Week 2 Flashcards
what is a constituent?
a constituent is a group of words that can ‘go together’
what can 2 constituents form? and what is this called
2 constituents can together form a new constituent, this is called a close group
what is structural ambiguity?
the meaning of the component words can be combined in more than one way
what are constituency tests designed for?
constituency tests are designed to check whether the string in question can function as an unit
what is the substitution test?
when a string we are investigating can be substituted by a single words, then this is an indication that the string is a constituent, this can be done by making an echo question
what is an echo question?
an echo question involves echoing a speaker’s words in order to ask for a repetition of information, substitute the suspected constituent with a <wh> question</wh>
what is the do-so test?
the suspected constituent cannot just be replaced by a form of ‘so-do’, something that contrasts with the original sentence needs to be added
what is the unit of sense/sentence fragment test?
with the sentence fragment test you make an answer-questions sequence based on the original sentence (wh-question), if the string forms an answer then you have a constituent. The questions should contain everything aside from the constituent
what is the movement test?
the movement test is when a string can be moved around in a sentence, this can either be done by fronting or clefting
what is fronting?
a device whereby we shunt elements to the first position in the sentence for emphasis, not all constituents do this
what is clefting?
cleaving an original sentence into two clauses (X = constituent)
- it was/is + X + that/who
- wh question + be/do + X
what is the coordination test?
only strings that are constituents can conjoin by making use of linking items (and, but, or which). This can only happen when constituents are of the same category, so both noun, NP etc
which tests are not always reliable, preferably not used and should be used with caution?
reduction, omission, and intrusion
what is the reduction test?
an attempt to reduce string to one of its own words, works when there is a grammatical sentence. When an ungrammatical sentence is the result, this could be because more than one part of the sentence is obligatory or the string is not a constituent
what is the omission test?
only sequences of words that make up a constituent can be omitted. Therefore, if we can delete the whole string from the sentence, leaving behind a grammatical sentence, then the string is a constituent
