BBI 3212 ENGLISH SYNTAX AND MORPHOLOGY TYPES OF PHRASES REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES CMY/AUG/2011

Types of phrases- syntactic categories of lexical phrases Noun phrase (NP): A phrase whose Head is a noun or pronoun, optionally accompanied by a set of modifiers (determiners, adjectives/adj phrases, prepositional phrases). NP = …N… Verb phrase (VP): Composed of the predicate sentence element of a Sentence. Functions to provide information about the subject of the sentence. VP = …V… CMY/AUG/2011

Types of phrases- syntactic categories of lexical phrases Adjectival/ive phrase (AP): A phrase with an adjective as its Head. May occur as pre- or post modifier to a noun or as predicatives to a verb (as subject complement). AP = …A… Prepositional phrase (PP): A phrase with a preposition as its Head, often followed by a noun phrase. PP = …P… CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES FIRST PHRASE STRUCTURE RULE (Specifier Rule) XP  (YP) X’, where YP is the specifier, and X’ is the intermediate level between the phrase level and the word level. (Constituent daughters of X’ are in Complement relationship with each other) In English, the specifier is on the left. CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES SECOND PHRASE STRUCTURE RULE (Complement Rule) X’  X (WP), where X is the Head and WP is a complement of X. In English, the complement is on the right. CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES NP: the market NP mother specifier daughters D N’ N sisters the market CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES NP: the market short cut NP NP specifier D N’ D N N the market the market CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES NP: many children short cut NP NP specifier D N’ D N N many children many children CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES VP: often fell sick VP specifier Adv V’ no short cut V A often fell sick CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES AP: very happy short cut AP AP specifier Adv A’ Adv A A very happy very happy CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES PP: right into the box PP specifier Adv P’ no short cut P NP right into the box CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES SECOND PHRASE STRUCTURE RULE (Complement Rule) X’  X (WP), where X is the Head and WP is a complement of X. In English, the complement is on the right. CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES NP: Noun or pronoun as head, may be modified by adjectives, adjective phrases/clauses, determiners, prepositional phrases. NP specifier D N’ N PP a school with many children CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES PP: consists of P (Head) and NP PP specifier P’ no short cut Adv P NP right over the rainbow CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES PP: In Malaysia short cut PP PP P’ P NP No specifier P NP N in Malaysia in Malaysia CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES VP: consists of a verb (Head) plus other modifiers such as PP, NP, AP etc. VP short cut V’ VP No specifier V NP V NP N N drink milk drink milk CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES VP: always went to the market VP specifier V’ no short cut Adv V PP short cut P NP always went to the market CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES VP: put the book on the table VP no specifier, short cut? V’ V NP PP D N P NP D N put the book on the table CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES VP: put the book on the table VP short cut V NP PP D N P NP D N put the book on the table CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES Compare with: NP: the book of History NP D N’ N PP (complement of N) P NP N the book of History CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES AP: A phrase with an Adjective as its Head. May be modified by adverbs, prepositional phrases. Functions as noun modifiers and verb predicates. AP specifier A’ no short cut Adv A PP P NP short cut N so jealous of Peter CMY/AUG/2011

REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES AP: unhappy with John short cut? AP A’ No specifier A PP unhappy with John CMY/AUG/2011

SUMMARY- PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES XP  (YP) X’, where YP is the specifier, and X’ is the intermediate level between the phrase level and the word level. In English, the specifier is on the left. X’  X (WP1)(WP2)….., where X is the Head and WP is a complement of X. In English, the complement is on the right. CMY/AUG/2011

Labeled bracketing NP: The boy [NP[Det the][N boy]] VP: eat the cake [VP [V eat][NP [Det the] [N cake]]] VP: give the cake to Anne [VP [V give] [NP[Det the] [N cake]] [PP[P to] [NP [NAnne]]]] CMY/AUG/2011

Labeled bracketing AP: jealous of Peter [AP [A jealous] [PP [P of] [NP [N Peter]]] PP: into the river [PP [P into] [NP [Det the] [N river]]] CMY/AUG/2011

QUESTIONS Draw tree diagrams for the following phrases. pain in the leg a movie about love very happy with the results whispered to Anne certainly proud of Mary throw a coin CMY/AUG/2011

QUESTIONS For each of the phrases in the previous slide, write the phrase structure rule(s) you have used to draw the tree diagram. Represent the structure of the phrases using labeled bracketing notation. CMY/AUG/2011