Morphology &
Syntax
Constituents
1
2
Mapping between syntax and
semantics
 Simple
clauses show the mapping between syntax
and semantics. (clause ↔ event)
 Prototype of a transitive verb and a transitive
clause
Pat hit Sam.
Subject Object
Agent Patient
3
Sentences
 Are
sentences simply strings of connected words?
A black cat is on a red mat.
 No!
–phrases (heads + dependents)
4
How do we identify constituents?
 Constituent:
a structural unit, a set of words that
forms a phrase
A black cat is on a red mat.
a black cat is, cat is on, on a red?
 How
do we know (and test) that “a black cat”, “a
red mat”, “on a red mat”, and “is on a red mat” are
constituents?
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Ambiguous sentences
 Lexical

ambiguity
bank, ตา
 Structure


ambiguity
Pat said that Sam cried yesterday.
ร้ านนีข้ ายหนังสื อพิมพ์ และนิตยสารเก่ าๆ
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Caution
 You
can’t tell whether a string of words is a
constituent out of context.


cheap textbooks
The students wondered how [cheap textbooks] could
be obtained.
The students wondered how cheap textbooks could
be.
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Morphological test
 NP constituents
 English
possessive –’s
[a black cat]’s owner
The boy and the girl’s uncle stayed to dinner.
[The boy and the girl]’s uncle
The boy and [the girl]’s uncle
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Phonological test
 Negative
contraction -n’t
She could not go to the party.
She [could not] go to the party.
She could [not go to the party].
She couldn't go to the party.
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Syntactic tests
 Sentence
fragment
 Echo question
 Cleft construction
 Preposing/postposing
 ‘do so’ test for VP
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Sentence fragment

A string of words that can be a sentence fragment must
be a constituent.
A black cat is on a red mat.
What is on a red mat?
A black cat./ *Black cat./ *A black.
Kim bought that book with her first wages.
What did Kim buy?
That book./ *That book with her first wages.
Kim wrote that book with the blue cover.
What did Kim write?
That book with the blue cover.
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Echo question
 In
an echo question, a wh-word (what, which, who,
when, why, where and how) replaces a constituent.
A black cat is on a red mat.
A black cat is on what?
Kim bought that book with her first wages.
Kim bought what with her first wages?
Kim wrote that book with the blue cover.
*Kim wrote what with the blue cover?
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Cleft construction

It be FOCUS clause:
It is Sue that I like.

A string of words in the focus position must be a
constituent.
Kim bought that book with her first wages.
It was [that book] that Kim bought with her first wages.
It was [with her first wages] that Kim bought that book.
*It was that book with her first wages that Kim bought.
Kim wrote that book with the blue cover.
It was [that book with the blue cover] that Kim wrote.
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Preposing/postposing
 Preposing:
a phrase is positioned at the front of the
sentence for emphasis.
 A phrasal constituent can be preposed.
I like yellow flowers.
Yellow flowers, I like. (but, red flowers, I hate.)
*Flowers, I like yellow.
He ran up the hill.
Up the hill, he ran.
He rang up his mother.
*Up his mother, he rang.
Phrasal verb vs. Prepositional verb
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Preposing/postposing


Postposing: a phrase is positioned at the end of the
sentence due to its length.
A phrasal constituent can be postposed.
He put an apple in his basket.
?* He put in his basket an apple.
He put a dozen of eggs, two bottles of water, four
pairs of sandwiches, and six apples in his basket.
He put in his basket a dozen of eggs, two bottles of
water, four pairs of sandwiches, and six apples.
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‘do so’ test for VP
 A VP constituent
can be replaced by ‘do so’.
I thought that Mel [bought that book] (with some of
her inheritance).
No! Kim [did so] with her first wages.
I thought that Mel wrote that book with the blue
cover.
*No! Kim did so with the blue cover.
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Tree diagram
A
cat is on a mat.
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Tree diagram
 Nodes

Phrasal nodes
S
node
 Lexical nodes

Terminal nodes (lexical items)
 Branches
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Tree diagram
 Tree
diagrams exhibit constituency, hierarchy,
category labels of nodes, and linear order.
 There are aspects of sentence structures that cannot
easily be shown in tree diagrams.
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Relationship
 Dominance






A node immediately dominates the next node below
it if 1) they are connected by a branch, and 2) no
other node intervenes.
Mother: a node that immediately dominates another
node or set of nodes
Daughter: a node or set of nodes that are
immediately dominated by another node
Sisters: set of daughters that share the same mother
A node dominates the nodes below it if there is an
unbroken series of branches connecting them.
X c-commands Y iff the first branching node of X
dominates Y, and X does not dominate Y, nor Y
dominate X.
20
Relationship
 Precedence


A node immediately precedes another node if it
occurs immediately to the left of it.
A node precedes another node if it occurs to the left
of it, and neither node dominates the other.
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A constituent
 A set
of elements forms a constituent in a tree
diagram if and only if there is a single node that
dominates just these elements, and no other items.
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Tree diagrams
 John
drove his car into a tree.
 Many parents give chocolate and cookies to their
children.
 Chefs from developing countries competed in a
difficult contest.
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Phrase structure rules (PS rules)
S
NP
VP
PP




24
More tree diagrams
 Pat
said that Sam cried yesterday.
 Sam saw a bear with a telescope.
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More syntactic tests
 Proform
 Ellipsis
 Co-ordination
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Proform
 Proform
(replaces a constituent)
[A black cat] is on a red mat.
It is on a red mat.
Kim [ate hotdogs], and Sue did so, too.
Mary went [to London], and Mike went there, too.
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Ellipsis
 An
omitted string is a constituent.
Pat can [swim 20 miles per hour]. Sam can [
too.
*Kim likes cats. Sam likes [
], too.
],
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Co-ordination
 Only
constituents of the same syntactic
category can be conjoined (e.g. NP + NP, VP +
VP).
Sam ate [a duck] and [a rabbit].
Pat [cooked] and [cleaned the house].
*John wrote [down the address] and [down the
phone number].
 Co-ordinating
 When
conjunctions
two constituents of the same category
are conjoined, they form one larger constituent
of the same category.
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Shared constituent co-ordination
 Right
node raising
John likes – but Mary hates – [apples].
*John rang – but Mary picked – [up the teacher].
 The
shared string is a constituent in each of the
conjuncts.
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Bar notation
 NP –
N’ – N
I admired [the director’s treatment of the issues].
Sue likes [cats].
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Bar notation
 Proform
‘one’ for N’
This [black cat] is smarter than that [one].
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Complement and adjunct
+ Complement 
 N’+ Adjunct

 Spec + N’

N
A
N’
N’
NP
student of physics
 A student with long hair
 A student of physics with long hair
 *A student with long hair of physics
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Complement and adjunct
 The
investigation of the case after lunch
 Mom’s favorite daughter
 The handsome prince of Egypt
N
+ XP
 N’+ XP
 Spec + N’



N’
N’
NP
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AP
 She
A+
is [rather fond of fruit].
XP
 A’+ XP
 Spec + A’



A’
A’
AP
35
PP
 She
P+
ran [right across the bridge].
XP
 P’+ XP
 Spec + P’



P’
P’
PP
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VP
 They
V
[all read the letter].
+ XP
 V’+ XP
 Spec + V’



V’
V’
VP
37
X-bar theory
 Phrase
structures are generated by
X + YP
(X’+ YP
Spec + X’



X’
X’)
XP
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Exercise
The walk through the park was very pleasant.


Dominate
Immediately dominate