 You should know how to do the following:

11 – no trees) due 5/15

Problem Set 4 due 5/20 Goals for syntax chapter

 Not responsible for Section 4 (Verb raising) or how to do passive sentences

 You should know how to do the following:

 identify the lexical/syntactic category of word

 construct phrases and simple sentences and sentences with embedded sentences (draw trees for these structures)

 apply different movement operations to derive surface structure forms from deep structure

Determine how a sentence is structurally ambiguous (from Ch 6 – 3.2)

 The part of the grammar that combines words into sentences

 The study of the system of rules and categories that underlies sentence formation.

The goal of syntax is to come up with universal principles (Universal Grammar) that describes all languages phrase formation procedures

Syntax is responsible for the hierarchical structure of phrases and their creation

The goal of syntactic theory is to be boring and repetitive (i.e. systematic and universal)

Think of syntax as a template for sentence formation that can operate for all

sentences for all languages

 Syntactic Categories

 Lexical categories: Noun (N), Verb (V), Adjective (A), Preposition (P) and Adverb (Adv)

 Nonlexical Categories: Determiner (Det); Auxiliary Verb (Aux) - Modal and Nonmodal; Conjunction (Con); Degree word (Deg)

 Table 5.1, p. 157 (on next slide)

 Harder to define nonlexical words (the or so compared to hill or book)

 Some words can belong to more than one category - examples? like/fond

Lexical:

words that have semantic content

words that can be inflected

an open class to which new members can be added

includes nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions

Nonlexical:

words that have grammatical function

words that do not have morphology

words that resist change

a closed class to which new members are not added

includes determiners, auxiliary verbs, degree words, qualifiers, pronouns,

conjunctions, complementizers, and

particles

How to determine syntactic category – MEANING TEST

Noun = person, place or thing (Jeff, classroom, book)

Verb = action, sensation, state of being (run, loves, sees, be)

Adjective = describes a noun (green, ugly)

Adverb = describes a verb (quickly, slowly)

Preposition = describes physical location (to, for, from, on, in)

How to determine syntactic category – INFLECTION TEST

Only certain inflectional suffixes attach to certain lexical categories

There are some words that belong to these syntactic categories that do not take these suffixes (*funner, *intelligenter)

Category Inflectional

Affix Examples

N (Noun) plural -s books, chairs, doctors possessive -’s John’s, (the) man’s

V (Verb) past tense -ed arrived, melted, hopped progressive -ing arriving, melting, hopping 3

person sing. -s arrives, melts, hops

A

(Adjective)

comparative -er taller, faster, smarter

superlative -est tallest, fastest, smartest

How to determine syntactic category – DISTRIBUTION - SPECIFIERS

Determiner = specifies a noun (the, a, these, that)

Adverbs = specifies a verb (always, often, never)

Degree = specifies an adjective or preposition (very, quite, really)

So you can tell a N if it can occur after a Det

A V can occur with an Aux verb

An Adjective with a degree word

Look at Exercise 2

 Phrase Structure - units of words, but not sentences = phrases

 Each phrase consists of the head, a specifier and a complement

 The way the book groups phrases is called X ' (X bar) where X stands for whatever category you’re dealing with (Noun, Verb, Adjectives, Prepositions)

XP

X '

X (Complement)

head

(Specifier)

Noun phrases (NP)

presidents - contains only the head noun

the presidents - contains a specifier and head noun

presidents of the USA - contains the head N and a complement prepositional phrase

the presidents of the USA - contains a specifier, head N, complement PP

The complement PP of the USA contains the head P of and a complement

NP. The NP the USA contains the specifier and head N

 Phrase Structure

 Specifiers can occur before the head (in English) and are optional (they attach at the Phrase level)

the

Det

NP

N '

N

presidents

 Phrase Structure

 Complements can occur after the head (in English) and are optional

(they attach to the Bar level)

Verb Phrases (VP)

sings - contains only the head verb

often sings - contains a specifier and head verb

sings a ballad - contains the head V and a complement NP

often sings a ballad - contains a specifier, head V, complement NP

The complement NP a ballad contains the head N ballad and specifier a.

Adjective Phrases (AP)

happy - contains only the head adjective (A)

very happy - contains a specifier and head A

happy with the results - contains the head A and a complement PP

very happy with the results - contains a specifier, head A, complement PP

The complement PP with the results contains the head P and complement

NP the results. The NP contains specifier and head N.

Prepositional Phrases (PP)

in - contains only the head preposition (P)

almost in - contains a specifier and head P

in the car - contains the head P and a complement NP

almost in the car - contains a specifier, head P, complement NP

The complement NP the car contains the head N and specifier.

