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Phrase structure rules are a type of rewrite rule used to describe a language's syntax. They take the form A → X, where A is a syntactic category like noun phrase or sentence, and X is a sequence of category labels and/or morphemes. For example, the rule S → NP VP means a sentence consists of a noun phrase followed by a verb phrase. Phrase structure rules break sentences down into constituent parts through immediate constituent analysis represented by tree structures. They generate syntactically correct sentences from the top down by successively replacing categories with their subparts.

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36 views

Report of Lesson

Phrase structure rules are a type of rewrite rule used to describe a language's syntax. They take the form A → X, where A is a syntactic category like noun phrase or sentence, and X is a sequence of category labels and/or morphemes. For example, the rule S → NP VP means a sentence consists of a noun phrase followed by a verb phrase. Phrase structure rules break sentences down into constituent parts through immediate constituent analysis represented by tree structures. They generate syntactically correct sentences from the top down by successively replacing categories with their subparts.

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Genesis Fernandez
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Lect.

11Phrase structure rules

Learning objectives:
To define phrase structure rules
To learn the forms of phrase structure
rules
To compose new sentences using phrase
structure rules
Phrase structure rules are
a type of rewrite rule used
to describe a given
language's syntax and are
closely associated with
the early stages of
transformational grammar,
being first proposed by Noam
Chomsky in 1957.
Rewrite rules, phrase
structure rules, takes the
form A → X, where A is a
syntactic category label, such
as noun phrase or sentence,
and X is a sequence of such
labels and/or morphemes,.
expressing the fact that A •
can be replaced by X in
generating the
constituent structure of a
sentence .For example,
the rule S → NP VP means
that a sentence can
consist of a noun phrase
followed by a verb phrase;
further rules will specify what
sub-constituents a noun
phrase and a verb phrase can
consist of, and so on.
Activity 1
Give examples of:
Noun phrases
1. 2.
Verb phrases
1. 2.
They are used to break down
a natural language sentence
into its constituent parts, also
known as syntactic categories,
including both lexical
categories (parts of speech)
and phrasal categories
A grammar that uses phrase structure
rules is a type of phrase structure
grammar. Phrase structure rules as they
are commonly employed operate
according to the constituency relation,
and a grammar that employs phrase
structure rules is therefore a
constituency grammar; as such, it stands
in contrast to dependency grammars
Activity 2
What phrase structure
grammar is?.
What constituency
grammar is?
Examples
Phrase structure rules usually
take the following form:

meaning that the constituent


is separated into the two sub-
constituents B and C .
:
Examples for English
The first rule : An S (sentence)
consists of an NP (noun phrase)
followed by a VP (verb phrase).
The second rule reads: A noun
phrase consists of an optional Det
(determiner) followed by an N
(noun).
The third rule means that an
N (noun) can be preceded by
an optional AP (adjective
phrase) and followed by an
optional PP (prepositional
phrase). The round brackets
indicate optional
constituents.
Beginning with the sentence
symbol S, and applying the
phrase structure rules
successively, finally applying
replacement rules to substitute
actual words for the abstract
symbols, it is possible to generate
many proper sentences of
English
If the rules are correct, then any
sentence produced in this way
ought to be grammatically
(syntactically) correct.
Activity3
Give examples of grammatically
correct sentences:
1.
2.
3.
It is also to be expected that
the rules will generate
syntactically correct but
semantically nonsensical
sentences, such as the
following well-known example
Examples
1.The red mouse chased
the cat.
2.The black tree smiles at
me
Colorless green ideas sleep
furiously
This sentence was constructed by
Noam Chomsky as an illustration
that phrase structure rules are
capable of generating
syntactically correct but
semantically incorrect sentences.
Activity 4
Give examples of
syntactically correct but
semantically incorrect
sentences.
1. 2.
Phrase structure rules break
sentences down into their
constituent parts. These
constituents are often
represented as tree
structures. The tree for
Chomsky's sentence can be:
The Tree for Chomsky's Sentence
Draw a tree diagram for the following

1.The old man walked


slowly
.
A constituent is any word
or combination of words
that is dominated by a
single node. Thus each
individual word is a
constituent.
Further, the subject NP Colorless
green ideas, the minor NP green
ideas, and the VP sleep furiously are
constituents.
Phrase structure rules and the tree
structures that are associated with
of immediate them are a form
constituents analysis
An important aspect of phrase
structure rules is that they view
sentence structure from the top
down. The category on the left of
the arrow is a greater constituent
and the immediate constituents
to the right of the arrow are
lesser constituents.
Constituents are successively •
broken down into their parts
as one moves down a list of
phrase structure rules for a
given sentence
Next class the on tree •
diagramming.
The end •

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