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1、Chapter4 Syntax What is syntax?n nIt studies how words are combined to form sentences and the interrelationships between elements in sentence structures. Syntactic relationsPositional relation refers to the sequential arrangement ofwords in a language.Relation of substituability refers to classes or
2、 sets ofwords substitutable for each other grammatically in thesame sentence structures.Relation of co-occurrence: a word of one set may permitthe occurence of a word of another set to form a sentenceor a particular part of a sentence.Construction and constituentIC analysisSNPVPNPDet N V Det NA boy
3、found the evidenceSyntactic constructions Endocentric ExocentricCoordinateconstructionSubordinate constructionEndocentric and exocentric constructionn nEndocentric construction is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent to that of one or more of its constituents, which serves as a center o
4、r head.n nExocentric construction refers to a group of syntactically related words where none of the words is functionally equivalent to the group as a whole. There is no center or head.Coordinate and subordinate constructiona. a.boys and girlsb. b.coffee or teac. c.Tom loves Mary and Mary loves Tom
5、 too.d. d.two dogse. e.swimming in the lakef. f.hot beyond enduranceg. g.can drinkExercisesn nDraw a tree diagramDraw a tree diagramThe student wrote a letter yesterday.The student wrote a letter yesterday.The man beat the boy with a stick.The man beat the boy with a stick.Flying planes can be dange
6、rous.Flying planes can be dangerous.n nHeaded or non-headedHeaded or non-headedHis son His son will be keenly competingwill be keenly competing. .Ducks quackDucks quack. .The ladder The ladder in the shedin the shed is long enough. is long enough.I saw a bridge I saw a bridge damaged beyond repairda
7、maged beyond repair. .Singing hymnsSinging hymns is forbidden in some countries. is forbidden in some countries.His handsome faceHis handsome face appeared in the magazine. appeared in the magazine.He enjoys He enjoys climbing high mountainsclimbing high mountains. .The man nodded patientlyThe man n
8、odded patiently. .A manA man roused by the insult roused by the insult drew his sword. drew his sword.Chomsky and transformational-generative grammarn nChomskys innateness hypothesisn nPhrase structure rulesn nTransformational rulesChomskys innateness hypothesisn nChildren learn their native languag
9、e very fast and with Children learn their native language very fast and with little effort.little effort.n nChildren learn their mother tongue in very different Children learn their mother tongue in very different environments. But they follow more or less the same environments. But they follow more
10、 or less the same stages in acquisition. stages in acquisition. n nChildren can not only produce and understand sentences Children can not only produce and understand sentences they have heard, but also sentences they have never heard they have heard, but also sentences they have never heard before.
11、 What they learn seems to be a set of rules rather before. What they learn seems to be a set of rules rather than individual sentences.than individual sentences.Lexical categoriesn nNoun (N)n nVerb (V)n nAdjective (Adj)n nAdverb (Adv)n nPreposition (Prep)n nPronoun (Pron)n nDeterminer (Det): the, a,
12、 this, thosen nDegree words (Deg): quite, very, more, son nQualifier (Qual): often, always, seldom, almostn nAuxiliary (Aux): must, should, can, mightn nConjunction (Con): and, but, orPhrasal categories n nPhrasal categories-phrases made up of words of different lexical categories. They are classifi
13、ed according to the central word around which the phrase is built, such as NP(N), VP(V), AP(A), PP(P). Phrase structure rules The grammatical mechanism that regulates theThe grammatical mechanism that regulates the arrangement ofarrangement ofelements that make up a phrase iselements that make up a
14、phrase is called a phrase structure rule,called a phrase structure rule,suchsuch as:as:n nNP NP (Det) (Det) + + N N +(PP)e.g. +(PP)e.g. those those people, people, the the fish fish on on the the plate, pretty girls.plate, pretty girls.n nVP VP (Qual) (Qual) + + V V + + (NP)e.g. (NP)e.g. always alwa
15、ys play play games, games, finish finish assignments.assignments.n nAP AP (Deg) (Deg) + + A A + + (PP)very (PP)very handsome, handsome, very very pessimistic, pessimistic, familiar with, very close tofamiliar with, very close ton nPP PP (Deg) (Deg) + + P P + + (NP)on (NP)on the the shelf, shelf, in
16、in the the boat, boat, quite quite near the station.near the station.Phrase elements n nSpecifiern nHeadn ncomplement XP Specifier X ComplementSpecifiersn n- Semantically, specifiers make more precise the meaning of the head. Determiners serve as the specifiers of NP while qualifiers typically funct
17、ion as the specifiers of VP and degree words as the specifiers of AP and sometimes PP.Complementsn nComplements are themselves phrases and provide information abut the head, e.g. a story about a sentimental boy; a sentence-like construction may also function as a complement such as in “I believed th
18、at she was innocent. I doubt if she will come. They are keen for you to show up.” That/if /for are complementizers.Transformations n nAuxiliary movement (inversion) n nDo insertion n nDeep structure & surface structure n nWh-movement Auxiliary movement (inversion)n nInversionInversion Move Infl to t
19、he left of the subject NP. Move Infl to the left of the subject NP.n nInversion (revised)Inversion (revised) Move Infl to C. Move Infl to C.CCPSDet N Infl Vthe train will arriveNPAuxiliary movement (inversion)CPSCNPInfl Det N Infl VWill the train e arriveDo insertionn nDoDo insertion- Insert interro
20、gative insertion- Insert interrogative dodo into an empty Infl into an empty Infl position. position. CPCSNP Infl VPBirds flyCPCPCCSSInfl NP Infl VPNP Infl VPBirds do flyDo birds e flyFigure-1Figure-2Figure-3Deep structure & surface structure n nThere are two levels of syntactic structure. The one f
21、ormed by the XP rule is called D-structure. The final synctic form of the sentence which results from appropriate transformations is called S-structure.The organization of the syntactic componentThe XP ruleDeep structureTransformationsSurface structureWh-movementn nConsider the derivation of the fol
22、lowing sentences: What languages can you speak? What can you talk about?n nThese sentences may originate as: You can speak what languages. You can talk about what.Wh-movementn nWh-movement- Move a wh phrase to the beginningof the sentence.n nWhat language can you speak ?n nWhat can you talk about ?Wh-movementn nWh-movement- Move a wh phrase to the specifier position under CP. (Revised)CPVP V NPwon the gameSNP Infl e PstNP CWho
