Syntax

Descriptive Grammar: Tries to describe what people actually do. No one form is seen as being “better” than another.

· Utterances are grammatical if speakers of the language use them

· Utterances are ungrammatical (*) if speakers of a language do not and could not use them

Generative Grammar: A type of descriptive grammar originally developed by Noam Chomsky

· A finite set of rules generates an infinite number of sentences

· The sentences are all grammatical (no ungrammatical sentences produced)

Linear Order

Robin helped Chris with the homework.

Chris helped Robin with the homework.

*With the homework helped Chris Robin.

*Homework helped the Chris with Robin.

Hierarchical Structure

Phrase Structure Rules

Characterize generalizations about constituent structure and provide generative rules for sentence formation in a language

S à NP VP

Tree Diagrams

Represent the hierarchical structure of sentences produced by phrase structure rules

S

NP VP

Let’s come up with a set of phrase structure rules for the following English sentences:

Mary reads.

She reads.

Children play

The children play.

The angry children fight.

S à NP VP

NP à N

NP à Pronoun

NP à Art N

NP à Art Adj N

*The Mary reads.

NP à Proper noun NP à Pronoun NP à N NP à Art N NP à Art Adj N

Proper Noun NP à Pronoun (Art) (Adj) N

Mary reads a book quietly.

Mary reads a book.

The children fight.

The children fight loudly.

VP à V (NP) (Adv)

John goes to work daily.

John takes the kids to school often.

VP à V (NP) (PP) (Adv)

PP à Prep N

Mary reads in the comfy chair very regularly.

VP à V (NP) (PP) (AdvP)

PP à Prep NP

AdvP à (Adv) Adv

Mary thinks the children fight too much.

VP à V S

VP à V (NP) (PP) (AdvP) V S

Mary thinks the children think she reads too much.

We can already do this one!

I think we think John thinks Mary thinks the children fight too much.

Recursion

An infinitely long sentence generated by the appropriate repetition (“recursion”) of a phrase structure rule.

· A formal means of accounting for the creativity of language

· An infinite set of sentences can be created by a finite set of rules

Another example of recursion:

The house on the street, in the town, in the county, in the state, in the country, on the continent…

NP à (Art) N (PP)

Structural Ambiguity

She hit the tourist with the umbrella.

· Two meanings: ‘she’ has the umbrella or ‘the tourist’ has the umbrella.

· The two meanings have two different structures.

Transformations

Lexicon + PS rules

à

Deep Structure

à

Transfor- mations

à

Surface Structure

Some Example Transformations:

· Wh-movement

Mary reads what (DS) à What does Mary read (SS)

· Verb Particle Movement

V à V (Part)

We make up the sentences (DS) à

We make the sentences up (SS)

· Passive Transformation

Mary read a book to the children (DS) à

The children were read a book by Mary (SS)