SyntaxSyntaxChapter 4Chapter 4

SyntaxSyntaxChapter 4Chapter 4

Origin Syntax came originally from

Greek. In linguistics, syn- "together” + tax- "an

ordering” = "arrangement" is the study of the principles and rules for constructing sentences in natural languages.

(Par. 4, p. 98)Formal accounts of syntax are

based on establishing the basic constituents, namely, categories, from which word strings are formed.

Phrase Structure Rules Phrase-structure rules are a way to

describe a given language's syntax. They are used to break a natural language sentence down into its constituent parts (also known as syntactic categories) namely phrasal categories and lexical categories.

Phrasal categories include the noun phrase, verb phrase, and prepositional phrase, etc.; lexical categories include noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and many others.

Phrase structure rules are usually of the form A →B+C, meaning that the constituent A is

separated into the two subconstituents B and C. Some examples are:

S →NP+VP The show + rocks.

NP →Det +N1 plenty of + snow

Phrasal Categories

Noun phrase—NP: a tall man, the student, Kennedy

Verb phrase—VP: read, hit the ball, walk with a stick

Prepositional phrase--PP: with a stick, in the park

Adjective phrase—AdjP: quite rude Adverb phrase—AdvP: very fast, swiftly

S NP VP

The student V NP

likes the new linguistics professor.

S NP VP V S NP VP V NP

John insists (that) Mary take the piano class.

To make a structural description of sentences, we shall describe various kinds of relations between words and phrases of sentences. There are two kinds of relations between them.

Sequential Relations（顺序／横向关系） Par. 2, p. 98

i. Definition: In syntax, sequential or syntagmatic relation refers to the linear ordering of the words and the phrases within a sentence.

ii. That is, a sentence is composed of minimal grammatical units called ultimate constituents （最终成分） in a particular order.

iii. The---man---hit---the---ball linear

Sentences are made up of clauses, which are made up of phrases, which are made up of words, which are made up of morphemes.

Clauses, phrases, words are all constituents of a sentence on different levels.

Hierarchical Relations（等级关系） par. 3, p. 98i. Definition: Hierarchical relation shows us the

inner layering of sentences.ii. What means can we use to reveal the

hierarchical structure of a sentence? -- It’s IC analysis （直接成分分析法） . iii. The // man /// hit // the / ball. hierarchical

Background

• In linguistics, immediate constituent analysis or IC analysis is a method of sentence analysis that was first mentioned by Leonard Bloomfield and developed further by Rulon Wells. The process reached a full blown strategy for analyzing sentence structure in the early works of Noam Chomsky. The practice is now widespread. Most tree structures employed to represent the syntactic structure of sentences are products of some form of IC-analysis.

Immediate constituent

This refers to the two parts that are yielded after each cut. An immediate constituent can be further segmented until we obtain the smallest grammatical unit—ultimate constituents.

IC Analysis

The analysis of a sentence in terms of

its immediate constituents-- word groups (or

phrases), which are in turn analyzed into the

immediate constituents of their own, and the

process goes on until the ultimate constituents are reached.

Examples

Poor John ran away.

John left yesterday.

dis place ment

More Examples

These apples are very sweet.

These apples are very sweet

These apples are very sweet very sweet

Little Tom runs very fast.

Little Tom runs very fast.

little Tom runs very fast

Little Tom runs very fast very fast

The advantages of IC Analysis

Demonstrate the internal structure of sentences;

Reduce ambiguity. (The same phrase or sentence may have

two or more interpretations depending on the hierarchical arrangement of its constituents. Such a case is called structural ambiguity. 结构歧义 )

Leave the book on the shelf.

Leave it

there

Don’t touch

it

My small child’s cot （小床）

My small cot for a

child.

The cot of my small

child

My cot for a small child

The son of Pharaoh’s daughter is the daughter of Pharaoh’s son.

Problems of IC analysis 1 Binary division is not always effective. 首先，开始的时候有些提倡者坚持二元切分。任何结构体

在任何层面都分成两个部分。但实际上并不总是如此。比如， old men and women 是有歧义的，既可以是 old + men and women 的意思，也可以是 old men + and women 。这两种方法中的任何一种都需要三分：第一种解释里的 men + and + women ，第二种解释里的 old men + and + women 。 and 只跟前边的部分组合或只跟随后的部分组合都是不可能的。

Problems of IC analysis 2

It cannot divide constructions with discontinuous constituents,

e.g., make it up

My litter sister bought an old bike last week.

