1. Categories and Structure
1.1 Word-level Categories
Table 1 Syntactic categories
Lexical categories
Examples
Noun (N)
Tom, boy, wheat, bravery
Verb (V)
discuss, like, hear, remain
Adjective (A)
good, tall, old, intelligent
Adverb (Adv)
silently, slowly, quickly
Preposition (P)
to, in, on, near, by, at
Non-lexical categories
Examples
Determiner (Det)
the, a, this, these
Degree word (Deg)
too, so, very, more, quite
Quantifier (Qual)
always, often, never, almost
Auxiliary (Aux)
will, can, may, must, should
Conjunction (Con)
and, or, but
1.2 Phrase Structure
XP
Specifier
X
Complement
Head
Figure 1 The phrase structure template
Ex: a.
VP
Qual
V
never
drink
b.
NP
the water
NP
Det
N
the
man
1.3 Sentences
S (=InflP)
NP
VP
Infl
Det
A
N
scientist
NP
V
will
discover
Det
the
N
answer
2. Complement Options
Subcategorization: The classification of words in terms of their complement options
(e.g., the verb devour is subcategorized for a complement NP)
Table 2 Some examples of verb complements
Complement option
Sample heads
Example

vanish, arrive, die
The child vanish.
NP
devour, cut, prove
The teacher proved [the theorem].
AP
be, become
The man became [very angry].
PP
dash, talk, refer
The dog dashed [to the door].
NP NP
give, spare, hand
We handed [the man] [a map].
NP PP to
hand, send, give
He gave [a diploma] [to the student].
NP PP for
buy, cook, reserve
We bought [a hat] [for Andy].
NP PP PP
open, fix
We opened [the door] [for Tom]
[with a crowbar].
1.4 Tests for Phrase Structure
(1) The substitution test
Ex: [NPThe citizens] rebelled after they
discovered the truth.
(they = the citizens)
(2) The movement test
Ex: They stopped [PP at the corner]
[PP At the corner], they stopped.
(3) The coordination test
Ex: The children [VP often sweep the floor]
but [VP never make the bed].
1.5 X’ Categories
XP
X’
Specifier
X
Head
Complement
Figure 2 The phrase structure template (revised)
Table 3 Some examples of noun complements
Complement option
Sample heads
Example

car, boy, electricity
the car__
PPof
memory, failure
the memory
[of a friend]
PPof PPto
presentation, donation
the presentation
[of a medal]
[to the winner]
PPwith PPabout
argument, discussion
an argument
[with Stella]
[about politics]
Complement Clauses:
Ex: [The psychic knows [that/whether/if the contestant will win]].
3. Transformations
3.1 Inversion In Yes-No Questions
Inversion: Move Infl to the left of the subject NP.
Ex:
The boy will leave.
 Will the boy __ leave?
(Deep Structure/ D-structure)
(Surface Structure/ S-structure)
The XP Rule

