2. Chapter 4 Syntax 4.1 What is syntax?What is syntax? 4.2 CategoriesCategories 4.3 Phrase structure rulePhrase structure rule 4.4 Phrase elementsPhrase elements 4.5 SentencesSentences 4.6 TransformationsTransformations

3. 4.1 What is syntax?  Syntax is a branch of linguistics that studies how words are combined to form sentences and the rules1 that govern the formation of sentences.  Note: 1. Syntactic rules in a grammar account for the grammaticality of sentences, and the ordering of words and morphemes.

4. Syntax  Syntax involves our knowledge of structural ambiguity, our knowledge that sentences may be paraphrases of each other, and our knowledge of the grammatical function of each part of a sentence, that is, of the grammatical relations.

5. Syntax  It is also concerned with speakers' ability to produce and understand an infinite set of possible sentences. The sentence is regarded the highest-ranking unit of grammar, and therefore that the purpose of a grammatical description is to define, making use of whatever descriptive apparatus that may be necessary (rules, categories, etc).

6. 4.2 Categories  4.2.1 Word-level categoriesWord-level categories  4.2.2 Phrase categories and their structuresPhrase categories and their structures

7. 4.2.1 Word-level categories  Category refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language such as a sentence, a noun phrase or a verb.  The most central categories to the syntactic study are the word-level categories (traditionally, parts of speech)

8. Table 4-1 Examples of some lexical categories Major lexical categoriesExamples Noun (N)book, boy, love, sheep Verb (V)run, read, play Adjective (A)happy, tall, clear Preposition (P)about, over, on Major lexical categoriesExamples Determiner (Det)the, a, this, those Degree word (Deg)quite, very, more, so Qualifier (Qual)often, always, seldom, almost Auxiliary (Aux)must, should, can, might Conjunction (Con)and, but, or

9. The criteria on which categories are determined  Word categories are not so clear-cut.  Three criteria to determine a word’s category:  Meaning  Inflection  Distribution  Note: The most reliable criterion of determining a word’s category is its distribution.

10. 4.2.2 Phrase categories and their structures  Phrase categories — the syntactic units that are built around a certain word category are called phrase categories, such as NP(N), VP(V), AP(A), PP(P).  The structure: specifier + head + complement  Head — the word around which a phrase is formed  Specifier — the words on the left side of the heads  Complement — the words on the right side of the heads

11. 4.3 Phrase structure rule  Phrase structure rule Phrase structure rule  4.3.1 XP ruleXP rule  4.3.2 Xˉ TheoryXˉ Theory  4.3.3 Coordination ruleCoordination rule

12. Phrase structure rules  The grammatical mechanism that regulates the arrangement of elements that make up a phrase is called a phrase structure rule, such as:  NP  (Det) + N +(PP)……e.g. those people, the fish on the plate, pretty girls.  VP  (Qual) + V + (NP)……e.g. always play games, finish assignments.  AP  (Deg) + A + (PP)……very handsome, very pessimistic, familiar with, very close to  PP  (Deg) + P + (NP)……on the shelf, in the boat, quite near the station.

13. Specifier X Complement Head XP 4.3.1 XP rule Note: The phrase structure rules can be summed up as XP rule shown in the diagram, in which X stands for N, V, A or P.

14. 4.3.2 Xˉ Theory  XP  (Specifier)X’  X’  X(complement) X(head) complement specifier XP(Phrase level) X’

15. 4.3.3 Coordination rule  Coordination structures-----the structures that are formed by joining two or more elements of the same type with the help of a conjunction such as and, or, etc. ----Coordination has four important properties:  no limit on the number of coordinated categories before the conjunction;  a category at any level can be coordinated;  the categories must be of the same type;  the category type of the coordinate phrase is identical to the category type of the elements being conjoined.

16. 4.4. Phrase elements  4.4.1 SpecifierSpecifier  4.4.2 ComplementsComplements  4.4.3 ModifiersModifiers

17. 4.4.1 Specifier  ---- Semantically, specifiers make more precise the meaning of the head; syntactically, they typically mark a phrase boundary. Specifiers can be determiners as in NP, qulifiers as in VP and degree words as in AP.

18. 4.4.2 Complements  ---- Complements themselves can be a phrase, they provide information abut entities and locations whose existence is implied by the meaning of the head, e.g. a story about a sentimental girl; There can be no complement, one complement, or more than one complement in a phrase, e.g. appear, break, put…; a sentence-like construction may also function as a complement such as in “I believed that she was innocent. I doubt if she will come. They are keen for you to show up.” That/if /for are complementizers, the clauses introduced by complementizers are complement clause.

19. 4.4.3 Modifiers  ---- Modifiers specify optionally expressible properties of heads.

20. 4.5 Sentences (The S rule)  S  NP VP S NP VP NP Det N V Det N A boy found the evidence

21. S  NP infl VP Many linguists believe that sentences, like other phrases, also have their own heads. Infl is an abstract category inflection (dubbed ‘ Infl ’ ) as their heads, which indicates the sentence ’ s tense and agreement. InflP(=S) NPVP Infl Sentences (the S rule)

22. Infl realized by a tense label InflP （ =S ） NP VP NP Det N Infl V Det N A boy Pst found the evidence

23. Infl realized by an auxiliary InflP （ =S ） VP NP Det N Infl V Det N A boy will find the evidence

24. 4.6 Transformations  4.6.1 Auxiliary movementAuxiliary movement  4.6.2 Do insertionDo insertion  4.6.3 Deep structure and surface structureDeep structure and surface structure  4.6.4 Wh movementWh movement  4.6.5 Move α and constraints on transformationsMove α and constraints on transformations

25. 4.6.1 Auxiliary movement  Inversion  Move Infl to the left of the subject NP.  Inversion (revised)  Move Infl to C. C CP S Det N Infl V the train will arrive NP

26. 4.6.1 Auxiliary movement CP S C NP Infl Det N Infl V Will the train e arrive

27. 4.6.2 Do insertion  Do insertion---- Insert interrogative do into an empty Infl position. CP C S NP Infl VP Birds fly CP CC SS Infl NP Infl VPNP Infl VP Birds do fly Do birds e fly Figure-1 Figure-2 Figure-3

28. 4.6.3 Deep structure and surface structure  Consider the following pair of sentences: John is easy to please. John is eager to please.  Structurally similar sentences might be very different in their meanings, for they have quite different deep structures.

29. Deep structure and surface structure  Consider one more sentence: Flying planes can be dangerous.  It can mean either that if you fly planes you are engaged in a dangerous activity or Planes that are flying are dangerous.

30.  Deep structure----formed by the XP rule in accordance with the head’s sub-categorization properties; it contains all the units and relationships that are necessary for interpreting the meaning of the sentence.  Surface structure----corresponding to the final syntactic form of the sentence which results from appropriate transformations; it is that of the sentence as it is pronounced or written. Deep structure and surface structure

31. The organization of the syntactic component The XP rule Deep structure transformations Surface structure Subcategorization restricts choice of complements

32. 4.6.4 Wh movement  Consider the derivation of the following sentences: What languages can you speak? What can you talk about?  These sentences may originate as: You can speak what languages. You can talk about what.

33. Wh movement  Wh-movement---- Move a wh phrase to the beginning of the sentence.  What language can you speak ?  What can you talk about ?

34. Wh movement  Wh-movement---- Move a wh phrase to the specifier position under CP. (Revised) CP VP V NP won the game S NP Infl e Pst NP C Who

35. 4.6.5 Move α and constraints on transformations  Inversion can move an auxiliary from the Infl to the nearest C position, but not to a more distant C position.  No element may be removed from a coordinate structure.