1. syntax

2. The part of grammar that represents a speaker’s knowledge of sentences and their structures is called syntax.
The aim of this chapter is to show what syntactic structures look like and to familiarize you with some of the rules that determine them.

3. What the syntax rules do
The rules of syntax combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences.
the rules specify the correct word order for a language.
1. The President nominated a new Supreme Court justice.
2. *President the new Supreme justice Court a nominated.

4. What the syntax rules do
b) describe the relationship between the meaning of a particular group of words and the arrangement of those words.
3. I mean what I say.
4. I say what I mean.

5. What the syntax rules do
The rules of the syntax also specify the grammatical relations of a sentence, such as subject and direct object.
5. Your dog chased my cat.
6. My cat chased your dog.

6. What the syntax rules do
specify the constraints that sentences must adhere to.
7. (a) The boy found.
(b) The boy found quickly.
(c) The boy found in the house.
(d) The boy found the ball.
8. (a) Disa slept the baby.
(b) Disa slept soundly.

7. What the syntax rules do
specify the constraints that sentences must adhere to.
9. (a) Zack believes Robert to be a gentleman.
(b) Zack believes to be a gentleman.
(c) Zack tries Robert to be a gentleman.
(d) Zack tries to be a gentleman.
(e) Zack wants to be a gentleman.
(f) Zack wants Robert to be a gentleman.

8. What the syntax rules do
Our syntactic knowledge crucially includes rules that tell us how words form groups in a sentence, or how they are hierarchically arranged with respect to one
another.
The captain ordered all old men and women off the sinking ship.
[old men] and [women]
[old [men and women]]

9. What the syntax rules do

10. Sentence Structure
Constituency and Constituency tests

11. Syntactic Categories
A family of expressions that can substitute for one another without loss of grammaticality is called a syntactic category.
The child, a police officer, John, and so on belong to the syntactic category noun phrase (NP), one of several syntactic categories in English and every other language in the world.
John found the puppy.
He found the puppy.
Boys love puppies.
The puppy loved him.
The puppy loved John.

12. Syntactic Categories
Syntactic categories are part of a speaker’s knowledge of syntax. That is, speakers of English know that only items (a), (b), (e), (f), and (g) in the following list are NPs even if they have never heard the term noun phrase before.
1. (a) a bird
(b) the red banjo
(c) have a nice day
(d) with a balloon
(e) the woman who was laughing
(f) it
(g) John
(h) went
You can test this claim by inserting each expression into three contexts:
Who found _________,
_________ was seen by everyone, What/who I heard was _________.

13. Syntactic Categories
There are other syntactic categories. The expression found a puppy is a verb phrase (VP). A verb phrase always contains a verb (V), and it may contain other categories, such as a noun phrase or prepositional phrase (PP), which is a preposition followed by an NP, such as in the park, on the roof, with a balloon. In (2) the VPs are those phrases that can complete the sentence “The child __________ .”
2. (a) saw a clown
(b) a bird
(c) slept
(d) smart
(e) ate the cake
(f) found the cake in the cupboard
(g) realized that the earth was round

14. Phrase Structure Trees and Rules

15. The Infinity of Language
The number of sentences in any language is, as we have said before, infinite.
This is because you can always make any sentence longer and longer by adding extra CPs, VPs, APs, NPs etc.
Once we acknowledge the unboundedness of sentences, we need a formal device to capture that crucial aspect of speakers’ syntactic knowledge.
To see how this works, let us first look at the case of multiple
prepositional phrases such as [The girl walked [down the street]
[over the hill] [through the woods] ..].
According to our PS-rules we have devised so far, VP substructures
currently allow only one PP per sentence (VP →V PP—rule 5).
We can rectify this problem by revising rule 5:

16. The Infinity of Language
The number of sentences in any language is, as we have said before, infinite.
This is because you can always make any sentence longer and longer by adding extra CPs, VPs, APs, NPs etc.
Once we acknowledge the unboundedness of sentences, we need a formal device to capture that crucial aspect of speakers’ syntactic knowledge.
To see how this works, let us first look at the case of multiple
prepositional phrases such as [The girl walked [down the street]
[over the hill] [through the woods] . . .].
According to our PS-rules we have devised so far, VP substructures
currently allow only one PP per sentence (VP →V PP—rule 5).
We can rectify this problem by revising rule 5:

17. The Infinity of Language
The number of sentences in any language is, as we have said before, infinite.
This is because you can always make any sentence longer and longer by adding extra CPs, VPs, APs, NPs etc.
Once we acknowledge the unboundedness of sentences, we need a formal device to capture that crucial aspect of speakers’ syntactic knowledge.
To see how this works, let us first look at the case of multiple
prepositional phrases such as [The girl walked [down the street]
[over the hill] [through the woods] . . .].
According to our PS-rules we have devised so far, VP substructures
currently allow only one PP per sentence (VP →V PP—rule 5).
We can rectify this problem by revising rule 5:
5. VP → VP PP

18. The Infinity of Language
Rule 5 is different from the previous rules because it repeats its own category (VP) inside itself. This is an instance of a recursive rule. Recursive rules are of critical importance because they allow the grammar to generate an infinite set of sentences.

