1. Chapter Syntax

2. Outline Introduction 4. Sentence structure 1. What is grammar?
5. Functions of tree structures
2. Category
6. Embedded sentences
2.1 Lexical category
2.2 Subcategorization
3. Phrases
7. Transformation rules
7.1 Inversion rules
7.2 Wh-movement
3.1 Phrase structure rules
3.2 VP structure rules
3.3 PP structure rules
3.4 Other PS structure rules
3.5 Internal structure of phrases
8. Summary

3. Introduction (1/3) Syntax structure of sentences
inspired by Noam Chomsky
finite basic structures for infinite sentences in a language
concerned with
leading linguistic research in theories
tenet

4. Introduction (2/3)
Issue explored Why can a child acquire a language in such a short time? usually mastering native language before 12 years old
twofold assumption
Universal Grammar
LAD (language acquisition device)
in our brain
If that language is innate,
it is not learned but acquired.
There are a certain common
properties among languages.

5. Introduction (3/3) Utterances sentences
Different languages share a lot of common structures.
NP (Noun phrase) + VP (Verb phrase)
This chapter includes:
(1) category
(2) subcategory
(3) phrase structure rules
basic unites
different in appearance
E.g., composed of
(4) sentence structure rules
(5) transformation (inversion, Wh-movement,
NP-movement)

6. 1. What is grammar

7. 1. What is grammar? (1/9) English grammar a nightmare
To most of the Taiwanese students
be part of our linguistic knowledge or language intuition
in this chapter
Very different
has suffered from
tests and memorization of
grammatical terms & structures
pedagogical grammar

8. 1. What is grammar? (2/9)
One who does not have any deficiency in language
(e.g., articulator disorder or heavy retarded)
(1) speak her/his own native language (NL)
(2) understand what he hears if s/he is spoken to in his own NL
(3) judge what sentences are ungrammatical
be able to

9. English native speakers
1. What is grammar? (3/9)
E.g., (1) a. The boy met the girl.
b. The met boy the girl.
(2) a. The girl met the boy.
b. The girl the boy met.
knowing that both are not good sentences
might not be able to point out what makes them weird or unacceptable
All the words are the same, but different in word order.
English native speakers
language faulty
although
stop from speaking ungrammatical sentences
Q: What is the nature of language faculty or language competence?

10. 1. What is grammar? (4/9)
language faulty
a. innovation of new sentences
b. if you listen carefully what you are told
creativity
autonomy
Each grammar is independent,
& to some extent is arbitrary.
would find
few sentences are repeated (Red)
although topics might be Red & Red.
the same finding as reading
(to check quotation dictionaries)
All sentences might be foreign to you, but you understand what they mean
even if it is your first time reading

11. 1. What is grammar? (5/9) Autonomy
E.g., English V.S. Chinese sentences
1a & 2a a. Grammar is different in a certain respect.
b. Each grammar is unique & autonomous.
(1) a. He studied in the classroom in the evening.
b. Ta dushu zaijaoshi zhaiwanshang
He study in the classroom in the evening
(2) a. Wanshang ta zaijiaoshi dushu
b. In the evening he in the classroom studied.
translated
word by word
acceptable
unacceptable
translated
implication

12. 1. What is grammar? (6/9) (Only animate can do the action of sleeping)
Q: What does it mean by unacceptable or ungrammatical?
Are they are the same?
(1) Grammatical but unacceptable
E.g., a. Colorless green sleeps furiously.
subject verb
common
reasonable, e.g. pretty girl, colorful pictures
modify
structure/grammar
perfect
unacceptable,
for (a) (b) (c)
but
adjective
(b) Green never sleeps.
(Only animate can do the action of sleeping)
adverb
(c) Sleep can be sound but not furious,
(e.g. He had a sound sleep last night.)
(a) no green without any color

13. 1. What is grammar? (7/9) has become an idiomatic use in pragmatics
(1) Grammatical but unacceptable E.g., b. He killed the dead umbrella. c. The excited pencil walked gigantically in the park. (2) Not entirely grammatical but acceptable & frequently used E.g, a. Sally poured the glass with water. Sally poured water into the glass. filled the glass with water. b. Been there, done it. = We have been there and we have done it.
grammatically should be
has become an idiomatic use
in pragmatics
simplification
forgotten

14. 1. What is grammar? (8/9) Grammatical sentences acceptable
Conclusion
Grammatical sentences acceptable
Acceptable sentences grammatical
The target of this chapter is grammatical & acceptable sentences.
not always
However

15. 1. What is grammar? (9/9) Review
1. What do you think is linguistic knowledge? Please try to answer this
question on the basis of some examples.
2. What is linguistic creativity? Please give at least two sentences to argue
for it.
3. What does autonomy mean in linguistics? Please give a good example
to show what autonomy means to you.
4. Please write down at least two grammatical but unacceptable sentences.
5. What difference is there between pedagogical and linguistic grammar?

