Syntax The analysis of sentence structure Dr Alok

Syntax The analysis of sentence structure Dr. Alok K Das http: //www. freewebs. com/alokdas/

Syntax in Linguistic Tree Linguistics Sounds of language Phonetics Syntax Dr Alok K Das Phonology Grammar Morphology Syntax 2 Meaning Semantics Pragmatics

Why syntax? o It’s part of Linguistics o It’s part of the grammar of every language o And the grammar of a language is part of a native speaker’s linguistic knowledge Syntax Dr Alok K Das 3

Reasons for studying syntax o Infinity of expressions n There is an infinite number of possible utterances in every language n It is obvious that all these utterances cannot be stored in our brains o Our knowledge of a language consists of n A finite number of words (the lexicon; the “dictionary in your head”), and n Rules (the grammar of the language) o It is the job of the syntactician (and the morphologist) to find out what these rules are Syntax Dr Alok K Das 4

Language acquisition o Everyone who can speak knows how to use the rules n and it is amazing that children can do it so fast o But nobody can really state exactly what the rules are! o Understanding syntax (and morphology) can help researchers to understand how young children learn their native language Syntax Dr Alok K Das 5

Universal grammar o Theory of Chomsky o UG has Principles, true of all languages n All languages have the same underlying structure o e. g. all languages have nouns and verbs o and Parameters, whose setting varies from language to language n English and Chinese SVO; Japanese SOV n Spanish and Chinese pro-drop; English not pro-drop Syntax Dr Alok K Das 6

All languages have constituents o Take a simple sentence n Johnny danced o We can call the sentence S, and label the syntactic categories N and V S Syntax Dr Alok K Das N V Johnny danced 7

Phrase structure grammar o N and V aren’t always very good labels o Johnny is similar to the handsome student, because they are both the same kind of constituent n They are both Noun Phrases n We can remove Johnny and add the handsome student, and the sentence structure is still similar Syntax Dr Alok K Das S 8 NP VP The handsome student danced

Different sentence, same constituents S o Now let’s add an object o danced the lambada is the same kind of constituent as danced n a VP o You can swap danced for danced the lambada and the basic structure is the same Syntax Dr Alok K Das 9 NP VP The handsome student danced the lambada

What are the NP and VP? The frog ate the lizard. The frog sat on the lilypad. The fat frog ate the long lizard slowly. The fat frog with a lizard in its mouth sat on the lilypad. o The fat frog who was sitting on the lilypad with a lizard in its mouth danced the lambada. o o Syntax Dr Alok K Das 10

Phrase structure rules o Now, you know this phrase structure rule: n S NP VP (a Sentence comprises a Noun Phrase followed by a Verb Phrase) n Draw a tree for the phrase Emma drinks o Here are two more phrase structure rules: n VP V NP n NP N o Think about that carefully o Now, draw a tree with more detail n For the sentence Emma drinks whisky Syntax Dr Alok K Das 11

Now let’s change the NP rule o First, DET means determiner n Function words like the, a, this, several o NP (DET) N n That means a noun phrase can have a determiner, and it must have a noun o Now you can diagram Johnny danced the lambada in a bit more detail than I did on the other slide o Remember: n S NP VP n VP V NP) Syntax Dr Alok K Das 12

Now let’s change the NP rule again o Such that we have n S NP VP n VP V NP n NP (DET) (ADJ) N o Now you can diagram this sentence n The unhappy book ate the green lambada n The sentence is syntactically well-formed, by the way Syntax Dr Alok K Das 13

Grammatical or Ungrammatical: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The boy found the ball The boy found quickly The boy found in the house The boy found the ball in the house Disa slept the baby Disa slept soundly Find: Transitive verb (with object) Sleep: Intransitive verb (no object) Syntax Dr Alok K Das 14

