Chapter 4
Syntax
Objectives
1. To understand the definition of syntax
2. To study 2 ways of analyzing sentence
structure
3. To learn about the syntactical
relationships
1. Definition of Syntax
A subfield of linguistics that studies the
sentence structure of language. Specifically,
it studies the combination of words to form
sentences and the rules governing the
formation.
2. IC Analysis
This is a structuralist way of analyzing the structure of
a sentence: break a sentence down to its constituent
elements until the smallest grammatical units, i.e.
morphemes are obtained.
e.g. Poor|| John| ran|| away.
constituent
immediate constituents
ultimate constituents
poor John, ran away
poor, John, ran, away
Advantages of IC analysis
1. It helps to account for the ambiguity of certain
constructions.
e.g. The son of Pharaoh’s daughter is the daughter of
Pharaoh’s son.
2. It clearly demonstrates that sentences are not mere
left-to-right linear sequences of elements. Instead,
elements come into relationships of great
complexity and varying kinds.
(胡壮麟，P125-126)
“the daughter of Pharaoh’s son” is
ambiguous:
=（1）The daughter of Pharaoh’s
son 法老儿子的女儿（孙女）
=（2）The daughter of Pharaoh’s
son 法老女儿的儿子（外孙）
Disadvantages of IC Analysis
1. It results in technical problems due to
discontinuous constituents.
e.g. Leave + the book+ on the shelf.
2. It can result in ambiguity problems.
e.g. the love of God
=God loves (man) or
=(man) loves God
the shooting of the hunters
=the hunters shot (sth. or sb.)
=somebody shot the hunters
3. Syntactic Analysis
This is a generative way of analyzing the
structure of a sentence: break a sentence down
into its component parts of speech with an
explanation of the form, function, and
syntactical relationship of each part.
In order to analyze a sentence, traditional
grammarians categorize English lexical items
into eight classes (parts of speech): nouns,
verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. by using
different criteria.
Common Categorization Criteria
1. Phonological Criteria -- based on word stress
--- based on word stress
e.g. To in'crease the number of students, we need an
'increase in funding.
2. Semantic Criteria -- based on meaning
e.g. Flying planes can be dangerous.
--- if you live under the flight path.
--- if you haven’t got a pilot’s license.
Common Categorization Criteria
3. Notional Criteria -- based on denotation
Class
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Denotation
entity (car, house, Mr. Bean)
action (eat, push, sleep)
state (green, happy, sleepy)
manner in which the action is
done (smoothly, quickly)
Preposition denotation of position (from the back)
Determiner a word which specifies (this lecture)
Common Categorization Criteria
4. Morphological Criteria– based on meaningful
endings
e.g. word words
computer  computers
people  peoples
Words that have a similar morphological
behavior are put in the same category. There
will be exceptions, but this does not invalidate
the general method.
Common Categorization Criteria
5. Distributive Criteria – based on location of appearance
e.g. Everyone likes bear.
Everyone likes cars.
Everyone likes Harry Potter.
*Everyone likes eats.
Evidence is found by examining the position in which
words can occur in a sentence: known as the distribution
of words.
All words of a similar class should seem naturally
intuitive and words that don’t fit can be used to
construct other classes.
* means the sentence is ungrammatical.

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In order to analyze a sentence syntactically, it is
necessary to categorize lexical items in terms of their
grammatical properties.
A syntactic category is a category of lexical items
having the same grammatical properties.
The categorization is based on similar structure and
sameness of distribution (the structural relationships
between these elements and other items in a larger
grammatical structure), and not on meaning.
In generative grammar, a syntactic category is
symbolized by a node label in a constituent structure
tree.
Common Syntactic Categories
1. S
2. Phrase Structure
1. S
It stands for “sentence”, the largest category
capable of syntactic categorization.
e.g. --I saw a big aeroplane. (declarative)
--How large is the plane? (interrogative)
--If only I could fly that plane! (subjunctive)
--Please have your luggage checked before
boarding. (imperative)
2. Phrase Structure
N
V
A
P
word level
NP
VP
AP
PP
phrase level
NP stands for “Noun Phrase”
--defined as a category that can bear some
grammatical function in a sentence,
e.g. as subject or direct object.
Types of NP
NP
NP
N
Pron.
NP
Det
NP
N
Det Adj
N
John he, we, she a, the, apple the red apple
this, that
NP
NP
Det N
PP
NP
S
a story about the hero the person who talked to me
VP stands for “Verb Phrase”
--a category consisting of a verb, its
complements and its adjuncts.
e.g. --John put the book on the table.
(the book and on the table are complements of put.)
--The girl saw a woman in the park with a
telescope.
(in the park and with the telescope are
the adjuncts of saw.)
Types of VP
VP
V
VP
NP
V
VP
PP
hit the ball speak about the book said
VP
V
run
VP
Adv
V
fast Look!