Phrase structure rules

The preceding examples show that any given phrase can be composed of a mandatory head and optional complement and optional specifier. This is written as:

XP  (Spec) X (Comp)

The optional components are written in ( )s.

From previous examples we have the following:

Can you think of any other possibilities?

AP  (Deg) A (PP) PP  (Deg) P (NP) NP  (Det) N (PP)

VP  (Adv) V (NP)

 Phrase Structure

 The heads of a phrase are mandatory

NP N '

N

dog

 Phrase Structure

 Specifiers can occur before the head (in English) and are optional

the

Det

NP

N '

N

dog

 Phrase Structure

 Complements can occur after the head (in English) and are optional

the

Det

NP

N '

N

dog in the house

PP

s are only used when it is not necessary to show the internal structure of that phrase.

Assume that it is NOT OK to use s.

 Phrase Structure Rules

 XP  (specifier) X (complement)

the

Det

NP

N '

N

dog in the house

PP

 Phrase Structure Rules

 AP  Deg A

quite

Deg

AP

A '

A

happy

 Phrase Structure Rules

 VP  Adv V

always

Adv

VP

V '

V

eats

 Phrase Structure Rules

 PP  P NP

couch

NP PP

P '

P

on Det N '

the N

 VP  Deg V PP; PP  P NP

couch

NP PP

P '

P

on Det N '

the N

always

Adv

V '

V

eats

MERGE

 VP  Deg V PP; PP  P NP

couch

NP PP

P '

P

on Det N '

the N

always

Adv

V '

V

eats

For each of the following phrases, determine the head of the phrase, any specifiers, and any complements.

the rat

in the barn very small awfully cute swept the floor

the poem about love

rat the

in the barn

small very cute awfully

swept the floor

poem the about love

Head Specifier Complement

 Draw phrase structure trees for the following: Click here for answers 1. the rat

2. men

3. in the barn 4. really mean 5. ran

6. ran into the shed 7. rather boring

8. hate those pancakes

9. the denial of the accusation Exercises 3 and 4

XP

X '

X (Complement)

head

(Specifier)

These elements are mandatory for an English Sentence.

IP  NP (subject ) I ' (inflection) I '  I VP (predicate)

I  + or - Past and/or a Modal Lines will never intersect

NP to the left

VP to the right

• Step 1 - assign each word to the appropriate category.

appropriate phrasal structure. Specifiers go directly to XP

level.

previous VP. The NP is a complement for the VP so attach the NP to V '

NP.

complement and specifier (respectively) of IP

The students hated the textbook

N N' NP

Det V

Det N

V' VP I'

+Pst I IP

N'

NP

The students will hate the textbook

N N' NP

Det V

Det N

V' VP I'

- Pst I IP

N'

NP

The housewives kept the secrets

N N' NP

Det V

Det N

V' VP I'

+Pst I IP

N'

NP

The housewives can keep the secrets

N N' NP

Det V

Det N

V' VP I'

- Pst I IP

N'

NP

• Dogs should always go for a walk.

• !Those monsters were hiding under the bed.

• Abner concealed the document.

• Marge usually watches the sunset.

• !The children are playing with a dinosaur.

! Difficult – we will discuss (hint: these structures have verbs that take a

complement VP)

Think about this sentence

I wonder if she will take the test.

How do we incorporate the second sentence: she will take the test?

This second sentence (called a complement clause or CP) is serving as the complement of the V wonder

Like all other syntactic structures, CPs consist of: CP  C ' and C '  C IP Words such as that, whether and if are known as complementizers (C).

The specifier position is open for Move operations (discussed later) Matrix clauses are the largest clause that contain the CP(s)

[I wonder [if she will take the test.]]

Example of a complement clause

Nancy believes that aliens exist.

Sailors know that the ship could sink.

!The tourists hope that whales

will be swimming near the boat.

(!very difficult!)

Exercise 9 (No Triangles!)

a) The reporter said that an accident injured the woman.

b) The fishermen think that the company polluted the bay.

c) Bill reported that a student asked whether the eclipse would occur.

If we want to keep the structures the same

for the theory (templates), then it is

posited that all IPs are actually CPs

with or without a C (like we have I

whether or not it actually gets filled

with a surface form).

3.) The floor knew [that it would not stay clean].

2.) The janitor wondered [if the floor would stay clean].

1.) The teacher hopes [that the students will study hard].

Identify the CP (Complement Phrase) in the following matrix sentences. Put brackets [ ] around the CP.

