Syntax

THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES

GENERAL LINGUISTICS
NOVEMBER 2, 2017
You know that this is bad English

HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=HYWGL816YRQ

BUT HOW DID YOU FIGURE IT OUT?

WHAT IS SYNTACTIC KNOWLEDGE?

• How words build phrases
• How phrases build sentences
• How sentences can be interpreted
• How sentences can be modified (and the impact this has on meaning)
 3

Syntax Outline
Roadmap

 Categories
 Lexical Categories
 Functional Categories

 Constituency
 Constituency Tests

 Phrase Structure
Goal: To identify the
grammatical pieces  Diagramming Sentences
we’re working with, and
how they come together
compositionally to
create a sentence with
meaning.
Lexical & Functional Categories
4

PARTS OF SPEECH AND SYNTACTIC

STRUCTURE FORMATION
 Major Categories of Words
5
OPEN
 Lexical Categories: Have semantic content (meaning) CATEGORY

 Functional Categories: Have effectively no semantic content,

fulfill grammatical functions CLOSED
CATEGORY
 Identifying Major Lexical Categories
in English
6
 Nouns (N)
 Often the subject or object of a sentence
 Pronouns (e.g. She, He, We, Me)
 Modified by adjectives
 Frame: X is fabulous

 Verbs (V)
 (Generally) follow subject, precedes object
 Often take tense (-s, -ed), aspect (-en)
 Frame: They can X, or They X-ed the bananas.

 Adjectives (Adj)
 Can follow very
 Modify and precede nouns
 Frame: He is so/very X, or The very X boy

 Adverbs (Adv)
 Often ends in -ly
 Can appear at beginning or end of sentence, before verb
 Frame: Mary treats John X, or X the men go to work
Identifying Major Functional Categories
in English
7
 Determiners (Det)
 Possessive pronouns (e.g. my dog)
 If with a noun, generally just 1 per noun
 Come before noun, adjectives
 Frame: What are you looking for? X dog.

 Prepositions (P)
 Followed by accusative (object case): the box is X him
 Modified by right/straight/long

 Auxiliaries (Aux)
 Can be inverted: Will he leave?
 Precede negation: He will not leave
 Ellipsis: John will leave but you will (not)
 Frame: They X cut the bananas.

 Complementizers (C)
 Precede embedded sentences
 Frame: Bill wonders/hopes X John left.
 Now what?
8

 Lexical & functional categories combine together to

make constituents. Constituent = A group of words
that function together as a
discrete unit in the sentence.

 Constituents combine together to make sentences.

WORDS  PHRASES  SENTENCES

 Constituency
9

DETERMINING THE GROUPS WORDS FORM

WITHIN A SENTENCE
 Constituency
10

 We know intuitively that some words in a sentence form

a natural group, while others don’t:

 Jane and her parents saw that Gaby had enough to eat
 [Jane and her parents] -- √
 [enough to eat] -- √
 [that Gaby had] -- ???

 By performing a few tests, we can see which groups of

words form constituents
 Constituent: A group of words that function together as a
discrete unit in the sentence.
 Constituency
11

 How do we break the following sentence into constituents?

Thor slept on really fluffy pillows

Thor slept on really fluffy pillows

Thor slept on really fluffy pillows

Thor slept on really fluffy pillows

Thor slept on really fluffy pillows

 How do we know if we have a constituent?
12

Constituency tests
 Substitution
 Movement
 Wh-word Replacement
 Sentence Fragment and Question Test
 Ellipsis
 Category Coordination
 How do we know if we have a constituent?
13

 Substitution
 Take a single word or a simple phrase and substitute it for a longer
phrase, thereby showing that the longer phrase is a unit. To find
noun phrases (NPs), pronouns are a good substitute (e.g., it, they).
For verb phrases (VPs), a useful substitute is do so.
For noun phrases (NPs),
[The man in the black hat] is my brother. pronouns are a good
[He] is my brother. substitute (e.g., it, they)

Rachael wants to [visit Paris]. For verb phrases (VPs), a

I managed to [do so] last summer. useful substitute is do so.

