week 2 - syntax 2 Flashcards
what are the four steps for analysing sentence structure?
①identify parts of speech (the basic building blocks) ②identify constituents; these tests help: • pro-form (substitute constituents with it/he/she) • co-ordination (constituents can be co-ordinated) • wh-question (the answer is the constituent) • movement (constituents can be moved in one piece)
③determine phrase type (head)
④draw tree, joining up phrases, then sentences
what is a constituent?
a constituent is a word or a group of words that functions as a single unit within a hierarchical structure.
what can constituents be?
- the answer to a Wh-question
- moved in their entirety
- coordinated
- substituted by proforms
what type of phrases would the following phrases be?
- the right hand
- with the right hand
- the piano
- plays the piano with the right hand
- the right hand = noun phrase
- with the right hand = prepositional phrase
- the piano = noun phrase
- plays the piano with the right hand= verb phrase
how do we work out the head of a phrase?
The head of a phrase (constituent) is its most crucial element.
what would a syntactic tree look like for the phrase ‘we read a book’?
S
/ \
/ VP
/ \
NP NP
/ \ / \
pro v p n
we read a bookhow do we construct syntactic trees?
1- identify the constituents
2- identify the head word of the sentence
3- within each constituent, determine the type of phrase that is (noun phrase, verb phrase etc)
4- create trees upwards
5- the overall phrase should be the same as the head word
what is the specifier?
makes the meaning of the head word more precise
what is the compliment?
add information about entities and locations related to the head
what happens when there is a conjunction in a constituent?
the conjunction takes whatever is it surrounded by on both sides and makes them into a singular branch.
eg: fish (N) and (C) chips (N) = noun phrase
what is syntactic ambiguity?
depending on how we construct the sentence, the meaning may change. eg: ‘I shot an elephant in my pyjamas’
What knowledge do humans need to build syntactic structure?
‘the cat sleeps’
D -> The N -> cat V -> sleeps VP -> V NP -> Det N S -> NP VP
when applying rules to your syntactic tree, what do the following mean?
,
( )
{ }
, = OR
( ) = OPTIONAL
{ } = order does not matter
what are some typical examples of complementisers?
if, whether, when, that
what do complementisers usually follow?
usually verbs- believe, think, know, remember, tell
what does ø mean
nothing is there, but something could be there.
eg- in the sentence ‘I think we are alright’ we could insert a complementiser, ‘I think THAT we are alright’
give an example of a contradiction
- I cycle to work
* I can’t ride a bicycle
give an example of a synonym
- My brother is a bachelor.
* My brother is not married
give an example of a presupposition
- I lost my keys to your flat.
* I had keys to your flat.
what is the principle of COMPOSTIONALITY
the whole expression depends on the meaning of its parts, but also the way in which they are put together
discuss the principle of compositionality within these three sentences:
• Everyone loves the lecturer.
• The lecturer loves everyone.
• The students read books.
• Everyone loves the lecturer.
• The lecturer loves everyone.
- the elements of the sentences are the same but the meaning is not
• The students read books.
- all of the words are different, but the syntactic structure is the same.
what is language circularity?
look up tree in a dictionary, ‘a wooden structure’
look up wood in a dictionary, ‘a material that forms trees’
what is metalanguage?
the language we use to talk about language
what can a metalanguage be?
- another language
how can we use language to tell if a sentence is true or false?
give an example
the meaning of a sentence is the state of the world in which the sentence is true.
eg: if I say, ‘this table is brown’ then the meaning of that sentence is the knowledge that allows me to say (in this situation) whether this sentence is true or not.
I know it’s brown- therefore it is brown and the sentence is true.
what did Greggory (2002) say about truth conditions?
‘To know the meaning of a sentence is to know what the world would have to be like for the sentence to be true.’
discuss ‘it’s raining outside’ in relation to truth conditions
- I know in my head the scenario to which the conditions of this sentence would be true.
- I can look outside and determine whether this statement is true or false.
how would you arrange ‘the weather’s cold and wet’ in a truth table?
1- break up the sentence. ‘the weather’s cold’ , ‘the weather’s wet’ , ‘the weather’s cold and wet’
2- by convention, write ‘p’ and ‘q’ underneath each of the headings, then p ⋀ q. (⋀= and)
3- list all of the possible truth conditions, eg: the weather is cold. The weather is not wet. this would make the sentence false.
what are the two senses of ‘or’ in truth conditions?
- exclusive ‘or’ (ve)
* inclusive ‘or’ (v)
what would the truth table be for the sentence ‘the car is grey or black’?
car is grey car is black car is grey or black
p q p ve q
t t f
t f t
f t t
f f f
how do you represent ‘not’ in a truth table?
¬
what is the truth table for the sentence ‘it rains or it doesn’t rain’?
It rains it doesn’t rain It either rains or doesn’t rain
p ¬p p ve ¬p t f t f t t
what is a tautology?
No need to check the world: this sentence is always true
how do you represent ‘if’ in a truth table?
→
what is the truth table for the sentence ‘if I revise, ill pass the exam’?
I revise I’ll pass the exam if I revise,I’ll pass the exam
p q p → q
t t t
t f f
f t t
f f t
in this truth table, why are the last two rows true?
I revise I’ll pass the exam if I revise,I’ll pass the exam
p q p → q
t t t
t f f
f t t
f f t
- we don’t have any evidence on the contrary
- if we don’t know, we give it the benefit of the doubt
what is the bi-conditional sign and what does it mean?
bi-conditional ≡
‘iff and only iff’
what are the 6 truth conditions?
and (⋀) or inclusive (v) or exclusive (ve) if (→) iff(≡) not (¬)
what are the three types of expressions in truth conditions?
–necessarily true (= tautology)
–necessarily false (= contradiction)
–need to check (= contingent)
what’s the difference between predicates and arguments?
- predicates -relations
* arguments –individuals