1.) The teacher hopes that the students will study hard . 2.) The janitor wondered if the floor would stay clean .

3.) The floor knew that it would not stay clean .

We have been presenting different phrase structure trees to show the

hierarchy and relationship of the different phrases in a sentence. What happens when the difference in the relationship of these phrases also causes a difference in the meaning/interpretation of a sentence?

When there are two or more interpretations of one sentence with the exact

same words in the exact same order, we call this structural ambiguity

(discussed in your text in Chapter 6, section 3.2).

For example: Sam ate the cake in the kitchen. (See handout for answers) What are the 2 meanings? What is the relationship between the phrases in the sentence (what modifies what?)

Interpretation 1: Sam ate the cake that was in the kitchen.

Relationship of phrases in the sentence: The PP in the kitchen modifies the N cake Interpretation 2: Sam was eating the cake in the kitchen.

Relationship of phrases in the sentence: The PP in the kitchen modifies the V ate

Interpretation 1: Sam ate the cake that was in the kitchen.

Relationship of phrases in the sentence: The PP in the kitchen modifies the N cake

Interpretation 2: Sam was eating the cake in the kitchen.

Relationship of phrases in the sentence: The PP

in the kitchen modifies the V ate

Brings us to more complicated Phrase structure trees.

See examples to right for non-modal aux

verbs that take VP complement

Brings us to more complicated Phrase structure trees.

See page 164 for a verb with 2 complements.

Verbs that can take a complement are transitive (eat, read, look) She read a book Verbs that do not are intransitive (sleep, lie, laugh) He slept

See Table 5.5, p. 163 for what complements certain verbs can take

Following our rules for sentence structure how do we account for questions?

Is the man intelligent?

Can you come to dinner?

In the first example, there is no NP to the left of the IP and in the second, the modal is before the subject.

To explain this we will use the theory of:

Deep Structure.

Accounting for sentences such as questions and passives with a new set of rules would be messy.

Transformational grammar accounts for the differences with transformations (move). All sentences in deep structure (before the move) will follow our previous phrasal rules.

{Parallel with Underlying Representation and rules to derive surface representation in Phonology}

How do we know deep structure exists?

What will you say?

In this sentence What is functioning as the object of the sentence.

This can be demonstrated by trying to add an object after the verb.

* What will you say goodbye.

In this sentence, the verb requires an object, so omitting it in the non-question form does not work

* You will say

Deep structure for this sentence is You will say what?

To arrive at deep structure

Merge -> Deep Structure Deep Structure -> Move Surface structure

Surface structure trees must show traces of unit’s original

position.

2 types of movement:

Inversion (yes/no question)

That guy should eat an apple  Should that guy t eat an apple?

Wh- Movement + Inversion

the students should read what for class  What should the students t read t for class?

student

that should study

Det V

V' VP I'

I N -pst

N' NP

IP CP

C '

C

+Q

student

that t study

Det V

V' VP I'

I N -pst

N' NP

IP CP

C '

C

+Q

should I

-pst

student

that studied

Det V

V' VP I'

I N +pst

N' NP

IP C '

C

+Q

did study

student

that study

Det V

V' VP I'

I N +pst

N' NP

IP C '

C

+Q

I

+pst

did t

student that

Det V

V' VP I'

I N -pst

N' NP

IP C '

C

+Q

should study

N N'

syntax NP

student that

Det V

V' VP I'

I N -pst

N' NP

IP C '

C

+Q

t study

N N'

syntax I NP

-pst

should

student that

Det V

V' VP I'

I N -pst

N' NP

IP C '

C

+Q

t study

N N'

what I NP

-pst

should

student that

Det V

V' VP I'

I N -pst

N' NP

IP C '

C

+Q

t study

N N'

t I NP

-pst

should N

N'

what NP

In order to get the deep structure from the surface structure, follow these steps:

YOU SEE: YOU THINK: YOU DO:

A modal auxiliary verb

ahead of the subject. Inversion has taken

place. Put the modal aux back into its deep structure position in I.

A wh word or phrase. Wh Movement had

taken place. Examine each verb in the sentence.

Determine if a verb is missing either subject or an object, and put the wh word or phrase into that position.

Examine each preposition in the

sentence. Determine if a preposition

is missing an object. Put the wh word

or phrase into that position.

Will the students be bored?

Will the trip be enjoyable?

Who can see the shore?

the students will be bored  will the students t be bored

the trip will be enjoyable  will the trip t be enjoyable

who can see the shore  who can t t see the shore

Exercise 11