L130: Chapter 5d Dr. Shannon Bischoff Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 1 / 25
Outline 1 Syntax 2 Clauses 3 Constituents Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 2 / 25
Outline Last time... Verbs... Lexical Categories Transitivity Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 3 / 25
Outline Syntax 1 Syntax 2 Clauses 3 Constituents Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 4 / 25
Syntax Syntax Syntax is the study of how words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. phrase: a sequence of words that forms a coherent unit of meaning below the level of clause. clause: a syntactic structure composed of a subject and predicate the subject being made up of a phrase or phrases and the predicate made up of a phrase or phrases. sentence: a syntactic structure that includes at least one clause (a subject and predicate) but may be composed of more (Note: over 200 definitions of sentence in linguistics) Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 5 / 25
Syntax Syntax Words combine to form constituents. Constituents are syntactic units that work together. words phrases clauses sentences hierarchy and the principal of compositionality Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 6 / 25
Outline Clauses 1 Syntax 2 Clauses 3 Constituents Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 7 / 25
Clauses Syntax: Clauses There are several different types of clauses... independent clause: maybe a sentence by itself The perplexed students reread the chapter. two or more clauses: form a compound sentence The chapter perplexed the students and they reread the chapter. The chapter perplexed the students, so they reread it. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 8 / 25
Clauses Syntax: Clauses There are several different types of clauses... dependent/subordinate clause: a clause that cannot stand alone as sentence. These are usually embedded or inserted into an independent, or main clause and modify a constituent in or the entire clause. The students, who were perplexed, decided to reread the chapter. Because they were perplexed, the students decided to reread the chapter. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 9 / 25
Syntax: Clauses Clauses In English there are three main types of subordinate clauses.verbs... (1) Adverbial clauses: usually introduced by a subordinating conjunction (e.g. when, because, before, if, although), which modify the verb of the main clause. Before they went to bed, the children had milk and cookies. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 10 / 25
Clauses Syntax: Clauses In English there are three main types of subordinate clauses. (2) Relative clause: usually introduced by a relative pronoun (e.g. that, which, who, whom, whose), which generally function as adjectivals (constituents that modify nouns or NPs but are not adjectives but adjective like) The cookies, that are tasty, are on the counter. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 11 / 25
Clauses Syntax: Clauses In English there are three main types of subordinate clauses. (3) Complementizer clauses: usually introduced by that or a set of wh- words (e.g. whether, when, what), which fill the slot of an NP to complete a VP. (a complement is something that completes the structural requirements of a phrase or a clause a complementizer clause completes a VP): I thought that the cookies were delicious. I thought the cookies were delicious. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 12 / 25
Outline Constituents 1 Syntax 2 Clauses 3 Constituents Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 13 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents So we see that we have a constituent hierarchy constituent: Any component that functions as part of a larger linguistic structure; for instance, a determiner (e.g. the) and noun (e.g. cat) are constituents of the noun phrase the cat. words combine to form phrases which combine to form clauses and sentences... Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 14 / 25
Syntax: Constituents Constituents How do we know what constituents there are? Constituent tests of course... Substitution Test: some constituents can be replaced by a single word that serves the same syntactic function and has a similar meaning The big furry black and white panda likes Nina. The big furry one likes Nina. The big one likes Nina. It likes Nina. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 15 / 25
Syntax: Constituents Constituents How do we know what constituents there are? Constituent tests of course... Stand Alone Test: constituents can often stand alone as the response to a question and question words can often stand in for constituents. What does the Panda do? Eats cookies all day long. Who likes Nina? The big furry black and white Panda Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 16 / 25
Syntax: Constituents Constituents How do we know what constituents there are? Constituent tests of course... Movement Test: some constituents can be moved around, though they may sound awkward unless they have the right stress. It is the panda who likes Nina and cookies. It is Nina and cookies that the panda likes. Nina and cookies, the panda likes. The panda likes Nina and cookies. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 17 / 25
Syntax: Constituents Constituents How do we know what constituents there are? Constituent tests of course... Coordination Test: coordinated structures can also indicate constituents... the coordinating conjunctions and and or connect equal units in terms of constituency. slept and dreamed of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (both are VPs) big and doughy (both AdjP) Nestle and the ones that you get in bulk (both NPs) Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 18 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents Constituent tests... Substitution Test: some constituents can be replaced by a single word that serves the same syntactic function and has a similar meaning Stand Alone Test: constituents can often stand alone as the response to a question and question words can often stand in for constituents. Movement Test: some constituents can be moved around, though they may sound awkward unless they have the right stress. Coordination Test: coordinated structures can also indicate constituents... the coordinating conjunctions and and or connect equal units in terms of constituency. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 19 / 25
Syntax: Constituents Constituents QUIZ Take out a sheet of paper. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 20 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents Using the constituency tests we just learned determine if the following, in bold, are constituents. 1 John considered visiting his great aunt. 2 Maria retreated from the stop sign she just demolished. 3 Maria retreated from the stop sign she just demolished. 4 In the machine the gremlin could be heard juggling with ball-bearings. 5 In the machine the gremlin could be heard juggling with ball-bearings. 6 Sam managed to touch the man with the umbrella. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 21 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents John considered visiting his great aunt. YES. John considered it. What did John consider? Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 22 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents John considered visiting his great aunt. YES. John considered it. What did John consider? Maria retreated from the stop sign she just demolished. YES. Maria retreated from it. What did... Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 22 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents John considered visiting his great aunt. YES. John considered it. What did John consider? Maria retreated from the stop sign she just demolished. YES. Maria retreated from it. What did... Maria retreated from the stop sign she just demolished. NO Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 22 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents In the machine the gremlin could be heard juggling with ball-bearings. YES. Somewhere the gremlin.... Where could the gremlin... Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 23 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents In the machine the gremlin could be heard juggling with ball-bearings. YES. Somewhere the gremlin.... Where could the gremlin... In the machine the gremlin could be heard juggling with ball-bearings. NO. Where/what could be...???? Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 23 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents In the machine the gremlin could be heard juggling with ball-bearings. YES. Somewhere the gremlin.... Where could the gremlin... In the machine the gremlin could be heard juggling with ball-bearings. NO. Where/what could be...???? Sam managed to touch the man with the umbrella. YES. Sam managed to touch him. Who did Sam... NO. Sam managed to touch him with the umbrella. Who did Sam touch with the umbrella? Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 23 / 25
Constituents Syntax: Constituents and phrases We ve talked about constituents and clauses, and next time phrases... constituents: Any component that functions as part of a larger linguistic structure; for instance, a determiner (e.g. the) and noun (e.g. cat) are constituents of the noun phrase the cat. phrase: a meaningful sequence of words below the level of clause. It is important to note that certain words can be phrases by themselves. A phrase is identified and labeled by its head word (a word that can function as the entire phrase, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, adverbs) clause: a syntactic structure composed of a subject and predicate the subject being made up of a phrase or phrases and the predicate made up of a phrase or phrases. Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 24 / 25
Next time Constituents Syntax continued... Dr. Shannon Bischoff () L130: Chapter 5d 25 / 25