Lecturer : Ms. Abrar Mujaddidi S YNTAX

I NTRODUCTION  In the previous chapter, we moved from the general categories and concepts of traditional grammar, to more specific methods of describing the structure of phrases and sentences.  In earlier approaches to syntax, there was an attempt to produce an accurate description of the sequence of ordering of elements in a sentence.  In more recent approaches, work in syntax attempted to account for the type of agreement we observe in the structure of sentences.

W HAT IS SYNTAX ?  Syntax is the study of the structure and components within a sentence.  That means that syntax deals with the concept of what are acceptable sentential arrangements in a language.  Syntax does not deal with meaning. e.g. Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

G ENERATIVE GRAMMAR  Generative grammar was originated by Noam Chomsky.  It deals with linguistic structure of a language in mathematical terms.  Generative grammar defines the syntactic structure of a language

CONT.,  Generative grammar proposes that a set of explicit, finite rules that can produce all (infinite) and only well formed sentences in a language.  It reveals the basis of two other phenomena: 1. Superficially different sentences but closely related. 2. superficially similar sentences but actually different.

D EEP AND SURFACE STRUCTURES  Consider the following examples: Charlie broke the window The window was broken by Charlie

C ONT., surface structure deep structure the different syntactic abstract level of forms of sentences in structural organization English in which elements determining structural interpretation are presented

S TRUCTURAL A MBIGUITY Annie wacked a man with an umbrella  This is a structurally ambiguous sentence: it has two distinct underlying interpretations that has to represented differently in deep structure.  Try to guess these two meanings!  The grammar will have to be capable of showing the structural distinction between these underlying representations.

R ECURSION  Recursion means that we can use the same type of rule (e.g. PP) with an endless number of words. on the table in the bag at the door  We must also be able to put sentences inside sentences: Mary helped George Kathy knew that Mary helped George

S YMBOLS USED IN SYNTACTIC DESCRIPTION 1. Abbreviations of syntactic categories: S sentence NP noun phrase etc.. 2. ‘Consists of’ NP Art N 3. ( ) ‘ optional constituent’ 4. Only one of the elements enclosed inside the brackets must be selected. 5. Note: refer to the symbols on pgs

T REE DIAGRAMS

P HRASE STRUCTURE RULES  We can look at tree diagrams as a way to generate a very large number of other sentences with similar structures.  We can use phrase structure rules to represent the information of the tree diagram in a different way: NP Art N NP Art N

M ORE ON PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES  S NP VP  NP {Art (Adj) N, Pro, PN)  VP V NP (PP) (Adv)  PP Prep NP

L EXICAL RULES  Phrase structure rules generate structures.  In order to turn this structure into recognizable English, we also need lexical rules: Which words can be used in the same spot. PN {Mary, George} V {followed, helped, saw} N {girl, dog, boy} Adj {small, crazy} Art {a, the} prep {near, with} Pro {it, you} Adv {recently, yesterday}

CONT.,

C OMPLEMENT PHRASES Cathy knew that Mary helped George  that= complementizer (C) = introducing complement phrase (CP)  that Mary helped George= CP  CP C S “A complement phrase consists of a complementizer and a sentence.”

CONT.,  From the same sentence, the CP comes after a V (knew)  This means that we are using the CP as part of a VP (knew that Mary helped George).  Now, we have a new rule, “A verb phrase consists of a verb and a complement phrase.”  or, VP V CP

CONT.,

T RANSFORMATIONAL RULES  Phrase structure rules represent ‘deep’ structure- always generate structures with fixed word order. Mary saw George recently Recently Mary saw George  Transformational rules= take a specific part and attach it in another place You will help Cathy Will you help Cathy?

CONT.,

T IME FOR EXERCISES !! 1.Draw a labeled tree diagram for the following English phrases. a. Stuffed chickens b. in the dark night c. Met a friend

CONT., 2. Draw phrase structure trees for the following sentences:  The puppy found the child  The ice melted  The hot sun melted the ice.  The house on the hill collapsed in the wind.  The boat sailed up the river.  A girl laughed at the monkey.  George saw a dog with Mary

CONT.,  In what way are these sentences ambiguous?  We met an English history teacher  Flying planes can be dangerous  The parents of the bride and groom were waiting outside  The students complained to everyone that they couldn’t understand.

Thank you!