19. The Infinity of Language
Rule 5 is different from the previous rules because it repeats its own category (VP) inside itself. This is an instance of a recursive rule. Recursive rules are of critical importance because they allow the grammar to generate an infinite set of sentences.

20. The Infinity of Language
NPs can also contain PPs recursively. An example of this is shown by the phrase the man with the telescope in a box.

21. The Infinity of Language
NPs can also contain PPs recursively. An example of this is shown by the phrase the man with the telescope in a box.

22. The Infinity of Language
NPs can also contain PPs recursively. An example of this is shown by the phrase the man with the telescope in a box.
To show that speakers permit recursive NP structures
of this sort, we need to include the following PS rule,
which is like the recursive VP rule 5.
9. NP → NP PP

23. The Infinity of Language
The defined PS rules handle the recursive nature of the language.
For example, rule 7 (VP → V CP) in combination with rules 8 (CP → C S) and 1 (S → NP VP) form a recursive set.
These rules, formulated for different purposes, correctly predict the limitlessness of language in which sentences are embedded inside larger sentences, such as The children hope that the teacher knows that the principal said that the school closes for the day as illustrated on the following page.

24. The Infinity of Language
The children hope that the teacher knows that
the principal said that the school closes for
the day.

25. The Infinity of Language

26. The Infinity of Language
The problem is that although determiners and adjectives are both modifiersof the noun, they have a different status.
First, an NP will never have more than one determiner in it, while it may contain many adjectives.
Second, an adjective directly modifies the noun, while a determiner modifies the whole adjective(s) + noun complex.
In general, modification occurs between sisters. If the adjective modifies the noun, then it is sister to the noun. If the determiner modifies the adjective + noun complex, then the determiner is sister to this complex.

27. The Infinity of Language
The problem is that although determiners and adjectives are both modifiersof the noun, they have a different status.
First, an NP will never have more than one determiner in it, while it may contain many adjectives.
Second, an adjective directly modifies the noun, while a determiner modifies the whole adjective(s) + noun complex.
In general, modification occurs between sisters. If the adjective modifies the noun, then it is sister to the noun. If the determiner modifies the adjective + noun complex, then the determiner is sister to this complex.
We can represent these two sisterhood relations by
İntroducing an additional level of structure between NP and N. We refer to this level as N-bar (written as N').
This structure provides the desired sisterhood relations

28. The Infinity of Language
We must revise our NP rules to reflect this new structure, and add two rules for N'. Not all NPs have adjectives, of course. This is reflected in the second N' rule in which N' dominates only N.
Let us now see how these revised rules generate NPs with multiple (potentially infinitely many) adjectives.
Thus far all the NPs we have looked at are common nouns with a simple definite or indefinite determiner (e.g., the cat, a boy), but NPs can consist of a simple pronoun (e.g., he, she, we, they) or a proper name (e.g., Robert, California, Prozac). To reflect determiner-less NP structures, we will need the rule
NP → N'

29. The Infinity of Language
But that’s not all, what about the possesive NPs like John’s cat, the girl’s book etc.
In these structures the possessor NP (e.g., John’s, the girl’s, etc.) functions as a determiner in that it further specifies its sister noun.
The ’s is the abstract element poss.
To accommodate the possessive structure we
need an additional rule:
Det → NP poss

30. The Infinity of Language
But that’s not all, what about the possesive NPs like John’s cat, the girl’s book etc.
In these structures the possessor NP (e.g., John’s, the girl’s, etc.) functions as a determiner in that it further specifies its sister noun.
The ’s is the abstract element poss.
To accommodate the possessive structure we
need an additional rule:
Det → NP poss

31. The rules so far S = NP VP VP = V NP VP = V VP = VP PP VP = VP AdvP
NP = (D) N’
N’ = (AdjP) N’ or N’ (PP)
N’ = N (PP)
PP = P NP
Adjp = (AdvP) Adj
AdvP = (AdvP) Adv
CP = C S
Det = NP poss

32. Heads and Complements
Phrase structure trees also show relationships among elements in a sentence.
Grammatical relations, i.e. subject and direct object of the sentence is structurally defined.
Another kind of relationship is that between the head of a phrase and its
sisters. The head of a phrase is the word whose lexical category defines the type of phrase
Sister categories are complements; they complete the meaning of the phrase. E.g. find a puppy; I thought that the child found a puppy.

