Syntax and Stylistics

Verbs and T-rules

Review

Where have we been, and where are we now?

Constituent

• A constituent is a string of words such that there is one node that dominates those words and no other words.

• Confirmed by our intuitions.

• Confirmed by constituent tests.

Ambiguity

• The existence of two meanings associated with a single sentence suggests that there are multiple structures.

S

NP VP

NPV

saw the captain

That pilot PP

P NP

with a telescope

Ambiguity

• The other structure:

S

NP VP

NPV

saw the captain

That pilot PP

P NP

with a telescope

NP

Sample phrase-structure grammar

S NP VPNP (DET) NNP NP PPVP V VP VP PP VP V NP P P NP

DET the, aN dogs, boys N rabbit N Dori N dinnerN porchV barked V chased V devoured V put P in, on, to

Phrase structure

• Constraints on word order

• Constituents: NP, PP, VP, AP

• Phrase structure grammars

• Rules and treesS --> NP VP

S

NP VP

NN

Dori

V

chased Det N

a rabbit

Parts of speech are not defined by squishy semantic notions

• Nouns can describe lots of different kinds of meanings (event, path, action, concept…)

• A single concept can be realized in lots of different parts of speech (“interest in”).

Parts of speech are defined by:

1. Distribution:– Determiners can go here:

• He wrote ___ other works.• He wrote the/all/these/no/few/many other works.• *He wrote despair/be/have other works.• *He wrote student other works.• ?He wrote successful other works.

Parts of speech are defined by:

Base Participle Past Present Gerund

mow mown mowed mows mowing

prove proven proved proves proving

go gone went goes going

meet met met meets meeting

cut cut cut cuts cutting

2. Morphology

Parts of Speech

• Categories of words:– Open class: you can make up new words in

these categories• Noun, verb, adjective, adverb

– Closed class: you can’t make up new words in these categories

• Quantifier, determiner, preposition

Lexical categories

• Noun Phrase (NP)

• Verb Phrase (VP)

• Prepositional Phrase (PP)

• Adjective Phrase (AP)

• Defined by distribution, morphology, and other falsifiable, reproducible tests.

Syntax Semantics

S NP VPNP (DET) NNP NP PPVP V VP VP PP VP V NP P P NP

DET the, aN dogs, boys N rabbit N Dori N dinnerN porchV barked V chased V devoured V put P in, on, to

Syntax Semantics

• Sample PS grammar makes these sentences:

1. The dogs barked.

2. *The dogs barked the dinner.

3. *The dogs barked the dinner on the porch.

Syntax Semantics

• Sample PS grammar makes these sentences:

1. *The dogs devoured.

2. The dogs devoured the dinner.

3. *The dogs devoured the dinner to the rabbit.

Syntax Semantics

• Sample PS grammar makes these sentences:

1. *The boys put.

2. *The boys put the dinner.

3. The boys put the dinner on the porch.

Arguments of the Verb

• Verbs (and sometimes nouns and adjectives) describe events, states, and relations that have a certain number of participants.– Barking generally involves one participant.– Devouring generally involves two participants.– Putting generally involves three participants.

• The participants are referred to as arguments of the verb. (Like arguments of a function.)– Exist has a single argument (subject).– Devour has a two arguments (subject/object).– Put has three arguments (S/O/IO).

• The number of participants is called the verb’s argument structure.

Arguments of the Verb

• Subject: The children eat candy.• Object: The children eat candy.• Prepositional phrase: She put the book on the table.• Predicative adjective: We made the man angry.• Bare infinitive: She helped me walk.• To-infinitive: She likes to walk.• Participial phrase: She stopped singing that tune at the end.• That-clause: She thinks that it will rain tomorrow.• Question-form clauses: She asked me what book I was reading.

Arguments are not always Noun Phrases

• The underlined phrases are also arguments:– He looked pale.– The solution turned red.– I want to go.– He started singing a song.– We drove to New York.