Deep Structure


(Subcategorization restricts
choice of complements)
Transformations

Surface Structure
Figure 3 The syntactic component of the grammar
3.2
WH Movement
Wh Movement: Move the wh phrase to the
beginning of the sentence.
Ex: Which car should the man fix? (S-structure)
The man should fix which car. (D-structure)
Which car should the man __ fix __ ?
Inversion
Wh Movement
3.3 A More Detailed Look At Transformations
l
Inversion (revised): Move Infl to C.
l Do Insertion: Insert interrogative do into an
empty Infl position.
l Wh Movement (revised): Move a wh phrase to
the specifier position
under CP.
3.4
Constraints On Transformations
l
Movement of an auxiliary to the nearest C position:
[CP[IP Harry should know [CP that the bottle could
explode]]].
[CP Should [IP Harry __ know [CP that the bottle could
explode]]].
*[CP Could [IP Harry should know [CP that the bottle
__ explode]]].
The Subject Constraint:
No element may be removed from a
subject phrase.
The Coordinate Structure Constraint:
No element may be removed from a
coordinate structure.
Ex: The author might write [a story or a poem].
*What might the author write [a story or __]?
l
Movement of a wh word from inside a
complement phrase:
a. Carl should see [a picture of Dracula].
(Deep Structure)
Who should Carl see [a picture of __]?
(Surface Structure)
b. [A picture of Dracula] could frighten John.
(Deep Structure)
*Who could [a picture of __] frighten John?
(Surface Structure)
4.Universal Grammar and Parametric Variation
Universal Grammar: The system of categories,
mechanisms, and constraints shared by all human
languages.
4.1
Variation in Syntactic Categories
Ex: a. The cat is hungry.
b. The cat has hunger.
The cat hungers.
4.2 Variation in Phrase Structure Rules
l
Japanese (head-final): XP  (Specifier) (Complement*) X
l
XP rule used in Thai for Ss:
XP  (Specifier) X (Complement*)
l
XP rule used in Thai for phrases smaller than S:
XP  X (Specifier) (Complement*)
4.3 Variation in the Use of Transformations
l
Yes-no questions
l
Wh questions
l
Verb Raising: Move verb to Infl.
5. Some Extensions
l
Coordination: coordination of NPs, VPs, PPs, Aps, and Ss.
Ex: [the man] and [a child]
[go to the library] and [read a book]
l
Modifiers: A very tall man walked into the room.
Ellen proceeded carefully.
He stayed for three days.
l
Relative Clauses:
Sue knows the man [who Bob criticized __].
Harry visited the village [which Sue walked to __].
6. Other Types of Syntactic Analysis
(1) Passive Structures
(2) Relational Analysis
Functional Analysis
Syntax:
The Sentence
Patterns of Languages
1.
Syntax: the rules of sentence formation; the
component of the mental grammar that
represent speakers’ knowledge of the structure
of phrase and sentence.
Sentences are not simple random strings or words;
they conform to specific patterns determined by
the syntactic rules of the language.
Grammaticality judgments do not depend on
whether the sentence is meaningful or not.
e.g. My father went to Taipei by bus at 8
this morning.
My father took a bus to Taipei at 8 this
morning.
2. The hierarchical structure (tree diagram)
(Recursive)
The child found the puppy
the child
the
found the puppy
child
ound
the puppy
the
puppy
3. Syntactic Categories: A family of expressions
that can substitute for one another without loss
of grammaticality is called a syntactic category.
e.g.
The child found the puppy.
A police officer found the puppy.
Your neighbor found the puppy.
This yellow cat found the puppy.
He found the puppy.
The child, a police officer, your neighbor, this
yellow cat, he belong to the syntactic category.
4. Phrase Structure Tree: a linear string of words
a hierarchical structure
5. lexical categories: the lowest categories, whose members are words
Ambiguity
S
NP
VP
Art
N
V
the
boy
saw
NP
PP
Art
N
P
the
man
with
NP
Art
N
the
telescope
S
NP
VP
Art
N
V
the
boy
saw
NP
Art
N
the
man
PP
P
with
NP
Art
the
N
telescope
6. Phrasal categories:
The categories that occur to the left of the
arrow in a phrase structure rule are called
phrase categories; categories that never occur
on the left side of any rule are lexical
categories.
7. Phrase Structure Rule: (1)
(X-bar theory)
NP
(Swedish)
Art
n
the
man
(2) VP→V
: buy
VP→V NP
: buy the book
VP→V NP PP
: buy the book from the store
(3) PP→P NP
(4) NP→Art
: in the store
(Japanese)
(Adj.)* N (PP)
e.g. The large fierce black dog looked out the window
8. Subcategorization: A transitive verb must
be followed by a Noun Phrase, its “ directive
object.” This additional specification is called
subcategorization, and is also included in the
lexical entry of each word.
9. complementizer: A syntactic category of
words that precede the S in an S-bar.
e.g. that in “I know that you know…”
NP Pronoun
VP VS’
S’(Comp) S
He believes that she loves the cat.
S
NP
Pronoun
He
VP
V
believes
S’
comp
that
S
NP
VP
Pronoun V
She
loves
NP
Art N
the cat
10. Phrase Structure Tree: Syntactic Categories
Phrasal Categories
Lexical Categories
11. Transformational Rules
e.g. The boy who is spelling is dreaming.
Is the boy who is spelling dreaming?
S
NP
The boy who is sleeping
Aux
VP
is
dreaming
 Transformational Rules Applied
S
Aux
Is
NP
The boy who is sleeping
VP
dreaming
12. Long-Distance Relationships
In English, the verb in the present-simple
tense has an “s” added whenever the subject
is the third person singular. Such a
relationship is called subject-verb agreement.
And this agreement may take over a long
distance; besides, there is no limit to how
many words may intervene, as the following
sentences illustrates:
e.g. The guy we met at the party next door seems
kind of cute
The guys we met at the party next door seem
kind of cute
The guys(guy) we met at the party next door
that lasted until three A.M.
and was finally broken up by the cops who
were called by the neighbors
seem(seems) kind of cute
13. A Summary Of All The Phrase Structure Rules
Presented In This Chapter
S NP (Aux) VP
S’ (Comp) S
NPArt (Adj)* N (PP)
NPPronoun
VPV (NP) (PP)
VPV S’
PPP NP
These rules do not constitute all the rules that English
speakers know. English speakers know many other
rules of this kind, and produce many sentences and
phrase structures using rules other than these.