You were sick [when I saw you].

You were sick [yesterday].
 How do we know if we have a constituent?
14

 Substitution – Practice

We’ve always liked [the man behind the curtain].

We’ve always liked [Barney].

We expect to run the London Marathon this year, although

[running the London Marathon] will probably make us sick.
We expect to run the Boston Marathon this year, although [doing
so] will probably make us sick.

I stood [in front of the curtain].

I stood [there].
 How do we know if we have a constituent?
15

 Movement
 a. Lisa saw [the angry gorillas].
b. [The angry gorillas] are what Lisa saw.
c. It was [the angry gorillas] that Lisa saw.

 Wh-Word Replacement
 a. Mike found [a ragged, dirty, old dollar bill].
b. Mike found [WHAT]?

 a. Ann ate her lunch [in the park].

b. Ann ate her lunch [WHERE]?
 How do we know if we have a constituent?
16

 Sentence Fragment & Question Test

 Words that can stand alone as an answer to a question

 John paid [the judges].

 Who did John pay?
 [The judges].

 John went [to London].

 Where did he go?
 [To London].
 How do we know if we have a constituent?
17

 Sentence Fragment & Question Test –

Practice

Who did he see at the fair?

[A funny clown]

Where did she sit?

[On the wooden bench]
 How do we know if we have a constituent?
18

 Ellipsis
 Bart can [have another ice cream], but Jane can’t . .

 Category Coordination
 He ate [three bananas] and [four apples].
 She [ran two miles] and [swam three miles].

 The dog walked [off the porch] and [into the kitchen].
 Some things to note…
19

 Make sure you’re testing the right phrase for

constituency!

 Multiple tests should always be performed: some

tests might not always work.

 If multiple tests give different results, go with the

majority!
 Practice!
20

 In each of the following, which constituency test is

being applied and which phrase is being tested?
a) It was the canyon he looked down.
MOVEMENT
b) It was [the canyon] he looked down.

c) He looked down the canyon and into the river. CATEGORY

d) He looked [down the canyon] and [into the river]. COORDINATION

e) What did he look down? SENTENCE FRAGMENT &

f) [The canyon] QUESTION TEST

g) John looked down the canyon and so did Mary. SUBSTITUTION

h) John [looked down the canyon] and so did Mary.
 Practice!
21

 In each of the following constituency tests, which

phrase is being tested?
a) Down the canyon is where he looked. MOVEMENT
b) [Down the canyon] is where he looked.

c) Blow out the candle is what he did. MOVEMENT

d) [Blow out the candle] is what he did.
CATEGORY
a) He blew out the candle and into his sister’s face. COORDINATION
b) He blew [out the candle] and [into his sister’s face].

c) He will blow out the candle, but she will not… ELLIPSIS
d) He will [blow out the candle], but she will not…
 More Practice!
22

 For the following sentence, apply at least 4

constituency tests to determine which bracketed
structure is correct.

 Tony put the book on the shelf.

 [put] [the book on the shelf]
 [put] [the book] [on the shelf]
 Constituency Tests
23

 Let’s look at the example from the previous slide:

 Tony put the book on the shelf.

 [put] [the book on the shelf]

 [put] [the book] [on the shelf]

 Which constituency tests can we apply?

