure you arrive on time!. Quick Review.

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Syntax II

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  1. Syntax II “I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences.” --Gertrude Stein

  2. A Reminder. • The final exam for this class has been scheduled. • Monday, December 17th from 3:30-5:30 pm • EEEL 161 • Make sure you arrive on time!

  3. Quick Review • Syntax: the study of how words are put together to form sentences and phrases. • These rules operate on lexical categories… • independently of the meaning of the words. • Lexical categories can be defined by: • the syntactic distribution of words • the types of inflectional affixes which may attach to them • Lexical categories (noun, verb, adjective, preposition, etc.) were used to make the old game “Mad Libs” work.

  4. The Last Quick Write • The following sentences are both grammatical and (somewhat) sensible:

  5. Colorless Green Libs? • These sentences are grammatical but don’t make that much sense:

  6. Artsy Libs!

  7. Bad Libs. • The following sentences are not grammatical.

  8. Last Libs. • Also not grammatical:

  9. Phrases • The nodes in a syntactic tree above the word level represent phrases. • phrase = string of words that function as a unit • Basic phrase types: • Noun Phrases (NP): [intelligent leaders] • Verb Phrases (VP): [shoot terrorists] • Prepositional Phrases (PP): [with rifles] • Adjective Phrases (AP): [more intelligent]

  10. Phrase Phacts • Every phrase has to have at least one constituent • This constituent is called the head of the phrase. • The head determines the phrase’s function, behavior and category. • For example, noun phrases have to consist of at least one noun. • Bob the book • a picture of Bob a picture of the unicorn • that weird picture of Bob’s unicorn

  11. In General • There’s a pattern to how these things work: • Noun phrases (NPs) are headed by nouns • NP  N • Verb phrases (VPs) are headed by verbs • VP  V • Prepositional phrases (PPs) are headed by prepositions • PP  P • Adjective phrases (AdjP) are headed by adjectives • AP  A • Basic Phrase Structure Rule: XP  X

  12. More About Phrases • Beyond the heads, phrases can be expanded with specifiers and complements. • Specifiersprecede the head of the phrase; • they qualify or pick out a particular version of the head. • Examples: • this book (Determiner specifying noun) • very late (Degree word specifying adjective) • often forgets (Qualifier/Adverb specifying verb) • almost in (Degree word specifying preposition)

  13. Complements • Complements always follow the head of the phrase… • And provide more information about that head. • this book about unicorns • PP complement of the head of the NP. • very late to class • PP complement of the head of the AP. • often forgets his hat • NP complement of the head of the VP. • almost in the basket • NP complement of the head of the PP.

  14. X-Bar Theory • Together, heads and their complements form a phrasal structure known X’ (“X-bar”). • Here’s the way phrases (of all kinds) normally break down: • XP • (Specifier) X’ • X (Complement) • Head • note: heads are the only obligatory element in the phrase • optional stuff is in parentheses

  15. Tests for Phrase Structure • There are some tests you can use to figure out if a group of words constitutes a phrase. • Substitution • Phrases (and only phrases) can be substituted for by shorter expressions. • Ex: Pronouns can be substitutes for NPs. •  The coach wanted a picture of the book. • She wanted a picture of the book. (= the coach) • The coach wanted it. (= a picture of the book) • The coach wanted a picture of it. (= the book)

  16. Tests for Phrase Structure • VPs can be substituted with the phrase “do so”. • Ex: The coach dropped the ball, and the professor did so, as well. (= dropped the ball) • PPs can be substituted with “there”. • The children waited at the corner, and we waited there, too. (= at the corner) • Substitutions do not work for non-constituents (or the wrong constituents): • *The coach dropped the ball, and the did so, too. • *The children waited at the corner, and we waited at there, too. • *The coach dropped the it.

  17. Tests for Phrase Structure 2. Movement: sometimes, constituents can be moved to another part of the sentence. • NP movement: He hated the Jedi Knights.  • The Jedi Knights, he hated. • Bad examples: • *Jedi Knights, he hated the. • *The Jedi, he hated Knights. • VP movement: • Hate the Jedi Knights, he did. • PP movement: We ran up the hill.  • Up the hill, we ran.

  18. Tests for Phrase Structure • Coordination • Conjunctions like {and, but, or} coordinate phrases of the same type. • NP-coordination: • I like [romantic sunsets] and [long walks on the beach]. • PP: We went [over the river] and [through the woods]. • VP: They want to [eat pizza] or [play video games]. • AP: The blizzard was [very intense] but [surprisingly short].

  19. Tests for Phrase Structure • Coordination • Conjunctions like {and, but, or} coordinate phrases of the same type. • Coordination of unlike phrases can sound quite bad: • NP + AP: *I like [romantic sunsets] and [surprisingly short]. • PP + VP: *We went [over the river] and [play video games]. • VP + NP: *They want to [eat pizza] or [long walks on the beach]. • AP + PP: *The blizzard was [very intense] but [through the woods].

  20. Example Tree NP Det N’ the N book How about: “a picture of the book?”

  21. NP Det N’ a N PP picture P NP of Det N’ the N book

  22. More Example Trees • Let’s draw trees for the following phrases: • VP: often forgets his hat • PP: almost in the basket • AP: very late to class

  23. VP Qual V’ often V NP forgets Det N’ his N hat A VP Example

  24. AP Deg A’ very A PP late P NP to N’ N class An AP Example

  25. Check This Out • A phrase structure rule for NPs looks like: • NP  Det N’ • And a PP can be a complement of a head noun: • N’  N PP • And an NP can be a complement of a prepositional phrase: • PP  (Deg) P’ • P’  P NP • Where can this combination of rules take us?

  26. Whoa, Nellie • There is a possibility for infinite recursion. • NP  Det N PP • NP  Det N P NP • NP  Det N P Det N PP • NP  Det N P Det N P NP • NP  Det N P Det N P Det N PP, etc. • Example: the book from the library in the city near the airport beside the apartment complex with the playground of the children from the school behind the train tracks... • The fact that our grammar can generate phrases like this is why we need to know patterns of patterns.

  27. More Patterns of Patterns • Awhile back, we heard about potentially infinite sentences that sounded like: • Jean knows that Charlie said that Sue suspects that Bill thinks that Beth hopes that Barry is a genius. • Or: • In order to understand the (potentially infinite) structure of sentences like these, we need to know more about: • Sentence structure • Verb complements

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