Week 6, Chapter 2: Major Phrase Types in Syntax

Week 6, Chapter 2: From Words to Major Phrase Types

• Syntax is the study of rules that generate an infinite number of grammatical sentences.
• The basic units of syntax are words.
• To form grammatical sentences, start with words (lexical categories).
• These lexical categories form phrases, and phrases form clauses.
• A clause is a complete sentence-like unit, but it can be part of a larger clause as a subordinate or adverbial clause.

2.2.1 Determining the Lexical Categories for Words

• Parts of speech, lexical categories, and grammatical categories are all synonymous with word class.
• Words can be classified based on three criteria:
  • Meaning
  • Morphological form or properties
  • Syntactic function or distributional possibilities

2.2.1 Determining the Lexical Categories for Words: Meaning

• Nouns (N) refer to individuals or entities.
• Verbs (V) refer to actions.
• Adjectives (A) refer to properties.
• Adverbs (Adv) refer to manner, location, time, or frequency of an action.
• Not all words fit neatly into these categories based on meaning alone.

2.2.1 Determining the Lexical Categories for Words: Morphological form or properties

• Nouns often add the plural morpheme -(e)s.
• Nouns take possessive forms ('s).
• Verbs add -ed for past tense or 3rd singular -(e)s.

2.2.1 Determining the Lexical Categories for Words: Syntactic function or distributional possibilities

• The most reliable criterion for determining lexical categories is based on how words/phrases function and distribute within a sentence.

2.2.1 Other Lexical Categories

• Determiners (Det): the, a, this, that
• Conjunctions (Conj): and, but, so, for, or, yet
• Complementizers (C): that, for, if, whether
• Auxiliary verbs (Aux): will, can, shall, must
• Particles (Part): off, up

2.3 Grammar with Lexical Categories

• The goal of syntax is to build a grammar that can generate an infinite set of well-formed grammatical English sentences.
• A grammar rule for a sentence (S): S → (Det) A* N V Det A* N (infinite). Example: The tall man kicked the ball.

2.3 Grammar with Lexical Categories: Extended Grammar

• Simple grammar can be extended to generate infinitely many sentences by allowing iteration (example: the tall, handsome man kicked the ball).
• Structure of a sentence: phrases are formed by combining words.

2.4 Phrasal Categories

• Tests for demonstrating appropriate grouping of words/phrases into constituents (e.g., cleft constructions, constituent questions, substitution by a pronoun, coordination).

2.5 Phrase Structure Rules (PS)

• Sentence (S)
• Noun Phrase (NP)
• Verb Phrase (VP)
• Prepositional Phrase (PP)
• Nouns (N)
• Verbs (V)
• Adjectives (Adj)
• Adverbs (Adv)
• Articles (Art)
• Determiners (Det)
• Proper nouns (PN)
• Auxiliary verbs (Aux)

2.5 Phrase Structure Rules: Noun Phrase (NP)

• An NP can include an optional determiner (Det), zero or more adjectives (A*), an obligatory noun (N), and an optional prepositional phrase (PP) or a modifying clause (S). Example: the new students who came from Seoul.

2.5 Phrase Structure Rules (PS): Verb Phrase (VP)

• A VP consists of an obligatory verb (V), an optional noun phrase (NP), and zero or more prepositional phrases (PP) or clauses (S). Example: warned us that storms were coming.

2.5 Phrase Structure Rules (PS): Other Phrases

• Adjective Phrase (AP): A (PP/VP/S).
• Adverb Phrase (AdvP): (AdvP) Adv.
• Prepositional Phrase (PP): P NP.

2.6 Grammar with Phrases

• Rules for combining NPs and VPs into sentences.
• Recursive rules allow for the construction of increasingly complex sentences.

2.6 Grammar with Phrases, Detailed Rules

• S → NP VP
• NP → (Det) A* N (PP/S)
• VP → V (NP) (PP/S)
• AP → A (PP/VP/S)
• AdvP → (AdvP) Adv
• PP → P NP

3.1 Introduction

• Syntactic categories (N, A, V, P, NP, VP, AP)
• Grammatical functions (SUBJ, OBJ, PRED, MOD)
• Semantic roles (Agent, Patient, Location, Instrument, etc.)

