Chapter 5: Syntax Flashcards
grammatical
an utterance if native speakers judge it to be a possible sentence of their language
syntax
component of grammar concerned with the form of grammatical sentences
descriptive syntax
describing sentences in terms of their most evident properties, especially the form and linear arrangement of words
formal syntax
not just focuses on the form and order of words but also on the way in which they are organized into larger hierarchically arranged units
generative grammar
system of rules and operations that can produce the grammatical sentences of a language
MERGE operation
combines words to create larger phrases and sentences
MOVE operation
can carry an element to a new position within the structure
syntactic categories
words grouped together into a small number of classes by the types of meaning the words express, types of affixes they take, type of structures in which they can occur
lexical categories
noun (N), verb (V), adjective (A), preposition (P), adverb (Adv)
non lexical / functional categories
determiner (Det), auxiliary verb, conjunction, degree word (Deg), have meanings that are harder to define and paraphrase than lexical categories
distribution
the type of elements, especially functional categories with which it can co-occur
Ex- nouns typically appear with a determiner, verbs with an auxiliary and adjectives with a degree word in the patterns
phrase structure
hierarchical design in which words are grouped together into ever larger structural units (phrases)
head
obligatory nucleus around which a phrase is built, four categories which can be the head- noun, verb, adjective, preposition
specifiers
have no single semantic function or grammatical category, occur at the edge of a phrase
complements
provide information about entities and locations implied by the meaning of the head
sentences
largest unit of syntactic analysis is the sentence
constituents
syntactic units
The structure of a phrase in the tree structures can be verified using special tests
substitution test
one piece of evidence for syntactic units comes from the fact that they can be replaced by an element such as they, he, she, it, do so, etc.
Ex- phrase: [the children] will [stop at the corner] = they always do so
movement test
to indicate that a phrase forms a constituent is that it can be moved as a single unit to a different position within the sentence
Ex- they stopped [at the corner] = [at the corner], they stopped
coordination test
we can conclude that a group of words forms a constituent if it can be joined to another group of words by a conjunction such as and, or or but
Ex- the children will [stop at the corner] and [look both ways]
coordinate structures
patterns built around a conjunction
subcategorization
information about a words complement options such as the fact the word devour belongs to a verb subcategory that requires an NP complement
transitive
when a verbs complement options include an NP (devour, give, buy)
Its NP complement is referred to as the direct object
intransitive
verbs that don’t have an NP complement (vanish, arrive, dash)
Some verbs can have both transitive and intransitive options
complementizers (C)
words such as if, whether, that
Formed with a TP
inversion
the move operation used for yes-no questions
This is used to record the fact that the moved element comes from the head position within TP: t
deep structure
formed by the MERGE operation
surface structure
results from applying whatever MOVE operations are appropriate for the sentence in question
universal grammar
the system of categories, operations and principles shared by all languages
parameters
the set of options that UG permits for a particular phenomenon
Noun (N)
name entities- people, place, thing, pronouns
Verbs (V)
designate actions, sensations and states- run, jump, feel, hurt, remain
Adjectives (A)
designate a property or attribute denoted by a noun- tall, old
Preposition (P)
used to link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence- in, at, of, on, buy, with
Adverb (Adv)
can modify or describe a verb, adj, etc. to show manner, degree, place, time- quickly slowly, today, rarely, annually, here, there
Complement (C)
words that complete the meaning of a verb, noun, adj, etc.- that, if, whether
Determiner (Det)
used to modify nouns- this, the, a, an, my, your, his, her, one, etc.
Modals (T)
used together with the main verb to show possibility, intent, ability, etc.- can, should, may, shall, must
Non-modals (V)
do not admit the progressive forms- have, see, be
Lexical category determination
meaning test, inflection test, determination test
Meaning test
Nouns: entities and locations
Verbs : actions or states
Adjectives: attributes or properties of nouns
Inflection test
Nouns: plural: -s, possessive: -’s
Verbs: person number: -s, tense: -ed, -en, aspect: -ing
Adjectives: degree: -er, -est
Distribution test
Nouns: follow determiners- the____
Verbs: follow auxiliaries- will ____
Adjectives: follow degree words- very ____
MERGE operation
- Input: words from mental lexicon
- Combine words according to structure described by X Schema
- Output: a phrase
MOVE operation
- Transport an element to a new position within the sentence
- Inversion: move T to C (with the T going along with it, leaving a t to show where it was)
Starts from an assumption (as a result of MERGE) and transforms into a question (result of MOVE):
