Syntactic Rules Must Account for the Following

The grammaticality of sentences

Word order

Hierarchical organization of sentences

Grammatical relations

Structural ambiguity

Different structures with the same meaning

The creative aspect of language.

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 123, adapted.

Phrase Structure Tree 1

“Phrase structure trees (PS trees, for s

hort) are explicit graphic representation

s of a speaker’s knowledge of the struct

ure of the sentences of his language.”

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 90.

Phrase Structure Tree 2

“A PS tree is a formal device for repres

enting the speaker’s knowledge of the s

tructure of sentences in his language, a

s revealed by our linguistic intuitions.”

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 91.

Simplified Grammar of “English” PS Rules Version 1

1. S NP VP

2. NP Det N (R)

3. VP V NP

4. VP V (R)

5. VP V PP

6. PP P NP

7. VP V CP

8. CP C S

9. NP NP PP (A)

10. VPAux VP (A)

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, pp. 93, 96, 97, 100, 101, 107.

1. S NP VP 2. NP Det N’ 3. Det NP poss4. NP N’5. NP NP PP6. N’ Adj N’7. N’ N

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 110.

Simplified Grammar of “English” PS Rules Version 2

8. VP V

9. VP V NP

10. VP V CP

11. VP Aux VP

12. VP VP PP

13. PP P NP

14. CP C S

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 110.

Simplified Grammar of “English” PS Rules Version 1

Simplified Grammar of “English” PS Rules Version 2

See pp. 112-114 of the textbook for additional rules.

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, pp. 112-114.

Use of PS Rules

Test to see if sentences are grammatical

Generate grammatical sentences

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 140.

Hanyu Pinyin Phonemic and Spelling Alphabet and Syllabary for Modern Standard Chinese

Assessing a Grammar

If our GRAMMAR is complete, it should generate / describe / account for / allow / explain ALL grammatical sentences AND NO ungrammatical sentences

THIS MEANS:

1. IF a rule allows an ill-formed sentence, then it must be …. 2. IF our Grammar (or a rule in our grammar) says: This sentence is grammatical (and it is), then we can say the grammar is …. 3. IF our Grammar (or a rule in our grammar) says: This sentence is grammatical (BUT WE KNOW it is NOT GRAMMATICAL), then we say .…