Subcategorization frames

• Verbs come in different flavors:– Vi: The woman walked

– Vt: John loves Mary

– Vdt: Mary gave Peter flowers

– Vs: I know that she likes you

• This can be expressed as a kind of frame associated with the lexical entry for each verb:– walked, Vi, [ ___ ]

– love, Vt, [ ___ NP]

– put, Vdt, [ ___ NP NP]

– know, Vs, [ ___ S]

Connecting PS and V frames

S

NP VP

V

put [ ___ NP PP]

the

That boys PP

P NP

on the porch

NP

dinner

The frame puts selectional restrictions on where a particular verb can appear.

Optional and Obligatory Arguments

• The children ate.• The children ate cake.

– Object argument is optional• *The children devoured.• The children devoured the cake.

– Object argument is not optional• The dog ran.• The dog ran from the house.• The dog ran to the creek.• The dog ran from the house to the creek through

the garden along the path.

Embedded Clauses

We think that they have left.

COMP NP VP

S

V S

NP VP

S

Embedded Clause

Main Clause think, Vs, [ ___ S ]

Yes-No Questions• Put the first auxiliary verb before the subject.

– He will swim. Will he swim?– He was swimming? Was he swimming? – He has been swimming? Has he been swimming?– He will have been swimming. Will he have been

swimming?

• If there is no auxiliary verb, use “do” in the right tense.– *Swam/swims he?– Did/does he swim?

Yes-No Questions

• Think about how many different PS rules we would have to create to capture this generalization about language?

• With a single Transformational Rule, we can simplify the grammar enormously.

• Subject-Aux inversion: X NP Aux Y X Aux NP Y

Find the Deep Structure!

1. Will the donuts be delivered soon?

2. Have the dogs been fed?

3. Is there some pizza left?

4. Was that an earthquake?

5. Would you give me a cookie?

Passives

1. The police arrested the thieves.

2. The thieves were arrested by the police.

3. The children ate the chocolate.

4. The chocolate was eaten by the children.

5. The children will have eaten the chocolate.

6. The chocolate will have been eaten by the children.

Transformational Grammar and Movement Rules

S

NP VP

The kids V NP

ate the chocolate

Deep Structure

S

NP VP

The chocolate V PP

was eaten by the kids

Surface Structure

Meaning preserving tree-to-tree mapping

The Passive T-rule

1. The children ate the chocolate.

2. The chocolate was eaten by the children.

SD: X - NP1 - V - NP2 - Y

SC: X - NP2 - AUX - V +en - by NP1 - Y

Find the Deep Structure

• For each of the following sentences, indicate what its deep structure is.

1. Letters must have been sent by Kyra to Susan.

2. The toy was given to the baby by Ian.

3. Tim was promoted by his boss.

4. The storm was feared by the residents.

5. The pizza was delivered by Joel.

6. The proposal was adopted by the committee.

Find the Passives!

• My friend suffered an injury while we were canoeing.

• There were a great number of dead branches lying on the ground.

• She was very sorry that she had said what she had.

• He left the team when his health became impaired.

More Passives

• It is possible to make a passive sentence by combining be with the passive participle. It is also possible to use get (or in the past tense got) instead:

1. This carpet gets cleaned frequently.

2. The food got eaten by Jake.

• What is the word class of get in these cases?

Preposition vs. Particle

• Try the cleft-test on these:1. John ran into the street.

2. Paul called up to Tim.

3. The child slipped into the closet.

4. I calmed down the clerk.

5. The student filled in the blanks.

6. Deer can leap over the fence.

• Why do only some work?

Sam climbed up the ladder.

Sam picked up the ladder.

N V P Det N

N V P Det N

NPNP

NP

VP

S

V

NP

VPPP

S

Tree 1

Tree 2

Particle Shift

• There is a transformational rule that allows the movement of a verb particle to the end of a sentence, as in the following sentence:

1. Jake threw out the trash.

2. Jake threw the trash out.

Particle Shift

• Now consider the following sentences:1. *She stood up them.

2. She stood them up.

3. *I wrote down it.

4. I wrote it down.

5. *The bartender kicked out him.

6. The bartender kicked him out.

• Describe the circumstances under which the particle must be separated from its verb.