16. 2. Category 2.1 Lexical category 2.2 Subcategorization
a grouping so that each group of words
may occur in a certain position
2.1 Lexical category
2.2 Subcategorization

17. 2.1 Lexical category (1/2) a. occurring in the nominative position
Words or lexica
a category
nouns
naming of persons, events, time,
with the same properties
a. occurring in the nominative position
b. used as an object in a sentence
E.g., The book is on the table
e.g., desk, cup, tiger, water
referring to
places, or materials
nominative or subject

18. indefinite quantifiers
2.1 Lexical category (2/2)
category
abbreviated
examples
noun N
desk, pen, food, air, Tom
verb V
walk, read, cry, smile, give, put
adjective A
beautiful, calm, tall, low, thin
preposition P
in, on, under, above
adverb
Adv.
slowly, yesterday, where, furiously
auxiliary
Aux.
can, ought to, might, will
pronoun
Pro
you, him, they, she
determiner
Det.
a, an, the, this, some, many, any, few
conjunction
Conj.
and, but, neither…nor, when
frequently used in syntactic structures
indefinite quantifiers
articles

19. in the process of English acquisition when acquiring mother tongues
2.2 Subcategorization (1/2)
Subcategorization (SUB)
in lexical categories
There are further subcategories.
Children
knowing
has been assumed
be part of the language faculty
Children
putting all the categories & SUB
in their mental lexicon
E.g., verbs (Vs) & nouns (Ns)
in the process of English acquisition
when acquiring mother tongues Vs
transitive (vt.)
intransitive (vi.) Ns
countable (e.g., book, pen, table)
uncountable (e.g., water, paper, air)

20. 2.2 Subcategorization (2/2)
In the mental lexicon of an English child, word inputs are listed below:
V. = verb; NP = noun phrase; PP = preposition phrase
(1) a. cry, V. ____
b. buy, V. _____ NP
c. give, V. ____ NP, NP
d. put, V. ____ NP, PP (location)
a verb (vi.) independently
a verb (vt.) that must + NP
a dative verb that must + 2 NPs
a verb that should + an NP & a PP
(2) a. He put a book on the table.
b. He put a book here.
c. He put a book.
d. He put on the table.
good sentences
no PP following put
bad sentences
no NP following put

21. 2. Category
Review
1. Please sort out the following words according to their lexical categories.
2. What is subcategorization? Please write down the subcategorizatin of the
following lexicon.
insert
cancel
beautiful
about
excited
hospitality
could we
those
quickly
but
behind
into
several
some
send
dance
kill
smile
deliver
water
pen
John
beauty

22. 3. Phrases 3.1 Phrase structure rules 3.2 VP structure rules
3.3 PP structure rules
3.4 Other PS structure rules
3.5 Internal structure of phrases

23. phrase structure rules
a phrase
more than 1 word
based on grammatical use
NP: noun phrase
VP: verb phrase
PP: preposition phrase
AP: adjective phrase
Adv.P: adverb phrase
constructed by
phrase structure rules
composed of

24. 3.1 Phrase structure rules (1/5)
Phrase structure rules (PS-rules) are written as follows: E.g., NP
(1) a. NP (Det) N
b. NP (Det) (AP) N
a NP = a Det (article) + a noun
(Det) optional,
Det may be skipped.
generating
(2) a. NP b. NP
N Det N
water the book
article
tree diagrams
( ) indicating

25. 3.1 Phrase structure rules (2/5)
node
(2) b NP
Det N
the book
c. [NP [Det the][N book]]
; mother node
can be written
dominating
daughter nodes
sister nodes (to each other)
domain

26. (finding lexicon for each node)
3.1 Phrase structure rules (3/5)
(2) a. NP N
water
node
b NP
Det N
the book
Any types of noun can be inserted,
e.g. the water or the pen.
lexical insertion
(finding lexicon for each node)
Only an uncountable noun can be inserted.

27. 3.1 Phrase structure rules (4/5)
(1) b. NP (Det) (AP) N A
(3) a NP b NP1
AP N Det NP2
A AP N
cold water the colorful book
based on the presence or absence of a Det

28. 3.1 Phrase structure rules (5/5)
Review: the relation of each node
(3) b NP1
Det NP2
AP N
the colorful book
NP1
Det NP2
AP N
the colorful book
grandmother node
mother node
dominating A A
is mother of
sister nodes
(to each other)
head
sister
(to each other)

29. 3.2 VP structure rules (1/3)
VP structure rules are written as follows:
(1) a. VP V (PP)
b. VP V NP
c. VP V NP PP
Tree diagrams
optional
( ) indicating
implies
The verb is vi.
The verb is vt.
(2) a. VP b. VP
V V PP
cry P NP
Det N
cry in the morning

30. 3.2 VP structure rules (2/3) head (1) b. VP V NP c. VP V NP PP
Tree diagrams
(3) a VP
V NP
Det N
buy a book
b VP
V NP PP
Det N P NP
Det N
put the book on the desk
head

31. 3.2 VP structure rules (3/3) be unlikely generated V. ___ NP
Det N
cry the book
lexical
insertion
V. ___ NP
subcategorization
ungrammatical
cry, V. ___ (PP)
No NP is allowed.