3.2 Grammatical Functions: Subjects

• The subject is typically the entity performing the action of a verb.
• More reliable tests for subjecthood include agreement, tag questions, and subject-auxiliary inversion.

3.2 Grammatical Functions: Objects (Direct and Indirect)

• Direct object (DO): The noun phrase directly affected by the verb's action.
• Indirect object (IO): The noun phrase that receives the direct object.

3.2 Grammatical Functions: Predicate Complements

• Predicative complements are phrases that follow a linking verb and describe the subject or object.

3.4 Semantic Roles: Agent

• The agent is the participant who performs the action.

3.4 Semantic Roles: Patient

• The patient is the participant who undergoes the action.

3.4 Semantic Roles: Experiencer

• The experiencer is aware of the event or sensation, Example: The students felt comfortable in the class

3.4 Semantic Roles: Theme

• The theme is the participant that is affected by the action, or undergoes a change in state or location, Examples: The student heard a strange sound.

3.4 Semantic Roles: Benefactive

• The benefactive is the participant who benefits from the action, Example: John made a doll for his son.

3.4 Semantic Roles: Source and Location

• The source is the location from which something moves, Example: John promised Bill to leave tomorrow morning
• The location determines where the action or event occurs, Example: The children played under/near the hot sun.

4.1 Head, Complements, and Modifiers: Head

• The essential and obligatory element in a phrase.

4.1 Head, Complements, and Modifiers: Complements

• Required phrase elements that the head needs to combine with.

4.1 Head, Complements, and Modifiers: Modifiers

• Additional phrase elements not required for the meaning of the phrase.

5.1 Subjects and Complements: Key Concepts

• Review of grammatical functions and semantic roles.
• Subjects and complements involved in sentence construction.

6.1 Noun Phrases and Agreement: Types of Nouns

• Common nouns, Proper nouns, Pronouns (personal, reflexive, relative, interrogative, indefinite), etc.
• Countability (e.g., countable like 'books', uncountable like 'butter')

6.1 Noun Phrases and Agreement: Combinatory Possibilities

• How determiners combine with different types of noun phrases.
• Agreement rules for number (singular/ plural)

6.1 Noun Phrases and Agreement: Pronouns

• Personal, reflexive, reciprocal pronouns.
• Agreement in terms of number, person, and gender with their antecedents.

6.1 Noun Phrases and Agreement: Proper Nouns

• Unique entities and cannot take a plural form or determiners, except when referring to multiple instances of the same person/place

8.1 Auxiliary Constructions: Auxiliary Verbs

• Modal auxiliary verbs (will, shall, may, etc.)
• Have/Be auxiliary verbs
• Do auxiliary verbs
• To non-finite, auxiliary verb

8.1 Auxiliary Constructions: Overview of NICE Properties

• Negation: Ability to add 'not'
• Inversion in questions
• Contractions (e.g., you'll)
• Ellipsis or leaving out of repeated parts of a phrase

8.1 Auxiliary Constructions: Ordering Restrictions

• Order restrictions on auxiliary verbs in a string in sentence (e.g, be + en + past).

8.1 Auxiliary Constructions: Transformational Analyses

• Introducing the rule (11) Aux—-> tense (Modal) (have + en) (be + ing).
• Affix hopping, do-support rules.

Lexical Analysis

• Review of lexical categories and their function.
• Review of grammatical functions and semantic roles.
• Summary of syntax issues and redundancy for simpler grammar rules.

Passive Constructions

• Passive sentences alter the subject and object role,
• Passive verbs change the word order.
• Passive involves a be-auxiliary followed by the past participle form of the main verb
• Active and passive voice have the same semantic content but opposite roles.
• Passive voices can be used to de-emphasize the subject or to emphasize a process.

WH-Questions

• Rules for forming questions with wh-words (who, what, etc.).
• The wh-phrase must occupy the same syntactic category in the question as if it were in the original sentence.
• Wh-questions are formed by inverting the subject and auxiliary verb.

Indirect Questions

• Indirect questions are questions embedded in a main clause as a complement.
• They occur with verbs that take clauses as complements (e.g., ask, wonder, say, etc.).
• When the content of the question is not a canonical clause, it will have a [QUE+] feature.

Non-WH Indirect Questions

• Indirect questions that do not use wh-words.
• They serve as complements, using whether or if as a conjunction.