 Applying the constituency tests
24

 Let’s test [[put] [the book on the shelf]]

 Let’s test [[put] [the book] [on the shelf]]

 TEST 1: Substitution

 a. Tony put [the book on the shelf].

 b. Tony put [it].

 a. Tony put [the book] [on the shelf].

 b. Tony put [it] [there].
 Applying the constituency tests
25

 Let’s test [[put] [the book on the shelf]]

 Let’s test [[put] [the book] [on the shelf]]

 TEST 2: Movement

 a. Tony put [the book on the shelf].

 b. [The book on the shelf] is what Tony put.

 a. Tony put [the book] [on the shelf].

 b. It was [the book] that Tony put [on the shelf].
 c. It was [on the shelf] that Tony put [the book].
 Applying the constituency tests
26

 Let’s test [[put] [the book on the shelf]]

 Let’s test [[put] [the book] [on the shelf]]

 TEST 3: Wh-word replacement

 a. Tony put [the book on the shelf].

 b. Tony put [WHAT].

 a. Tony put [the book] [on the shelf].

 b. Tony put [WHAT] [WHERE].
 Applying the constituency tests
27

 Let’s test [[put] [the book on the shelf]]

 Let’s test [[put] [the book] [on the shelf]]

 TEST 4: Sentence Fragment

• (Q) What did Tony put?

• (A) [The book on the shelf]

• (Q) What did Tony put on the shelf?

• (A) [The book]
• (Q) Where did Tony put the book?
• (A) [On the shelf]
 Applying the constituency tests
28
 Let’s test [[put] [the book on the shelf]]

 Let’s test [[put] [the book] [on the shelf]]

 TEST 5: Ellipsis

 a. Tony put [the book on the shelf].

 b. Tony put [the book on the shelf], but Elisa didn’t
put…

 a. Tony put [the book] [on the shelf].

 b. Tony put the book [on the shelf], but Elisa didn’t put
the book...
 c. Tony put [the book] on the shelf, but Elisa didn’t on
the shelf...
 Applying the constituency tests
29

 Let’s test [[put] [the book on the shelf]]

 Let’s test [[put] [the book] [on the shelf]]

 TEST 6: Category Coordination

• a. Tony put [the book on the shelf].

• b. Tony put [the book on the shelf] and [the cup on the
table].

• a. Tony put [the book] [on the shelf].

• b. Tony put [the book] [on the shelf] and [on the table].
• c. Tony put [the book] and [the cup] [on the shelf].
 What do our results show us?
30

 Tony put the book on the shelf.

 [[put] [the book on the shelf]]


 [[put] [the book] [on the shelf]]

☺
 Constituency Review
31

 Quick Review:

 (i) John sat [on the computer].

 (ii) John turned [on the computer].

 Is [on the computer] a constituent in (i)?

 Is it a constituent in (ii)?

 Support your answer with at least four constituency

tests.
Phrase Structure
32
 Phrase structure
33

 A PHRASE IS ANY CONSTITUENT THAT IS NOT A CLAUSE

(a clause is a full sentence with a subject and verb)

 Every word is a member of a category that determines how it can

combine with other words into phrases.
“the big prize” “in the supermarket”

 Phrases are built around a member of some lexical or functional

category (the head of the phrase).
 “the big prize”: head = prize; prize = noun; the big prize = noun phrase

 Each language has a set of rules that determine how words can be
grouped into phrases.
 Example from English: Determiners cannot combine with verbs within
a phrase (*the allowed).
 Phrase structure
34

Robin
The book
An interesting book
A picture of Robin
A picture of the unicorn
A nice picture of the unicorn
A very nice picture of the white unicorn

What’s special about the words in bold?

head of the noun phrase (NP)
 Phrase structure
35

Eats
Eats the cake
Eats the cake with a knife and fork
Fell slowly
Fell into the pond
Kicked the ball
Kicked the ball to Peter

What’s special about the words in bold?

head of the verb phrase (VP)
 Phrase structure
36

 What do we get if we combine a VP with an NP?

 Robin fell

 Robin fell slowly

 Robin fell into the pond

 Terry eats

 Terry eats the cake

 Terry eats the cake with a knife and fork

phrase + phrase = longer phrase / sentence

 Phrase structure
37

Of the white unicorn

After forty days
In the demilitarized zone
Under water
During the football game

What’s special about the words in bold?

head of the prepositional phrase (PP)
 Some things to note…
38

 Words => phrases => sentences

 Every word is a member of a lexical or functional
category (e.g., noun, preposition, etc) that determines
what kind of phrases it can form.
 A phrase is a string of words that functions as a unit
in a sentence.
 A phrase is built up around a single word, called its
head.
 Phrase structure rules = the specific ways in which
phrases can be combined with one another to construct
bigger phrases and sentences.
 Phrase structure trees
39

 Phrase structure is usually represented in phrase

structure trees.