NP/Sb VP/PMy little sister bought an old bike last week

Det/M NP/H VP/H NP/M My little sister bought an old bike last week

A/M N/H V/V NP/C A/M N/H

little sister bought an old bike last week

Det/M NP/H an old bike

A/M N/H old bike

Summary

Construction (p. 99) Constituents are what a construction is made up

of, and a construction is considered to have a hierarchical organization of constituents.

Immediate constituents are immediately, directly, below the level of a construction.

Endocentric and Exocentric Construction 向心和离心结构

The syntactic constructions analyzed are of two types:

endocentric and exocentric constructions, depending on their distribution and the relation between their constituents.

Endocentric （向心结构） ENDOCENTRIC construction is one whose

distribution is functionally equivalent to that of one or more of its constituents, i.e., a word or a group of words, which serves as a definable CENTER or HEAD.

An endocentric construction: a headed construction.

至少有一个直接成分与整体在语法功能上相同、在语义上受到相同的语义选择限制的句法结构。向心结构中与整体功能相同并且受到相同的语义选择限制的直接成分是它的核心。

结构的整体功能与其构成部分的一个成分功能相同。

Typical endocentric constructions: noun phrases (the three small children), verb phrases (will have been working), adjective phrases (really very late) The head: 1) the last constituent, or 2) at the beginning the book on the shelf, the man about whom I’ve been talking, walked away immediately, hot beyond endurance, afraid of the talk

Exocentric （离心结构） EXOCENTRIC construction is just the

opposite of endocentric construction. It refers to a group of syntactically related words

where none of the words is functionally equivalent to the group as a whole, that is, there is no definable “Center” or “Head” inside the group.

Exocentric construction usually includes basic sentence, prepositional phrase, predicate (verb + object) construction, and connective (be + complement) construction.

Ex. She likes dancing. on the shelf wrote a book Is a teacher

The whole construction has a different grammatical function from either of its immediate constituents. They cannot substitute for each other.

系连式：直接成分一个是系连成分，另一个是表述成分： is a big man( 是个大人物 ) ； is tired( 疲劳了 ) ； became excited( 激动起来 ) ； 1ay in the corner motionless( 躺在角落里不动 ) 。

主谓式：直接成分一个是话题，另一个是说明： He is a big man( 他是个大人物 ) ；She sings beautifully( 她唱得极好 ) ； I saw him （见到他 ) ； That man just I don’t like( 那个人我就是不喜欢 ) ； (She watched) us cross the street( 〔她注视着〕我们穿过大街 ) 。

More Examples

引导式：直接成分一个是引导成分，另一个是轴心： in the box( 在盒子里 ) ； on the table( 在桌子上 ) ； if he is going( 如果他去 ) ； while we were there( 我们在那儿的时候 ) ； saw John( 看到了约翰 ) ；asked me a question( 问我——个问题 ) ；asked me( 问我 ) 。

Two subtypes of Endocentric constructions:

COORDINATE constructions ( 并列结构 ) SUBORDINATE constructions ( 主从结构 )

Coordinate construction:

1) there are more than one head

2) all are capable of serving as the head Subordinate constructions:

There is only one head, with the head being dominant and the other constituents dependent.

Coordination A common syntactic pattern in English and other

languages formed by grouping together two or more categories of the same type with the help of a conjunction such as and, but and or. This phenomenon is known as coordination.

These two or more words or phrases or clauses have equivalent syntactic status; each of the separate constituents can stand for the original construction functionally.

That is, in a coordinate sentence, two (or more) S constituents occur as daughters and co-heads of a higher S.

Subordination SUBORDINATION refers to the process or

result of linking linguistic units so that they have different syntactic status, one being dependent upon the other, and usually a constituent of the other.

Thus the subordinate constituents are words which modify the Head. Consequently, they can be called modifiers.