33. Selection Subcategorization (C-selection)
Whether a verb takes a complement or not, or the number of complements that it should take is determined by the particular properties of the verb.
(1) The philosopher loves caramel apples
The philosopher smiled
(2) *The philosopher loves
*The philosopher smiled the breadbox.

34. Selection Subcategorization (3) Traci gave the whale the jawbreaker.
*Traci gave the jawbreaker.
(4) I think that Sam won the race.
(5) I told Sam that Michael was on his bicycle.
(6) Paul felt strong as an ox.
He feels that he can win.

35. Selection Subcategorization
The information about the complement types selected by particular verbs and other lexical items is called C-selection or subcategorization.

36. Selection Subcategorization
Verbs are not the only categories that can select complements.
Some adjectives such as “tired” and “proud” select a PP complement:
tired of eating sandwiches
proud of her children

37. Selection Subcategorization
Nouns can also selects complements. For example, the noun “belief” selectes a PP or a CP complement while the noun “symphaty” selects a PP complement:
the belief in freedom of speech
the belief that freedom of speech is a basic right
their sympathy for the victims
*their sympathy that the victims are so poor

38. Selection S-selection
S-selection limit the semantic properties of the complements.
#My toothbrush loves me.
#The bolt of lightening killed the rock.
#The rock murdered the man.
#The tree liked the boy.
Verbs include in their lexical entry a specification of intrinsic
semantic properties of their subjects and complements, just as they select for syntactic categories.

39. What heads the sentence?
The category T is a natural category to head S. Just as the VP is about the situation described by the verb—eat ice cream is about “eating”—so a sentence is about a situation or state of affairs that occurs at some point in time.

40. What heads the sentence?
VP here is the complement to T. Therefore, there is a selectional relationship between T and VP.
Particular Ts go with particular kinds of
VPs. For example, the auxiliary be takes a progressive (-ing) form of the verb:
The boy is dancing.
The auxiliary have selects a past participle (-en) form of the verb:
The girl has eaten.
Modals select the infinitival form of the verb (no affixes):
The child must sleep
The boy may eat.

41. What heads the sentence?
To have a uniform notation, we use the symbols T (= tense) and TP (= tense phrase) instead of Aux and S.
Furthermore, just as the NP required the intermediate N-bar (N') category, the TP also has the intermediate T-bar (T') category.
We need to include other rules into our system:
TP = NP T’
T’ = T VP

42. What heads the sentence?
Your book does not use the TP and T’ categories, therefore they use a different
rule instead of what we have:

43. What heads the sentence?
They do it because English allows sentences with multiple auxiliaries such as:
The child may be sleeping. (modal, be)
The dog has been barking all night. (have, be)
The bird must have been flying home. (modal, have, be)

44. What heads the sentence?
Instead of this, I want you use the TP rule, but take all the auxiliaries under the same T when there are more than one auxiliary TP
NP T’
D N’
the T VP N
child
may be V
sleeping

45. Structural Ambiguities
The boy saw the man with the telescope.

46. Structural Ambiguities
The boy saw the man with the telescope.

47. Structural Ambiguities
The boy saw the man with the telescope.

48. Structural Ambiguities
The boy saw the man with the telescope.

49. The rules so far (updated1)
TP = NP T’
T’ = T VP
VP = V NP
VP = V
VP = VP PP
VP = VP AdvP
NP = (D) N’
N’ = (AdjP) N’ or N’ (PP)
N’ = N (PP)
PP = P NP
Adjp = (AdvP) Adj
AdvP = (AdvP) Adv
CP = C TP
Det = NP poss

50. More structures

51. More structures Adverbial phrases are sisters to phrasal categories.
Thus,
they can also be sisters to TP.
“Probably the dog has fleas”

52. More structures Adverbial phrases are sisters to phrasa categories.
The dog completely destroyed the house.
Thus, they can also be sisters to TP.
“Probably the dog has fleas”
TP = AdvP TP

53. More structures Coordinate structures:
The cat and the dog were friends.

54. More structures
Does Coord+NP2 really form a constituent. Let’s try some constituency tests.
Casey bought a book and a CD yesterday
Casey bought a book yesterday and a CD.
*Casey bought a book and yesterday a CD.

55. More structures
Does Coord+NP2 really form a constituent. Let’s try some constituency tests.
Casey bought a book and a CD yesterday
Casey bought a book yesterday and a CD.
*Casey bought a book and yesterday a CD.

56. More structures
Does Coord+NP2 really form a constituent. Let’s try some constituency tests.
Casey bought a book and a CD yesterday
Casey bought a book yesterday and a CD.
*Casey bought a book and yesterday a CD.
Other coordinations are also possible:
Micheal writes poetry and surfs.
Sam drove to the school and to the pool.
What is the coordination rule?

