1. Introduction
1.1 Some basic concepts
Semantics

Syntax

Morphology

Phonology

Phonetics
= The study of meaning
= The study of sentences structure
= The study of word structure
= The study of sounds in relation to a meaning in the head
= The study of sound
The term ‘syntax’ involves two related tasks: (Wekker and Haegeman, 1985: 5)
(a) breaking down the sentence into its constituents
(b) assigning some grammatical label to each constituent, stating what type of
constituent (or grammatical category) it is, and what grammatical function
it has.
SENTENCE ↔ CLAUSE ↔ PHRASE ↔ WORD ↔ MORPHEME
SENTENCE ↔
CONSTITUENT
↔
WORD
1.2 Representing sentence structure
Example:
(1) John laughed
(2) The snake killed the rat and (it) swallowed it
 The sentence structure can be represented by labeled bracketing
[ S John laughed ]
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Labeling the sentences: two clauses joined together by the coordinator and
[ S1 [ S2
] and [S3 it
The snake killed the rat
swallowed it]
]
S=Sentence
Labeling the sentences → phrasal constituents:
[ S1 [ NP John] [VP laughed] ]
[ S1 [ S2 [ NP The snake] [VP killed
[ NP the rat ] ]
]
and
[S3 [NP it] [VP swallowed
[ NP it]]]]
NP= Noun phrase
VP=Verb phrase
Labeling the sentences → constituents → words :
[ S1 [ NP [ N John]] [VP [V laughed]] ]
[ S1 [ S2 [ NP [ Det The] [ N snake]] [VP [V killed ]
[ NP [ Det the ] [ N rat]]]]
[and]
[S3 [NP [N it ]] [VP [V swallowed ]
[ NP [N it]]]]]
Det=Determiner
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V=Verb
N=Noun
 The sentence can also be represented by a tree diagram:
S
[Sentence level]
NP
VP
N
V
John
[Phrasal level]
laughed
[word level]
S1
S2
coord
NP
Det
VP
N
[Sentence level]
V
S3
NP
NP
Det
N
[clausal level]
VP
V
[Phrasal level]
NP
N
N
The snake killed the
rat
and
it swallowed
it
[word level]
 In the above diagram,
the node S1 has three branches expanded as two nodes labeled S2 and S3
coordinated by and. S2 is expanded in two branches as NP - VP. S3 is
expanded as NP – VP. VP is expanded in two branches as V- NP. NP is
expanded in two branches as Det- N.
 Det, N, and V are terminal nodes attached to words (i.e. lexical items)
Whereas NP, VP, S are non-terminal nodes
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 The system of expanding one node into other nodes is summed by Phrase
Structure Rules (PS rules)
S → S coord S
S → NP VP
VP → V NP
NP → Det - N
N
 In the above diagram,
 The node labeled S1 dominates the nodes S2, coord, and S3 where S2, coord,
and S3 are sister nodes related to the same mother node S1
 S2 dominates the nodes NP and VP, S2 also dominates Det, N, V, NP, Det,
and N but not immediately dominates them.
 S3 dominates the nodes NP and VP, S2 also dominates N, V, NP, and N
but not immediately dominates them.
etc.
 Det, N, and V are terminal nodes attached to words (i.e. lexical items)
Whereas NP, VP, S are non-terminal nodes
 the (Det) and snake (N) combine to form one constituent (an NP); killed (V)
and the rat (NP) form a constituent. etc.
Reading for this lecture:
Wekker&Haegeman (1985: 5-15)
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