i) Constituent:
• A constituent is a group of words that function together as a unit in a sentence.
• Example: In the sentence “The student loves his syntax assignments,” the phrase “the
student” is a constituent because it acts as a single unit, the subject of the sentence.
ii) Hierarchical Structure:
• Constituents are not just arranged linearly but are embedded inside other constituents,
creating a hierarchical structure.
• Example: In the tree structure of “The student loves his syntax assignments,” the noun
phrase “the student” is embedded within the Tense Phrase (TP), showing how smaller
units fit inside larger structures.
iii) Syntactic Trees and Bracketed Diagrams:
• These diagrams represent constituency and show the relationships between words in a
sentence.
• Example: The sentence “The student loves his syntax assignments” can be represented
with a syntactic tree or in bracketed form:
[TP [NP [D The] [N student]] [VP [V loves] [NP [D his] [AdjP [Adj syntax] [N
assignments]]]]].
iv) English Phrase Structure Rules:
• These rules generate valid sentence structures in English. Here are the basic rules:
a) CP → (C) TP
b) TP → {NP/CP} (T) VP
c) VP → (AdvP+) V (NP) ({NP/CP}) (AdvP+) (PP+) (AdvP+)
o Example: In “The student quickly completed his assignment,” the VP is
composed of an adverb phrase (quickly), a verb (completed), and a noun phrase
(his assignment). d) NP → (D) (AdjP+) N (PP+) (CP)
o Example: In “The tall student,” the NP is made up of a determiner (the), an
adjective phrase (tall), and a noun (student). e) PP → P (NP)
f) AdjP → (AdvP) Adj
g) AdvP → (AdvP) Adv
h) XP → XP conj XP
i) X → X conj X
v) Head:
• The head is the word that gives its category to the phrase.
• Example: In the noun phrase “the student,” the noun “student” is the head, and it
determines the category of the phrase as an NP (Noun Phrase).
vi) Recursion:
• Recursion allows loops in phrase structure rules, enabling the generation of infinitely long
sentences.
• Example: “The student believes that the professor knows that the class understands the
topic.” This sentence is recursive because a clause (that the professor knows…) is
embedded within another clause.
vii) The Principle of Modification:
• If a phrase (XP) modifies a head (Y), then XP must be a sister to Y.
• Example: In “The man with the blue hat,” the prepositional phrase “with the blue hat”
modifies “man” and must be a sister to the noun phrase.
viii) Constituency Tests:
• These are tests to show that a group of words functions as a unit. There are four major
constituency tests:
1. Movement: If you can move the phrase, it is a constituent.
▪ Example: *“The student loves syntax.” → “Syntax, the student loves.”
2. Coordination: Only constituents of the same type can be coordinated.
▪ Example: “The student and the professor arrived.” (the student and the
professor are constituents).
3. Stand-Alone: Constituents can stand alone in response to a question.
▪ Example: “What does the student love?” → “Syntax.”
4. Replacement: If a group of words can be replaced by a single word, it is a constituent.
▪ Example: “The student loves his syntax assignments” → “He loves them.”
(The noun phrase “his syntax assignments” is replaced by “them”).
POS typically stands for Part of Speech in linguistic contexts. It refers to the category that a
word falls into based on its function in a sentence. Common parts of speech include:
1. Noun (N) – Names a person, place, thing, or idea (e.g., student, syntax).
2. Verb (V) – Describes an action or state (e.g., loves, is).
3. Adjective (Adj) – Describes a noun or pronoun (e.g., syntax in syntax assignments).
4. Adverb (Adv) – Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverbs (e.g., quickly).
5. Pronoun (Pro) – Replaces a noun (e.g., he, they).
6. Preposition (P) – Shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other words
in a sentence (e.g., in, on).
7. Conjunction (Conj) – Connects words, phrases, or clauses (e.g., and, but).
8. Determiner (D) – Introduces a noun (e.g., the, his).
9. Interjection – Expresses an emotion or reaction (e.g., Wow!, Oh!
