1. BBI 3212 ENGLISH SYNTAX AND MORPHOLOGY
TYPES OF PHRASES
REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE
OF PHRASES
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2. 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…
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3. 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…
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4. 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

5. 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.
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6. REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES
NP: the market NP mother specifier daughters D N’ N sisters the market
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7. REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES
NP: the market short cut NP NP specifier D N’ D N N the market the market
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8. REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES
NP: many children short cut NP NP specifier D N’ D N N many children many children
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9. REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES
VP: often fell sick VP specifier Adv V’ no short cut V A often fell sick
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10. REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES
AP: very happy
short cut
AP AP
specifier
Adv A’ Adv A A
very happy very happy
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11. REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES
PP: right into the box PP specifier Adv P’ no short cut P NP right into the box
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12. 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

13. 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
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14. 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
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15. 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
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16. 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
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17. 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
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18. 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
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19. 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
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20. 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
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21. 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
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22. REPRESENTING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF PHRASES
AP: unhappy with John short cut? AP A’
No specifier
A PP
unhappy with John
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23. 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

24. 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

25. 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]]]
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26. 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
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27. 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