3. Syntax
I) Categories and structures:
Syntax: the system of rules and categories that underlies sentence formation in human lg.
A fundamental fact about words in all human lg.-es is that they can be grouped together into a relatively small
number of classes, called syntactic categories. The 4 most studies syntactic categories are noun, verb, adjective,
and preposition (??). A 5th lexical category consists of adverbs, most of which are derived from adj.-s. Lg.-es may
also contain non-lexical or functional categories, including determiners, auxiliary verbs, conjunctions, and
degree words.
3 major criteria: meaning, compatibility with various types of affixes, type of structures in which they occur.
Word-level categories: lexical category: open class, it plays a very important role in sentence formation, N, V,
Adj, Prep, (Adv) meaning is important.
Functional category: their meaning is hard to define, main function is to define grammatical relations:
Determiners, Aux verbs, conjunctions, degree word.
Structure: a sentence is not a string of words, but they have a hierarchical structure- consisting of groups of
words. This internal str. is usually built around Ns, Vs, Adj.-s and Pssuch units are called phrases. Phrases are
built around a ‘skeleton’ consisting of 2 levels: the lowest level is reserved for the word around which the phrase
is built—this element is called the head of the phrase. Words that have a special semantic or syntactic role in the
phrase (determiners, aux.-s, degree words) are said to function as specifiers. Semantically, they help to make
more precise the meaning of the head; syntactically, they typically mark a phrase boundary. Complements: these
elements, which are themselves phrases, provide info about entities & locations whose existence is implied by the
meaning of the head. Complements are attached to the right of the head in Eng. Complements are themselves
phrases.
Phrase structure rules: defines how constituents can be combined. A phrase may consist of a specifier + a head
& comp., a head + comp., a spec. + head, or just a head. There are obvious structural similarities among NPs,
VPs, APs and PPs, thus, a general rule can be formulated:
XP Rule: XP (Specifier) X (Complement) (X=N, V, A or P).
The largest unit of syntactic analysis is the sentence. (SNP VP)
Phrase structure rules specify how sentences are structured out of phrases, and phrases out of words. They are
needed to produce underlying structures. Recursion: the property of being able to reapplied indefinitely many
times.
SNP (M) VP
PPP NP
VPV (NP) (NP) PP*
APAdv. P A
NP(Det.) N
Adv.PAdv.
X categories: Jackendoff: (X-bar Theory’bar levels’) prime notation: N, N’, N’’…
Internal construction of phrases across lg.-es. Bar levels: stand for various degrees of complexity. X = a variable, can have various
values. X’ = X-prime/-bar; X’’ = X-double-bar. Jackendoff’s theory can’t be applied to other lg.-es effectively; a more generalized
framework, recent developments based on his theory:
X’’’ (=XP)
|
WP
Specifier
X’’
IV) Complements and modifiers:
Human language allows many different complement options. There are structures in which a head takes 2 (or
more) complements (e.g.: put requires both a NP & a PP comp.) A word may belong to more than 1
subcategory, and may have more than 1 complement option. There are words, which can be used without a comp.
(The child arrived.), or that can be used with even 3 complements (We opened the door for Andy with a crow
bar.) The classification of words in terms of their complement option is called subcategorization. All human lg.es allow sentence-like constructions to function as complements; these are called complement clauses or
embedded clauses, while the larger phrase in which they occur are called a matrix clause. There’s no limit on the
number of embedded clauses that can occur in a sentence. Modifier: an optional element that describes an
optionally expressible property of the head (a good book, He slept soundly.). Adj.Ps make up the single most
commonly used class of modifiers in Eng., they serve as modifiers to NPs. The most common modifiers of Vs are
Adv.Ps & PPs that describe manner or time. Adj.Ps precede the N, while PPs follow the V Eng. modifiers vary
in terms of their position with respect to the head.
V) Transformations: Phrase structure rules determine the internal structure of phrasal categories; transformations
can modify these structures by moving an element from 1 position to another. Rules applying to underlying
structures: transformations. The entities we end up with after all tr.-s have applied = surface structures.
Hypothesis: tr.-s will generate grammatical sentences, and structures that the hypothesis doesn’t allow to be
generated as surface str.-s are ungrammatical.
VI) Deep structure vs. surface structure:
2 levels of syntactic structure:
1) Deep structure: formed by the phrase structure rules in accordance with the head’s subcategorization properties. DS plays a
special role in the interpretation of sentences.
2) Surface structure: corresponds to the final syntactic form of the sentence. It results from applying whatever transformations are
appropriate for the sentence in question.
Will the boy _ leave?
└─────┘
S
DS
NP
Det.
The
VP
N
Aux.
boy will
V
leave
The surface structure for the question pattern
is formed by applying Inversion transformation.
VII. Universal grammar and parametric variations:
. The system of categories, mechanisms, and constraints shared by all human languages is called Universal
Grammar. Nevertheless, UG leaves room for specific types of variation. The set of alternatives permitted for a
particular phenomenon is called a parameter. Of the syntactic categories, only Ns & Vs are found in all human
lg.-es.
Parametric variations: syntactic category: order of V + N+ A + P. (SVO). Phrase structure rules: some lang.s head
initial, head final, mixed. Choice of transformations: Y/N questions. Formulation of transformations.