Syntactic Categories Lexical categories o Noun (N) o Verb (V) o Adjective (A) o Preposition (P) o Adverb (Adv) Examples o moisture, policy o melt, remain o good, intelligent o to, near o slowly, now Syntax Dr Alok K Das 15

Syntactic Categories Non-lexical categories u Determiner (Det) u Degree word (Deg) u Qualifier (Qual) u Auxiliary (Aux) u Conjunction (Con) Examples u the, this u very, more u always, perhaps u will, can u and, or Syntax Dr Alok K Das 16

Indicate the category of each word in the following sentences. a. The glass suddenly broke. Det / N / Adv / V b. A jogger ran towards the end of the lane. Det / N / V / P / Det / N c. The peaches never appear quite ripe. Det / N / Qual / V / Deg / A d. Gillian will play the trumpet and the drums in the orchestra. N / Aux / V / Det / N / Conj / Det / N / P / Det / N Syntax Dr Alok K Das 17

Phrases o NP : Noun Phrase The car, a clever student o VP : Verb Phrase study hard, play the guitar o PP : Prepositional Phrase in the class, above the earth o AP : Adjective Phrase very tall, quite certain Syntax Dr Alok K Das 18

Phrase Structure Rules o NP (Det) N (PP) o PP P NP The bus in the yard NP The bus (NP) Det N The bus Det N PP P The Syntax Dr Alok K Das bus in NP Det N the yard 19

Phrase Structure Rules o VP V (NP) (PP) o S NP (Aux) VP took the money from the bank VP took the money (VP) V NP Det took the V N NP Det PP N P money took Syntax Dr Alok K Das the money from NP Det N the bank 20

Draw the tree diagram. 1. repaired the telephone 2. the success of the program 3. a film about pollution 4. move towards the window 5. cast a spell on the broomstick Syntax Dr Alok K Das 21

The main structure rules 1. S NP (Aux) VP 2. NP (Det) (AP) N (PP) 3. VP V (NP) (PP) (Adv) 4. PP P NP 5. AP A (PP) Syntax Dr Alok K Das 22

Example The old tree swayed in the wind S Aux NP Det Adj N VP V PP P The old tree past swayed Syntax Dr Alok K Das in NP Det N the wind 23

Example The children put the toy in the box S NP Det VP N V NP Det The children put the Syntax Dr Alok K Das PP N toy P in NP Det N the box 24

Ambiguity: a word, phrase or sentence with multiple meanings Synthetic buffalo hides (NP) Synthetic buffalo Buffalo hides that are synthetic. hides Hides of synthetic buffalo. Syntax Dr Alok K Das 25

Ambiguities often lead to humorous results o For sale: an antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers. what does “thick legs and large drawers” refer to? The desk or the lady? Syntax Dr Alok K Das 26

Structural Ambiguity The boy saw the man with the telescope S NP Det Aux N VP V NP Det PP N P NP Det The boy past saw the Syntax Dr Alok K Das N man with the telescope 27

Structural Ambiguity The boy saw the man with the telescope S NP Det Aux N VP NP V Det N PP P NP Det The boy past saw the Syntax Dr Alok K Das N man with the telescope 28

Draw two phrase structure trees representing the two meanings of the sentence: The magician touched the child with the wand. Be sure you indicate which meaning goes with which tree. Syntax Dr Alok K Das 29

Declarative – Interrogative o Move the auxiliary to the left of the subject. The boy will leave. S NP Det Aux VP N The boy Will the boy leave? S Aux V will leave Will NP VP Det N V the boy leave The surface structure The deep structure Syntax Dr Alok K Das 30

The Wh Movement o Surface structure: Which car should the man repair? o Deep structure: S NP Det The Aux N man VP NP V should repair Syntax Dr Alok K Das Det N which car 31

Draw the deep structure of the following sentences 1. Will the boss hire Hillary? 2. Is that player leaving the team? 3. Who should the director call? 4. What is Joanne eating? Syntax Dr Alok K Das 32