 The man fell slowly.

 S = [The man] [fell slowly]
 The man  DET N = NP
 fell slowly  V ADVP = VP
NP VP

DET N V AdvP

the man fell Adv

slowly
 Phrase structure trees
40

 S = [The man] [fell slowly]

 S = NP VP

NP VP

DET N V AdvP

the man fell Adv

slowly
 Phrase structure trees
41

 Let’s try another phrase:

 A soldier with a telescope.
 NP = [[A soldier] [with [a telescope]]]
 A soldier  DET N = NP
 with [a telescope]  P DET N = P NP = PP
 a telescope  DET N = NP
PP

NP NP P NP

DET N DET N DET N

a soldier a telescope with a telescope

 Phrase structure trees
42

 NP = [A soldier] [with [a telescope]]

 NP = DET N PP

NP

DET N PP

P NP
a soldier
DET N

with a telescope
 Let’s practice!
43

 Try tree-ing some phrases/sentences yourself!

 The dog
 Under the bridge
 Ate the chocolate
 The habitat for the lions
 The book fell into the pond.
 Phrase structure rules - NP
44

 What does a NP have to contain… and what is

optional?
 Water
 The box
 The big box
 The big box of crayons
 The big yellow box of cookies with the pink lid

 NP  (D) (AdjP+) N (PP+)

 [DET The] [ADJP big] [ADJP yellow] N box [PP of cookies]

[PP with the pink lid].
 Phrase structure rules – AdjP and AdvP
45

 Consider the following:

a. The big yellow book
b. The very yellow book
 What is the difference between the two NPs?

a. ‘big’ modifies ‘book’; ‘yellow’ modifies ‘book’

b. ‘yellow’ modifies ‘book’; ‘very’ does not modify ‘book’ (*very
book) – it modifies ‘yellow’
 So the structure of these two phrases is actually quite
different.
 Phrase structure rules – AdjP and AdvP
46
AdjP

 AdjP  (AdvP+) Adj – e.g. very yellow AdvP Adj

Adv yellow

very

The big yellow book The very yellow book

NP NP

D AdjP AdjP N D AdjP N

the Adj Adj book the AdvP Adj book

big yellow Adv yellow

very

 Modifiers are always attached within

the phrase they modify.
 Phrase structure rules – AdjP and AdvP
47

 AdvP  (AdvP+) Adv – e.g. very quickly

AdvP
AdvP
AdvP Adv
Adv Adv
Adv quickly
very quickly
very

 Why??
 Remember the concept of heads.
 Head of a phrase = word that gives the phrase its
category.
 Practice!
48

 Try tree-ing the following:

 The cat
 The fat cat
 The very fat cat
 The fluffy fat cat
 The very fluffy fat cat
 The very fluffy fat cat from California
 Phrase structure rules - PP
49

 What does a PP contain?

 PP  P NP

 [PP To [NP the store]]

 [PP With [NP an axe]]
 [PP Behind [NP the big tree]]

 Try tree-ing “on the hilltop”

 Phrase structure rules - VP
50

 What does a VP have to contain… and what is

optional?
 left
 left quickly
 deliberately always left very early
 kissed his mother-in-law quietly
 spare the student any embarrassment yesterday
 [frequently] [got] [his buckets] [from [the store]] [for [a dollar]]

 VP  (AdvP+) V (NP) (NP) (AdvP+) (PP+)

(AdvP+)
 Phrase structure rules - VP
51

Intransitive verbs: Transitive verbs: Ditransitive verbs:

VP  V VP  V NP VP  NP PP
(compare to:
(compare to: (compare to: *Fred gave cookies
*Ruby slept the cheese) *Clarence carried) *Fred gave to the kids)

“slept” “carried my books” “gave cookies to the kids”

 Phrase structure rules - S
52

 What does a sentence have to contain?