57. More structures The cat is coy. The cat is in the tree.
The cat is a feline. TP
NP T’
T VP

58. More structures The cat is coy. The cat is in the tree.
The cat is a feline. TP
NP T’
T XP
(can be any phrase)

59. The rules so far (updated2)
TP = AdvP TP
TP = NP T’
T’ = T XP (where XP can be PP, AdjP, VP, NP)
VP = V NP
VP = V
VP = VP PP
VP = VP AdvP
NP = (D) N’
N’ = (AdjP) N’ or N’ (PP)
N’ = N (PP)
PP = P NP
Adjp = (AdvP) Adj
AdvP = (AdvP) Adv
CP = C TP
Det = NP poss
NP = NP coordP
coordP = coord NP

60. Sentence Relatedness Transformational rules and movement
The boy is sleeping. Is the boy sleeping.
The boy has slept. Has the boy slept?
The boy can sleep. Can the boy sleep?
The boy will sleep. Will the boy sleep?
Apperantly, the T head is moved here, but where does it go?

61. Transformational rules and movementTP
NP T’
T VP
V NP

62. Transformational rules and movementCP
c TP
NP T’
T VP
V NP
One possibility is that they move to C, but what kind of evidence we have for this
claim? Let’s think about C’s…

63. Transformational rules and movement
In embedded clauses, the function of the C is to determine whether the clause
is a question or a declarative clause:
I didn’t know that Mary was a student of linguistics. Ǿ
John asked whether Mary was a student of linguistics. if
That and Ǿ indicate that the clause has a declarative form, whether and if indicate that it has a question form.

64. Transformational rules and movement
We know that all sentences are actually CPs, so what indicates whether they have a question or declarative form?
If the C-head is null morpheme Ǿ, the sentence has declarative form.
If it has a question form, T moves to C to indicate that the sentence is a question.
Further evidence for T-to-C movement: Complementary distribution
T’s and C’s are in complementary distribution in embedded clauses.
I asked “has he found his wallet”.
I asked whether he has found his wallet.
*I asked whether has he found his wallet

65. Structure Dependant Rules
Transformations act on structures without regard to te particular words that they contain; they are structure dependant.
The transformational rule of PP preposing moves PPs only if they are immediately dominated by VPs.
Brutus stabbed Ceasar with a knife.
With a knife, Brutus stabbed Ceasar.
Now consider:
John saw the boy with the telescope. (ambigious, PP can be dominated by VP or NP)
With the telescope, John saw the boy. (Not ambigious, corresponds to the meaning where PP is dominated by VP)

66. Structure Dependant Rules
Further evidence for structure dependancy of transformations
The boy who is sleeping was dreaming.
Was the boy who is sleeping dreaming?
*Is the boy who sleeping was dreaming?
You cannot move any T in T-to-C movement.

67. Further Syntactic Dependancies

68. Further Syntactic Dependancies

69. Further Syntactic Dependancies
The grammaticality of a sentence with a gap depends on there being a wh
phrase at the beginning of the sentence. The sentences in (1) are grammatical
because the wh phrase is acting like the object in (a), the prepositional phrase
object in (b), and the embedded subject in (c).

70. Further syntactic dependancies

71. Further syntactic dependancies

72. Further syntactic dependancies
Do-support
Which dog doesMicheal feed? CP
Spec C’
C TP
NP T’
Micheal
T VP
- s
V NP
feed which dog

73. Further syntactic dependancies
Do-support
Which dog does she think love balls? CP
C C’
C TP
NP T’
Micheal
T VP
do + s
V NP
feed which dog

74. Further syntactic dependancies
Do-support
Which dog does she think love balls? CP
Spec C’
C TP
does
NP T’
Micheal
T VP t
V NP
feed which dog

75. Further syntactic dependancies
Do-support
Which dog does she think love balls? CP
Spec C’
C TP
does
NP T’
Micheal
T VP t
V NP
feed which dog

76. Further syntactic dependancies
Do-support
Which dog does she think love balls? CP
Spec C’
Which dog
C TP
does
NP T’
Micheal
T VP t
V NP
t which dog

77. The rules so far (updated3)
TP = AdvP TP
TP = NP T’
T’ = T XP (where XP can be PP, AdjP, VP, NP)
VP = V NP
VP = V
VP = VP PP
VP = VP AdvP
VP =V CP
NP = (D) N’
N’ = (AdjP) N’ or N’ (PP)
N’ = N (PP)
PP = P NP
Adjp = (AdvP) Adj
AdvP = (AdvP) Adv
CP = (Spec) C’
C’ = C TP
Det = NP poss
NP = NP coordP
coordP = coord NP