V
S
that he had
told lies
PP stands for “Prepositional Phrase”
--a phrase containing a preposition and a noun
phrase.
e.g. --on the table
--in the park
--with a telescope
It is possible to have a PP within a PP:
e.g. --in the park with a telescope
PP
P
about
AP
NP
Deg Adj
the book
very little
We are not ready to start syntactic analysis of
sentences just yet. We need Syntactic Rules too.
Syntactic Rules
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The S Rule
Phrase Structure Rules
XP Rule
Coordination Rule
Transformational Rules
Passive Transformational Rule
1. The S Rule
S
S  NP+VP
NB: “” =consists of
VP
NP
NP
Det
N
A
boy
V
found
Det
the
N
evidence
2. Phrase Structure Rules
NP  (Det) N (NP)…
VP  (Qual) V (NP)...
AP  (Det) A (PP) …
PP  (Det) P (NP) …
NB: “” =consists of
“( )” = optional
“…” = other complements available
3. XP Rule
To simplify the Phrase Structure rule, “X” is
employed in the same way as in math to stand
for the heads of Noun, Verb, Adjective and
Preposition. Hence,
XP  (specifier) X (complement)
NB: “X” = head (N, V, A, P)
“( )” = optional
e.g.
(specifier) X (complement)
(a difficult) question (about chemistry)
The XP Rule seems to be powerful enough to
cover all phrase structures. However, there are
structures in the English language that are
greater than a word but smaller than a phrase.
e.g.
1. I often eat pie, but Susan rarely does so.
2. I have never seen this very tall girl before.
In order to analyze such structures, we need the Xbar Theory.
X¯ Theory
X-bar Theory is a component of linguistic
theory which attempts to identify syntactic
features common to all languages. It correctly
represents constituents smaller than XP but
bigger than X.
a. XP = (specifier) + X¯
b. X¯ = X + (complement)
XP
Phrase level
X¯
Specifier
X (head)
Complement
VP
V
NP
Det
does
N
so
The boxed area is not a syntactic unit.
S
NP
VP
V-Bar
specifier
Susan rarely
head Complement
does
so
The boxed area is now a syntactic unit
The boxed area is not a syntactic unit.
The boxed area is now a syntactic unit
4. Coordination Rule
X  X * Con X
NB: X = category at any structural level,
X/XP can be coordinated.
* = more than one category can occur
to the left of the Conjunction.
(p.48)
5. Transformational Rules
A. Auxiliary Movement:
Move Infl to the left of the subject NP
Inversion:
CP (Complement Phrase)
S
C
NP
Infl
VP
e
N
will
arrive
John
Inversion (revised): Move Infl to C
One application only.
* The teacher wonders [CP if should his student _____ stay].
NB: Complementizers and auxiliaries are mutually exclusive.
B. DO Insertion
Do Insertion (1)
CP
CP (2)
S
C
S
NP
C
NP Infl VP
N
e
V
birds do
fly
Infl
N
Birds
(do)
VP
V
fly
C. Wh Movement
He bought what.
What did he buy?
CP
C
S
e
NP
Infl
N
pst
V
NP
he
did
buy
what
VP
6. Passive Transformational
Rule
NP1 + Infl + VP (V + NP2)
John
pst
see
Mary
NP2 + Infl + be + en + by + NP1
Mary
pst
be
see
by
John
4. Syntactic Relationship
A. Endocentric Construction
B. Exocentric Construction
C. Paradigmatic Relationship
D. Syntagmatic Relationship
A. Endocentric Construction
-- One whose distribution is functionally equivalent, or
approaching equivalence, to the head, one of its
constituents.
e.g.
John = Poor John (syntactically equivalent,
with Poor endocentric to John )
ran = ran away (away is endocentric to ran)
Endocentric Construction
Subordinate
books on the shelf
will have been serving
Coordinate
boys and girls
coffee or tea
B. Exocentric Construction
--- One in which no single constituent is
functionally equivalent to the whole construction.
e.g.
on the shelf,
If he is going, (no noticeable head)
The girl smiled. (not mutually substitutable)
C. Paradigmatic Relationship
--- A relationship where an individual sign may be
replaced by another.
For example, individual letters have a paradigmatic
relationship with other letters. Letters and
numbers do not have a paradigmatic relationship.
Paradigmatic relationships are typically associative,
in that both items are in a single membership set.
D. Syntagmatic Relationship
-- A relationship where signs occur in sequence or
parallel and operate together to create meaning.
Thus, the letters in a word have a syntagmatic
relationship with one another, as do the words in a
sentence.
Syntagmatic relationships are often governed by
strict rules, such as spelling and grammar. They can
also have less clear relationships, such as those of
fashion and social meaning.
Homework
Explain the syntactical differences
of the two sentences:
(1) John is easy to please.
(2) John is eager to please.