 S  NP (T) VP
 Bill might crash the boat.

 Bill will crash the boat.

NP T VP

N might V NP

Bill crash D N

the boat
 Let’s practice!
53

 A nice idea for a gift

 The desk with the wobbly drawer
 John pushed the horse into the barn.
 The tall man from NY gave peanuts to the elephant.
 The very small boy kissed the girl.
 Tony read the entire book on Wednesday.
 Robin will pass the exam.
 Lexical & Structural Ambiguity
54

HOW DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS CAN

ARISE FROM THE SAME SENTENCE?

• Same word with two different meanings = lexical ambiguity

• Same word order with two different syntactic structures =

structural ambiguity
 Lexical Ambiguities
55

 Same phonological form, same syntactic position, different

semantic meaning

 Some examples:

 Sonia’s nose was running all night.

 Eric had the president for dinner.

 Some real headlines:

 Police discover crack in Australia
 Child’s Stool Great for Use in Garden
 Structural ambiguity
56

 The way that constituents are formed lead to different

interpretations.

 I met my friend with an axe.

 What are the two different interpretations of the

sentence?

 Try drawing two trees for the above sentence to show

the two different interpretations of the sentence.
 Structural Ambiguity
57

 The way that constituents are formed lead to different

interpretations I met my friend with an axe.
Who has the axe?
Here, the friend (PP modifies
NP friend)
S

NP VP

V
N met NP

I DET N PP

P NP
my friend
DET N

with an axe
 Structural Ambiguity
58

 The way that constituents are formed lead to different

interpretations I met my friend with an axe.
Who has the axe?
Here, I (PP modifies VP meet,
of which I is the subject)
S

NP VP

V
N met NP

PP
I DET N
P NP

my friend DET N

with an axe
 Some real headlines
59

1. TEACHER STRIKES IDLE KIDS

2. EYE DROPS OFF SHELF

3. 2 SISTERS REUNITED AFTER 18 YEARS IN CHECKOUT

COUNTER

4. SQUAD HELPS DOG BITE VICTIM

5. HERSHEY BARS PROTEST

6. REAGAN WINS ON BUDGET, BUT MORE LIES AHEAD

7. BRITISH LEFT WAFFLES ON FALKLAND ISLANDS

 Practice!
60

 Show two structures for each of the following

(structurally) ambiguous sentences.

 The girl saw the elephant in her pajamas.

 Pat shot the soldier with a gun.
 The man killed the king with a knife.
61
 Some final thoughts: Properties of syntax
62

 Language is a productive system:

 You can produce and understand sentences you have never

heard before:

 The dancing chorus-line of elephants broke my television set.

 Some final thoughts: Properties of syntax
63

 Language is a productive system:

 Syntax allows us to recombine a finite number of words,

morphemes, and lexical categories to create an infinite number
of sentences.

 Recursion: a very big peanut, a very very big peanut, a very very
very big peanut…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVpBHVX
 The House that Jack Built: DtMQ&feature=related
 Some final thoughts: Properties of syntax
64

 Some sentences are well-formed = grammatical

 Others are ill-formed = ungrammatical (*)

 Grammaticality is based on the rules of the grammar

of a language.

 Different kinds of rules:

 Word order rules

 Subcategorization restrictions: transitive vs. intransitive, etc.

 Hierarchical structure
 Some final thoughts: Properties of syntax
65

 Grammaticality
 Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.

 Is this grammatical?

 This sentence has contains two verbs.

 Is this grammatical?

 Grammaticality is not based on:

 prior knowledge

 meaning

 truth of the utterance

 S

NP VP

AdvP
N V NP

Adv
We finished Det N PP

officially P NP
our unit

on N

syntax

66