32. 3.3 PP structure rules head A PP structure rule is written below:
(1) PP P NP
Tree diagrams
(2) a PP b PP
P NP P NP
Det N Det N
in the room of the value
head

33. 3.4 Other PS structure rules
After getting the basic knowledge of NP, VP, & PP, other PS rules are quite obvious, for which reason we would like to skip other PS rules here.

34. 3.5 Internal structure of phrases (1/5)
There is a head node for each phrase structure (PS).
(1) a. NP N
b. VP V
c. PP P
d. AP A
X (as a variable) = V, N, P, or A
(2) XP X

35. 3.5 Internal structure of phrases (2/5)
a. NP N
b. VP V
c. PP P
d. AP A
Specifier (Spec)
XP Spec X
E.g.,
(1) very beautiful,
(2) to slowly speak (to speak slowly)
(3) a beautiful lady.
a modifier +
used in linguistics
Tree diagram: XP
Spec X

36. 3.5 Internal structure of phrases (3/5)
VP V NP
vi.
XP X C (E.g., X = A, P, N; C = PP, NP, PP)
a. AP A PP
b. PP P NP
c. NP N PP
object
complement
He is fond of reading.
I am satisfied with his achievements.
He lives in Taipei.
I believe his capability of doing that job.

37. 3.5 Internal structure of phrases (4/5)
XP X C
XP Spec X C
X-bar theory
further revised as
Tree diagram: XP
Spec X C (Complement)
maximal projection
X’’
Spec X X’
X C
XP = VP, PP, NP, AP
(X-double bar)
X-bar
an independent unit

38. 3.5 Internal structure of phrases (5/5)
X-bar theory
E.g., a Taiwan tea party
cannot be independent
usually occurring
X’’
Spec X X’
X C
b N’’
Det N’
N’ N
N N
a Taiwan tea party
a N’’
N N’
N N
a Taiwan tea party
an NP

39. 3. Phrases (1/2)
Review
1. What are PS-rules? Please draw a tree diagram for the phrase
“a magic kiss.”
2. Please draw tree diagrams according to the given PS rules.

40. 3. Phrases (2/2)
Review
3. Please draw a tree diagram for each phrase below.
a. buy a piece of chocolate for John
b. cry sadly in the park near my house
c. to the beautiful garden in the school
d. a very tall gentleman with white hair

41. 4. Sentence structure
With the general backgrounds of phrase structure rules and how different phrase structures are generated, it will be not so difficult to get the idea of sentence generation.

42. 4. Sentence structure (1/3)
The rule for sentence structure:
(1) S NP VP
(1) rule + PS-rules PS-rules for sentence generation:
(2) a. S NP VP
b. NP Det N
c. VP V NP
(3) S
NP VP
Det N V NP
Det N
The boy bought that book

43. 4. Sentence structure (2/3)
More examples in the following:
(4) a. Mary mailed a book to Harris. b. John put a flower on the table.
S S
N’’ V’’ NP VP
V’ P’’ V N’’ P’’
V N’’ P N’’ Det N P N’’
Det N Det N
Mary mailed a book to Harris John put a flower on the table

44. 4. Sentence structure (3/3)
Review
Please write down PS-rules responsible for the following sentences
and draw a tree diagram for each sentence.
a. buy a piece of chocolate for John
b. cry sadly in the park near my house
c. to the beautiful garden in the school
d. a very tall gentleman with white hair

45. 5. Functions of tree structure
Q: Why should we use tree diagrams for syntactic structure?
A: Ambiguous sentences can be made clear by way of tree structures.

46. 5. Functions of tree structures (1/3)
E.g., The man saw the girl in the garden. (There are 2 possible meanings.)
a S b S
NP VP NP VP
Det N V NP Det N VP PP
Det NP V NP P NP
N PP Det N Det N
P NP
Det N
The man saw the girl in the garden The man saw the girl in the garden
with a telescope

47. 5. Functions of tree structures (2/3)
E.g., The man saw the girl in the garden.
Bracket label can save the space:
a. [[[Det The N man] NP [V saw [[Det the N girl] NP [P in [Det the N garden] NP] PP]NP]VP]S
b. [[[Det The N man] NP [V saw [Det the N girl] NP [P in [Det the N garden] NP] PP]]VP]S

48. 5. Functions of tree structures (3/3)
Review
1. What are ambiguous sentences? How can ambiguous sentences be
clarified in meaning?
2. Please draw tree diagrams for the following sentences:
a. I sent a letter to John. c. The chicken is ready to eat.
b. He danced happily.
3. Each of the following sentences is ambiguous. Please use tree
diagrams for the distinction of meaning.
a. He looked at the girl with glasses.
b. He met the polite woman and man.
c. Visiting professors might be boring.

