Syntax 334 lecture 4 Noun phrases
Transcript of Syntax 334 lecture 4 Noun phrases
4Lecture Phrases
What is a Phrase?SENTENCE ↔ CLAUSE ↔ PHRASE ↔ WORD ↔
MORPHEME Words combine together to form phrases according
to rules called phrase structure rules.The set of phrase structure rules for a language form
a generative grammar.Different phrase structure rules generate phrases of
different categorical structure: noun phrases (NP), verb phrases (VP), prepositional phrases (PP), adjective phrases (AP), adverbial phrases (AdvP), etc.
Phrase types: are they parallel ?
Noun Phrases (NP)The following phrase structure rule NP → Det (AP) N (S)
(PP) generate grammatical NP: [NP [N I ]] love [NP [N chocolate]][NPThe [Ntramp]] read [NP the [Ndiary]][NP[DetBoth][Ngirls]] enjoy [NP[APclassical]
[Nmusic]][NP [Det The] [Ndiary] [Swhich the tramp was
reading]] was amusing[NP [Det Two] [Nboys] [PPwith red hair]] entered
the room
A Noun PhraseA noun phrase contains of a head noun that is non-omissible.
The head noun may be preceded by a determiner specifier and an adjective that modifies the noun (premodifier):
The head noun may be followed by a postmodifier
NP The diary which the tramp was reading ”
Verb Phrases (VP)
Is it only ONE phrase structure rule that generate VPs? Do all verbs belong to the same type?
to laugh
a) The tramp laughedb) * The tramp laughed the little kid.
VP → V
to lean
a) The tramp leaned towards the German girl.
b) * The tramp leaned.
VP → V PP
Each verb seems to have a different rule (or rules) for generating verb phrases.
Verbs fall into different (sub)categories depending on the number and category of phrasal complement, if any, they required they required to form a grammatical VP.
Intransitive verbs subcategorise for 0 complement (e.g. laugh, sleep, etc.)Intransitive verbs subcategorise for 1 adverbial PP complement (e.g. lean, move, etc.)Copula verbs subcategorise for 1 AP, NP, or PP (e.g. be)Monotransitive verbs subcategorise for 1 NP or S (e,g, says, believe).
Transitive verbs subcategorise for 1 NP and 1 adverbial PP complement (e.g. put, lay, etc.)
Ditransitive verbs subcategorise for 2 complements 1 NP plus 1 PP or 2 NPs (e.g. told, send).
Complex transitive verbs subcategorise for 2 complements 1 NP plus 1 AP or 2 NPs (e.g. call, put).
Whether Determiner + noun
OROne word ( NOUN )
ORPronoun ( He – she – it – they – you ….)
consists of one or more than one word this unit is called a PHRASE
For example:A dog chased that girl.
S
phrase A verb phrase B
chased Determiner noun
noun Determiner
A dog that girl
The dog chased that girl.
S determiner+noun + verb + determiner+noun.
(determiner + noun ) functions as a single unit.. (the pronoun ) can replaces the entire unit..
S
Phrase A verb phrase B
Determiner + noun Determiner + nounThe man the girl
Noun chased NounHenry carol
PRO PROHe her
This kind of phrase is called a NOUN PHRASE or NP as a short form.
S
NP verb NP
DET NOUN DET NOUN
a dog chased that girl
•In terms of forms, a sentence consists of anoun phrase and a verb phrase.
•In terms of function, a sentence consists of asubject and a predicate.
subject and a predicate. A predicate must containa predicator which is a verb.
Tree diagrams and phrase structure rulesA tree diagram is a notational device which is equivalent to labeled bracketing.
It provides the same information about the syntactic structure of the sentence
On a tree diagram The two way split into noun phrase NP
(SUBJECT..)And verb phrase VP ( PREDECATE )..Looks like this:
Predicate
Subject
What is meant by “phrase structure rules?”
A convention used to sum up the system of expanding one unit into other units.
It is a set of instructions called
PS rules