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Lesson+5+ +ITL

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Lesson+5+ +ITL

Uploaded by

Javi Riquelme
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

to Linguistics
Lesson 5
Today’s Class
1. Syntax
2. Surface and Deep Structure
3. Syntactic Analysis
4. Syntactic Rules
5. Practice
What is Syntax? – The word syntax comes originally from
Greek and means ‘putting together’ or
‘arrangement’.
– It is the discipline that aims to
describe the structure of phrases and
sentences.
– It concentrates on the ordering of the
components of a sentence.
Syntax
– Elements in the structure interact
in systematic and thus
predictable ways.
– Syntactic analysis aims to show
clearly and explicitly how
syntactic rules account for the
creative aspect of linguistic
knowledge.
Surface and Deep Structures
– Syntactically speaking, we can say – The active sentence focuses on John
that there is an underlying similarity – The passive sentence focuses on the
between these two superficially monkey.
different sentences:

Ø John chased the monkey. – The deep structure of the sentences


Ø The monkey was chased by John. is similar, since they convey the same
message.
– Grammatically speaking, the first – The surface structure of the sentence
sentence is an active sentence and is different, since they are organised
the second is passive. differently.
Surface Structure

– Different syntactic forms individual


sentences have.

– It was John who chased the monkey.


– Was the monkey chased by John?
– Did John chase the monkey?
Deep Structure
– It is an abstract level of structural
organisation in which all the elements
determining structural interpretation are
represented.

– It was John who chased the monkey.


– Was the monkey chased by John?
– Did John chase the monkey?
Different surface,
same depth
– Many surface structures can have the
same deep structure:

– It was John who chased the monkey.


– Was the monkey chased by John?
– Did John chase the monkey?
In syntactic analysis we use some conventional
abbreviations for parts of speech:
N (noun)
Det (determiner)
Syntactic V (verb)
p (preposition)

Analysis C (complementizer)

We also use abbreviations for phrases, such as:


NP (noun phrase)
VP (verb phrase)
PP (prepositional phrase)
CP (complementizer phrase)
Syntactic Analysis

– A syntactic analysis aims to account for


all the grammatically correct phrases and
sentences of a language.
– The goal of syntactic analysis is to have a
small and finite (i.e., limited) set of rules
that will be capable of producing a large
and potentially infinite (i.e., unlimited)
number of well-formed structures.
Syntactic Rules
1. S à NP VP an S is composed of an NP followed by a VP
2. NP à (Det) N an NP is composed of an optional Det followed by an N
3. NP à NP PP an NP is composed of an NP followed by a PP
4. PP à P NP a PP is composed of a P followed by an NP
5. VP àV a VP is composed of a V
6. VP à V NP a VP is composed of a V followed by an NP
7. VP à V PP
a VP is composed of a V followed by a PP
8. VP à V CP
a VP is composed of a V followed by a CP
9. CP àC S
a CP is composed of a C followed by an S
1. The girl
• NP à (Det) N
2. My books • NP à NP PP
3. Children

NP NP NP

Det N Det N N

The girl My books Children


• NP à (Det) N noun noun
• NP à NP PP The man with the telescope
• PP à P NP preposition

NP
NP PP

Det N p NP

Det N
The man with
the telescope
• NP à (Det) N preposition
• NP à NP PP The man with the telescope in a box
• PP à P NP preposition
• VP àV
• VP à V NP The woman laughed
• VP à V PP
S

NP VP

Det N V

The woman laughed


• VP àV
• VP à V NP The woman helped Mary
• VP à V PP
S

NP VP

Det N V NP
N
The woman helped Mary
• VP àV
• VP à V NP
• VP à V PP
• PP à P NP VP

PP
V

play P NP

Det N
in
The children play in the park the park
Complementiser Phrase
àCS
§ Complementiser + Embedded Sentence
§ Complementiser: that, if, whether, who, what, where,
when, etc.
§ A complementiser introduces another sentence (S).
§ This means that after the complementiser there must
be a subject and a verb.
§ If there is not subject + verb, then it’s not a
complementiser
• VP à V CP The professor said that the student passed the exam.
• CP àC S
Syntactic Analysis
S à NP VP
– Draw tree diagrams for the
NP à (Det) N
following phrases
NP à NP PP
PP à P NP
1. The flower VP àV
2. A dog followed the boy VP à V NP
3. John bought a newspaper VP à V PP
4. She cries if you cry. VP à V CP
CP àCS
Module 2
Analysis
Syntactic Analysis Practice
v Draw the trees of the following sentences

1. The woman got a car.


2. The man called his friend on the phone.
3. The senator hopes that the bill passes.
4. The teacher asked if the students understood the lesson.
5. She knows that you know that I know about the accident.
6. John knew that you helped the boy with his homework.
7. The police arrested the rioters outside the courtroom.
8. My brother cries when she sings that song about penguins.

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