LINGUISTICS 2
SYNTAX
Chapter 1 & 2:
SENTENCE
STRUCTURE:
CONSTITUENTS
& FUNCTIONS
I. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
CONSTITUENTS
– A STRUCTURE has some characteristics as follows:
• It’s divisible into parts (its CONSTITUENTS);
• There are different kinds of parts (different CATEGORIES
of constituents);
• The constituents are ARRANGED in a certain way;
• Each constituent has a specifiable FUNCTION.
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I. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
CONSTITUENTS
– Which of the following tree diagrams best represents the
structural relationship between bicycle, wheel and spoke?
Although spoke is a CONSTITUENT of bicycle, it’s not the
IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENT of it.
A structure has a HIERACHICAL relation among its
constituents.
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I. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
CONSTITUENTS
What is wrong with the following diagram as a description
of the sentence “Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream”?
It doesn’t show any particular hierarchical structure of
the sentence – just a sequence or strings of words going
together.
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I. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
CONSTITUENTS
– Words are NOT immediate constituents of a sentence.
They belong with other words to form groups which
have their own position in the sentence structure.
– While sentences certainly CONTAIN words, they don’t
CONSIST of words. They consist of PHRASES.
– PHRASES are sequences of words that can function as
constituents in the structure of sentences.
– Tree diagrams that illustrate the constituent phrases
of a sentence are called PHRASE MARKERS.
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I. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
CONSTITUENTS
Some ways of identifying a given sequence of words as a phrase:
OMISSION: whether the sequence can be omitted from a
sentence leaving another good sentence. However, not all
phrases are omissible.
REPLACEMENT: whether the sequence can be replaced with a
SINGLE WORD without changing the overall structure.
THE QUESTION TEST: whether the sequence can be the
answer to WH-questions.
MOVEMENT: whether the sequence can be moved in forming
a construction.
THE SENSE TEST: whether the sequence can form a coherent
unit of sense in the sentence.
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I. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
CONSTITUENTS
• Note: A sequence of words can function as a constituent in
one sentence but not in another.
• Which of the following phrase markers best describes the
structure of the phrase “beside a stream that had dried up”
in “Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream that had dried up”.
I. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
CONSTITUENTS
PHRASE MARKERS:
– Any point in a phrase marker that could branch and bear a
label is called a NODE.
– A node DOMINATES everything that appears below it and
joined to it by a line.
– In a phrase marker, a sequence of elements is represented
as a constituent if there is a node that dominates all those
elements and no others.
node
branch
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II. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
FUNCTIONS
1. SUBJECT and PREDICATE
– The TWO IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENTS OF THE SENTENCE
– Subject is used to mention something.
– Predicate is used to say something about the subject.
– Question test for subject: The subject is the phrase that
changes in position when the sentence is changed into a
Yes/No question.
II. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
FUNCTIONS
2. DEPENDENCY and FUNCTION:
- When two constituents are immediately dominated by the
same single node, they are SISTERS of each other (B, C).
- The single node that dominates these two constituents is the
MOTHER (A), and the two constituents are its DAUGHTERS
(B, C).
- Constituents always have their functions in respect of their
sister constituents.
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II. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
FUNCTIONS
HEAD
– The HEAD of a phrase: the element that the phrase is
CENTRED on – the one OBLIGATORY element in that
phrase.
– The category of the head determines the category of
the phrase.
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II. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
FUNCTIONS
The modifier ~ head relation
E.g: rather dubious jokes
What is the relation between:
- rather and dubious?
- rather dubious and jokes?
A ONE-WAY DEPENDENCY MODIFICATION
- Modifiers are OPTIONAL.
- Modifiers can precede or follow their heads.
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II. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
FUNCTIONS
The head ~ complement relation
E.g: beside a stream
What is the relation between:
- beside and a stream?
A TWO-WAY DEPENDENCY COMPLEMENTATION
– When a head DEMANDS a further expression, that further
(OBLIGATORY) expression is said to COMPLEMENT the
head.
– Complements typically follow their heads in English.
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II. SENTENCE STRUCTURE:
FUNCTIONS
SUMMARY
Constituents have their functions in respect of their sister.
– Subject ~ Predicate: two-way dependency. Both are
obligatory.
– Modifier ~ Head: one-way dependency. Modifiers depend
on Heads. Modifiers are optional.
– Head ~ Complement: two-way dependency. Complements
are obligatory.
– Head: the obligatory centre of a phrase. There is only one
head in one phrase. The category of the head determines
category of the phrase.
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