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LING 201 > Syntax > Flashcards

Syntax Flashcards

1
Q

What is syntax

A

the study of how we combine words to form sentences

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2
Q

tacit knowledge

A

things we know about our language that we were never taught

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3
Q

learning vs. acquisition

A

acquisition- unconscious knowledge

learning- conscious knowledge

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4
Q

Noam Chomsky

A

language is an instinct

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5
Q

Universal Grammar

A

the innate human facility for language

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6
Q

i-language

A

the cognitive system that allows humans to speak (internal)

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7
Q

e-language

A

particular instantiations of the ability to speak (external)

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8
Q

do we study i-language or e-language?

A

we use e-language to study the properties of i-language

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9
Q

Corpora

A

A large, structured set of texts

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10
Q

Limitations of corpora

A

can be ungrammatical, rare sentences

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11
Q

grammaticality judgments

A

a mini psychological experiment performer with a native speaker of the language you are studying

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12
Q

theory of syntax

A

should generate all of the grammatical sentences of a language and make falsifiable predictions

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13
Q

generative grammar

A

theory of syntax developed by Noam Chomsky: sentences are generated by an unconscious set of procedures (part of our cognitive abilities)

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14
Q

Grammatical vs. Meaningful

A

a sentence can be grammatical without being meaningful

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15
Q

Prescriptive vs. Descriptive

A

prescriptive: how people should speak
descriptive: how people do speak

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16
Q

Competence vs. Performance

A

competence: what we say in a perfect world (i-language)
performative: what we actually do say (e-language)

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17
Q

Syntactic Distribution

A

Where the word can appear with respect to other words

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18
Q

Morphological Distribution

A

What affixes can appear on the word

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19
Q

Lexical Category

A

expresses the content of the sentence, easy to add new words to this category

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20
Q

Functional Category

A

Grammatical information of the sentence, hard to add new words to this category

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21
Q

Lexical categories examples

A 
nouns 
verbs
adjectives
prepositions
adverbs
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22
Q

Functional categories examples

A 
determiner
degree word
auxiliary
conjunction
complementizer
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23
Q

Preposition

A

expressing a relation to another word or element in the clause, as in “the man on the platform,”

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24
Q

Determiner

A

a modifying word that determines the kind of reference a noun or noun group has, for example: a, the, every.

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25
Q

Degree word

A

words with meanings like ‘very’, ‘more’, or ‘a little’ that modifies the adjective to indicate the degree

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26
Q

Auxiliary

A

a helping element, typically a verb, that adds meaning to the basic meaning of the main verb in a clause. Auxiliaries can convey information about tense, mood, person, and number.

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27
Q

Conjunction

A 
Conjunctions are linguistic elements that link two or more words, phrases, clauses, or sentences within a larger unit
And
As
Because
But
For
Just as
Or
Neither
Nor
Not only
So
Whether
Yet
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28
Q

Complementizer

A

Mark an embedded clause as functioning as a complement

ex. that

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29
Q

*

A

a sentence is judged as ungrammatical by speakers

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30
Q

%

A

a sentence is judged as ungrammatical to some speakers, but grammatical to others

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31
Q

Constituents

A

Groups of words that form units

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32
Q

Sentences

A

Words are organized into hierarchical units

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33
Q

Noun Phrases

A

Groups of constituents that act as nouns

34
Q

Verb Phrases

A

Groups of constituents that act like verbs

35
Q

Tense Phrases

A

All sentences must have a tense specification in English

36
Q

Constituency Tests

A

Substitution
Fragment/ stand-alone
Movement

37
Q

Substitution Test

A

Some constituents can be replaced or substituted by other words without radically changing the meaning

38
Q

Fragment/Stand Alone

A

If words can stand alone in response to a question, they are probably a constituent

39
Q

Movement

A

Some constituents can move as units to another place in the sentence

40
Q

Clefting

A

it was… that

41
Q

Preposing/ Psuedo-clefting

A

is/ are what/ where/ who

42
Q

Coordination

A

Sticking phrases together with a conjunction

43
Q

Heads

A

The obligatory nucleus of a phrase that determines the category of the phrase

44
Q

Complements

A

The phrase the head combines with

45
Q

Subcategorization

A

The selection of the head a phrase combines with

46
Q

Where do complements appear in English

A

To the right of their head

47
Q

Verb heads select ___

A

NPs

48
Q

Noun heads select ___

A

PPs

49
Q

Preposition heads select ___

A

NPs

50
Q

Adjective heads select ___

A

PPs

51
Q

X-Bar Theory

A

Developed by Noam Chomsky. Noticed that all our phrases seem to have the same basic structure even though the categories differ.

52
Q

Specifiers

A

Daughters of XP represented by N’

53
Q

Where do specifiers appear in English

A

To the left of their head

54
Q

Determiners are the specifiers of ___

A

NPs

55
Q

X-Bar Schema

A
  1. The head is the (obligatory) nucleus of the phrase
  2. The head may select a complement to merge with—complements are always phrases (XPs)
  3. The category of the head is “projected” to the next node, here an intermediate projection, X’
  4. A specifier may merge; the category of the head continues to be projected
56
Q

Adjuncts

A

Optional iterative elements which can modify our phrases

57
Q

T OR F: we can keep merging adjuncts without changing the category

A

true

58
Q

Structural ambiguities

A

Sentences with ambiguity have different structures. each meaning corresponds to a different structure, which can be represented with trees

59
Q

Dominates

A

above another node

60
Q

Directly dominates

A

directly above a given node

61
Q

Sisters

A

nodes beside each other

62
Q

Mother

A

directly above another “daughter node”

63
Q

Principle of Modification

A

If a YP modifies some head X, then YP must be a sister to X or to a projection of X (X’)

64
Q

Endocentricity

A

The category of the head projects up to the phrase

65
Q

T OR F: all our phrases are endocentric

A

true

66
Q

CPs and recursion

A

With the structures we have developed, we have the power to generate an infinite number of grammatical sentences

67
Q

Deictic Words

A

Meaning is different based on the time, place, or situation in which a speaker is speaking

68
Q

Tests for complements vs. adjuncts

A

Obligation test, stacking, coordination, do so replacement test, one-replacement test, ordering test

69
Q

Obligation test

A

If it’s obligatory it’s a complement. If it’s optional, it’s not necessarily an adjunct

70
Q

Stacking

A

Adjuncts can be stacked, but not complements

71
Q

Coordination

A

Complements can usually be coordinated with complements, adjuncts can usually be coordinated with adjuncts

72
Q

Do so replacement test

A

Do so must replace the verb and all of its complements

73
Q

Ordering Test

A

The order of complements is fixed. The order of adjuncts with respect to each other is free.

74
Q

The structure of adjuncts

A

Adjuncts are merged above the complement and appear outside of it

75
Q

Ordering of complements and adjuncts

A

Complements must be ordered before adjuncts. We can keep merging adjuncts without changing the category. they can also be reordered with respect to each other

76
Q

Two levels of representation

A

Deep structure & surface structure

77
Q

Deep structure

A

Core semantic relations of a sentence

78
Q

Surface structure

A

actual pronunciation

79
Q

Theta roles

A

the number and type of noun phrases required syntactically by a particular verb

80
Q

Agent theta role

A

The entity that intentionally carries out the action of the verb

81
Q

Experiencer theta role

A

The entity that undergoes an emotion, a state of being, or a perception expressed by the verb

82
Q

Theme theta role

A

The entity that directly receives the action of the verb

LING 201 (10 decks)

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