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)
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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
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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
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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?
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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
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DETERMINING THE GROUPS WORDS FORM
WITHIN A SENTENCE
Constituency
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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
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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?
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Constituency tests
Substitution
Movement
Wh-word Replacement
Sentence Fragment and Question Test
Ellipsis
Category Coordination
How do we know if we have a constituent?
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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?
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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?
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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?
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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?
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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?
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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…
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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?
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Tony put the book on the shelf.
[[put] [the book on the shelf]]
[[put] [the book] [on the shelf]]
☺
Constituency Review
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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
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Phrase structure
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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…
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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
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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
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S = [The man] [fell slowly]
S = NP VP
NP VP
DET N V AdvP
the man fell Adv
slowly
Phrase structure trees
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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Some final thoughts: Properties of syntax
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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
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