49. 6. Embedded sentences

50. 1. Embedded sentences (1/4)
embedded sentences (ESs)
a. a sentence put into another one,
like relative clauses.
b. used to be called subordinate clauses
c. usually led by conjunctions like
that, which, or what.
COMP (Complementizer)
a. an ES
S-bar (S’)
S’ COMP S
signified with
PS-rule
inserted under

51. 6. Embedded sentences (2/4)
(1) + (2) = (3)
(1) a. S NP VP (2) S’ COMP S
b. NP Det N
c. VP V NP S
NP VP
Det N V S’
COMP VP
NP VP
Det N V NP
Det N
The boy said that his friend bought that book
(3) a. S NP VP
b. NP Det N
c. VP V S’
d. S’ COMP S
e. VP V NP

52. 6. Embedded sentences (3/4)
(3) a. S NP VP b. NP Det N c. VP V S’ d. S’ COMP S e. VP V NP E.g., a. The boy said that his friend bought that book. b. The woman said that the boy said that his friend bought that book. c. The girl said that the woman said that the boy said that his friend bought that book.
recursive
generating
infinite sentences
if applied continuously
because of our memory span
An ES follows a transitive verb.

53. 6. Embedded sentences (4/4)
Review
1. What are embedded sentences? What are the specific properties of
embedded sentences?
2. Please draw tree diagrams for the following sentences:
a. Mary claimed that she would marry John.
b. I don’t believe that he has told me the truth.
c. The man that we met last night is John’s father.
d. He told me a story about John.
e. Bill said that he would help you with the homework.

54. 7. Transformation rules 7.1 Inversion rules 7.2 Wh-movement
are responsible for sentence variations

55. 7.1 Inversion rules (1/2)
grammatical
(1) a. He will leave tomorrow.
b. Will he leave tomorrow?
(1b) is a very good sentence & used quite often.
How can we account for this phenomenon?
according to PS rules (S NP VP)
Aux (auxiliary verbs) + NP + VP
cannot be generated by any PS rules
However
Generative Grammar

56. 7.1 Inversion rules (2/2)  Transformation rules 
Framework of Generative Grammar:
 Transformation rules 
(1) a. He will leave tomorrow.
b. Will he leave tomorrow?
Inversion rule:
NP (Aux) V  Aux NP V
Deep structure
Surface structure is
because of no TRs
works together
a statement  an interrogative sentence

57. 7.2 Wh-movement (1/2) The rule of Wh-movement:
Wh-words (when, what, who, where, which, & how) in the sentences
the beginning of a sentence
E.g., (1) Which car did he put in the garage?
(2) He put which car in the garage.
He put which car in the garage.
moved to
Deep structure
(Which car)

58. 7.2 Wh-movement (2/2) applying 2 transformation rules
(1) Which car did he put in the garage?
(2) He put which car in the garage. S’
COMP Aux S
NP VP
N VP PP
V NP P NP
Det N Det N
He (did) put which car in the garage
Wh-movement
Inversion

59. 7. Transformation rules (1/3)
Why should there be transformational rules?
a. not entirely answered yet
b. might be due in part to the creativity of languages
a. Not everything can be moved in a sentence.
b. Some constraints are there to keep something stable in a sentence.
However

60. 7. Transformation rules (2/3)
E.g.,
(1) a. I would like to buy that book for him.
b. For him I would like to buy that book.
c. That book I would like to buy for him.
The Subject (NP) always precedes the V (VP)
if anything in a sentence can be moved out
no chance in communication
some constraints: to stop movement from happening
one thing
in common
What?
without any answer so far so

61. 7. Transformation rules (3/3)
Review
1. What is a transformation?
2. What is the inversion rule? In which circumstances, Inversion Rule
has to be applied?
3. What is Wh-movement? Please try to illustrate your answer with
examples.

62. 8. Summary

63. 8. Summary (1/2) a. produce all the possible grammatical sentences
This chapter to explore what underlies our linguistic knowledge
To know a language
to possess the grammar of that language
a. produce all the possible grammatical sentences
b. stop any ungrammatical sentences from being spoken out
goal
be able to

64. 8. Summary (2/2) in Deep structure Framework of syntax  
Surface structure
Framework of syntax
There are PS rules different types of sentences
Lexicon is inserted PS + subcategorizations of each word
Transformation rules
can be applied
 
resulting in
based on X-bar theory
generating
based on