A subordinating construction contains a subordinator, which is a prep. (1), a particle (2), a subordinating conj. (3), and a depend unit (4):

(1) A teacher at the podium (2) A play to be performed by them(3) They left because they were tired.(4) A bird singing in the woods

41

Sentence Types (Sentence Types ( 句子类型句子类型 ) p. 100) p. 100

simplesimple

SentenceSentence

complexcomplex

non-simplenon-simple

compoundcompound

Simple sentence Simple sentence 简单句简单句

DefinitionDefinition ：： also called independent clause, also called independent clause, which contains a subject and a verb, and it which contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. expresses a complete thought.

Ex.:Ex.: Jim and Mike play football every afternoon. Jim and Mike play football every afternoon. Mary goes to the library and studies every day. Mary goes to the library and studies every day.

Coordinate sentenceCoordinate sentence 并列句并列句 Definition: contains two independent clauses Definition: contains two independent clauses

joined by a coordinator(joined by a coordinator( 并列连词并列连词 ) : ) : for, and, nor, for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (fanboys).but, or, yet, so (fanboys). Coordinators are often Coordinators are often preceded by a comma. preceded by a comma.

Ex.:Ex.: I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to

speak English.  speak English.  Lily went to play football, but Maria went Lily went to play football, but Maria went

shopping.shopping.

Complex sentence Complex sentence 复杂句复杂句

DefinitionDefinition ：： A complex sentence has an A complex sentence has an independent clause (independent clause (matrix clausematrix clause) joined with ) joined with one or more dependent clauses (one or more dependent clauses (embedded embedded clauseclause) by one or more subordinators() by one or more subordinators( 从属连从属连词词 ) , such as ) , such as if, when, because, althoughif, when, because, although. .

Ex.:Ex.: As he is growing old, he seldom goes out.As he is growing old, he seldom goes out. He isHe is growing old, whereas he becomes growing old, whereas he becomes

healthier.healthier.

Review of Terms Immediate constituent; ultimate constituent Construction

-- endocentric / exocentric construction Primary grammatical categories

-- parts of speech=lexical categories Secondary grammatical categories

-- number, gender, concord, etc. Functional categories

-- subject, predicate, object, etc.

Prescriptive Rules1. Don't start a sentence with a conjunction.2. Don't use contractions.3. Don't use sentence fragments.4. Don't end a sentence with a linking verb.5. Don't use dangling participles.6. Don't end a sentence with a preposition.7. Don't use an object pronoun for a subject pronoun in

a conjoined subject.8. Don't use a plural pronoun to refer back to a singular

noun like everyone, no-one, someone, and the like.9. Don't split infinitives.10.Use whom, not who, as the object of a verb or

preposition.

Choose the best answer 1. The head of the phrase : the city of

Rome” is ___. A. the city B. Rome C. city D. the city and Rome.

2. The phrase “on the shelf” belongs to _____ construction.

A. endocentric B. exocentric C. subordinate D. coordinate

3. The sentence “ They wanted to remain quiet and not to express themselves” is a ____ sentence.

A. simple B. coordinate C. compound D. complex

4. ___ is a subfield of linguistics that studies the sentence structure of language.

A. Morphology B. Syntax C. Semantics D. Pragmatics

5 ___ does not belong to major syntactic categories.

A. Auxiliary B. NP C. N D. PP

7. The criterion used in IC analysis is ____.

A. transformation B. conjoining C. grouping D. substituability

Substitutability, that is, whether a sequence of words can be substituted for a single word and the structure remains the same, is the criterion used in IC analysis. For example, in Lovely Lucy ran away, Lovely Lucy can be replaced by Lucy and ran away by ran without changing the structure, but Lovely Lucy ran away cannot be replaced by Lucy or any other single word without changing the structure.

8. ___ is a type of control over the form of some words by other words in certain syntactic constructions and in terms of certain category.

A. concord B. Government C. Binding D. C-command

9. The phrase “ my small child’s cot” is an ambiguous phrase, which can be revealed by ___ tree diagrams.

A. one B. two C. three D. four

More IC Analysis Exercises

1. The naughty girl put the beautiful book under the desk.

2. I believe he is coming.

3. He might have been waiting for us.

4. The cucumber has been eaten by Mike.

5. He had not finished the work.