Ahmad Khairunnaim Ab Kadir

Amirrul Zarith bin Aminul Razin

Ahmad Fauzi bin Mohamadiah

Syntax The Sentence Pattern of

LanguageTSL 3101

Introduction to LinguisticPhrase Structure Rule, Diagram &

Ambiguity

Syntax in Linguistic Tree

Phonetics Phonology

Sounds of language

Linguistics

Grammar

Morphology

Syntax

Meaning

Semantics

Pragmatics

Syntax

It’s part of LinguisticsIt’s part of the grammar of every

languageAnd the grammar of a language is

part of a native speaker’s linguistic knowledge

Reasons for studying syntaxInfinity of expressions

There is an infinite number of possible utterances in every language

It is obvious that all these utterances cannot be stored in our brains

Our knowledge of a language consists ofA finite number of words (the lexicon; the

“dictionary in your head”), and Rules (the grammar of the language)

It is the job of the syntactician (and the morphologist) to find out what these rules are

Language resultEveryone who can speak knows how to use

the rulesand it is amazing that children can do it so

fastBut nobody can really state exactly what

the rules are!Understanding syntax (and morphology)

can help researchers to understand how young children learn their native language

Universal grammarTheory of ChomskyUniversal grammar has Principles, true

of all languagesAll languages have the same underlying

structuree.g. all languages have nouns and verbs

Parameters, whose setting varies from language to languageEnglish and Chinese SVO; Japanese SOV

All languages have constituents Take a simple sentence

Johnny danced We can call the sentence S, and label the syntactic

categories N and V

S

N Johnny

Vdanced

Phrase structure grammar N and V aren’t always

very good labels Johnny is similar to the

handsome student, because they are both the same kind of constituentThey are both Noun

PhrasesWe can remove Johnny

and add the handsome student, and the sentence structure is still similar

S

NPThe handsome student

VPdanced

Different sentence, same constituents

Now let’s add an object danced the lambada is

the same kind of constituent as danceda VP

You can swap danced for danced the lambada and the basic structure is the same

S

NPThe handsome student

VPdanced the lambada

What are the NP and VP?The frog ate the lizard.The frog sat on the lilypad.The fat frog ate the long lizard slowly.The fat frog with a lizard in its mouth sat on

the lilypad.The fat frog who was sitting on the lilypad

with a lizard in its mouth danced the lambada.

Phrase structure rulesNow, you know this phrase structure rule:

S NP VP (a Sentence comprises a Noun Phrase followed by a Verb Phrase)

Draw a tree diagram for the phrase Emma drinks

Emma drinks.docxHere are two more phrase structure rules:

VP V NPNP N

Think about that carefullyNow, draw a tree diagram with more detail

For the sentence Emma drinks whiskyEmma drinks whisky.docx

They put the box on the table by the window

Now let’s change the NP ruleFirst, DET means determiner

Function words like the, a, this, severalNP (DET) N

That means a noun phrase can have a determiner, and it must have a noun

Now you can diagram Johnny danced the lambada in a bit more detail than on the other slide

Remember:S NP VPVP V NP)

Johnny danced the lambada.docx

Now let’s change the NP rule againSuch that we have

S NP VPVP V NP NP (DET) (ADJ) N

Now you can diagram this sentenceThe unhappy book ate the green lambadaThe sentence is syntactically well-formed,

by the wayThe unhappy book ate the green lambada.docx

1. The boy found the ball2. The boy found quickly3. The boy found in the house4. The boy found the ball in the house5. Disa slept the baby6. Disa slept soundly

Find: Transitive verb (with object)Sleep: Intransitive verb (no object)

Grammatical or Ungrammatical

Syntactic Categories

Lexical categories Noun (N) Verb (V) Adjective (A) Preposition (P) Adverb (Adv)

Examples moisture, policy melt, remain good, intelligent to, near slowly, now

Syntactic Categories

Non-lexical categories Determiner (Det) Degree word (Deg) Qualifier (Qual) Auxiliary (Aux) Conjunction (Con)

Examples the, this very, more always, perhaps will, can and, or

Indicate the category of each word in the following sentences.

a. The glass suddenly broke.

b. A jogger ran towards the end of the lane.

c. The peaches never appear quite ripe.

d. Gillian will play the trumpet and the drums in the orchestra.

Det / N / Adv / V

Det / N / V / P / Det / N / P / Det / N

N / Aux / V / Det / N / Conj / Det / N / P / Det / N

Det / N / Qual / V / Deg / A

Phrases

NP : Noun Phrase

The car, a clever student VP : Verb Phrase

study hard, play the guitar PP : Prepositional Phrase

in the class, above the earth AP : Adjective Phrase

very tall, quite certain

Phrase Structure RulesNP (Det) N (PP)PP P NP

The bus (NP)

The

NDet

bus

The bus in the yard NP

The

NDet

bus

PP

in

NPP

the

Det N

yard

Phrase Structure RulesVP V (NP) (PP)S NP (Aux) VP

took the money (VP)

took

NPV

took the money from the bank VP

took

NPV PP

from

NPP

the

Det N

bank

the

Det N

money

the

Det N

money

The main structure rules

1. S NP (Aux) VP

2. NP (Det) (AP) N (PP)

3. VP V (NP) (PP) (Adv)

4. PP P NP

5. AP A (PP)

Example The old tree swayed in the wind

old

V PP

in

NPP

the

Det N

windThe

N

swayed

S

NP VP

Det Adj

tree

Aux

past

Example The children put the toy in the box

V PP

in

NPP

the

Det N

boxThe

N

put

S

NP VP

Det

children

NP

the

Det N

toy

Ambiguity: a word, phrase or sentence with multiple meanings

Synthetic buffalo hides (NP) Synthetic buffalo hides (NP)

Synthetic buffalo hides Synthetic buffalo hides

Buffalo hides that are synthetic. Hides of synthetic buffalo.

Ambiguities often lead to humorous resultsAmbiguities often lead to humorous results

For sale: an antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers. what does “thick legs and large drawers” refer to? The desk or the lady?

Structural Ambiguity

The boy saw the man with the telescope

V PP

with

NPP

the

Det N

telescopeThe

N

saw

S

NP VP

Det

boy

NP

the

Det N

man

Aux

past

Structural Ambiguity

The boy saw the man with the telescope

V

PP

with

NPP

the

Det N

telescopeThe

N

saw

S

NP VP

Det

boy

NP

the

Det N

man

Aux

past

Declarative – InterrogativeMove the auxiliary to the left of the subject.

The boy will leave.

S

VPNP

Det

Aux

N

The boy will leave

Will the boy leave?

S

VPNP

Det

Aux

N

the boyWill leave

The deep structure The surface structure

V V

The Wh Movement Surface structure: Which car should the man repair? Deep structure: The man should repair which car?

V

N

carThe

N

repair

S

NP VP

Det

man

NP

which

Det

Aux

should

S

NPVP Aux

NDet

should

NDet

Surface structure: Which car should the man repair?

Deep structure: The man should repair which car?

NP V

repairthe mancarwhich