 Syntax

 Introductory Concepts
 Syntactic categories
 Category Abbreviation Example
 a. noun N John, London, computer, city, stupidity, event
 b. verb V hear, think, kill, shorten, eavesdrop, exist
 c. adjective A good, obscene, lovely, schoolmasterly
 d. preposition P by, in, with, from, to, at, inside, despite
 e. adverb Adv slowly, often, now, mostly
 f. determiner D, Det a, the, this - these, that - those

 a. Nouns denote people, places or things.

 b. Verbs denote events, activities or states.
 c. Adjectives denote properties.
 D. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, clauses

 More satisfactory are definitions based on morphological and syntactic criteria.

 Examples of morphological criteria for categories (for English only!):
 a. Nouns can take plural –s or one of its allomorphs: dogs, children
 b. Verbs have inflection for person, tense, number: she talks/talked; she sings/sang
 c. If a word can take comparative/superlative affixes, it is an adjective: taller/tallest
 d. If -ly can be added to a word to form an adverb, that word is an adjective (slowly).

 Examples of syntactic criteria for categories in English (Assume that each pair of
brackets is filled by only one word):
 a. They have no [N ]
 b. the [A ] [N ]
 c. She did this very [Adv ]
 d. They are very [A ]
 e. They can [V ]

 Constituent structure
 That man likes that woman.
 S = D+N+V+D+N
 Sentences (S) are formed by combining words with other words to form larger groups of
words (=constituents).
 Constituents combine with other constituents to form bigger constituents, until we have
sentences.

 noun phrases (NPs) are constituents containing a noun and material describing it, e.g. D
+N, That man
 S may contain NP V NP., e.g. That man likes that woman.
 Tests for constituents:
 How to determine whether a string (i.e. group of words) is a constituent or not.
 Tests for constituents:

 a) Proform test. If you can replace a string with a proform, the string is a constituent.
 Proforms may stand for constituents, e.g. pronouns (which replace NPs; she/him/they etc).
Other proforms: somewhere, do so, there, then).

 a. The lady running the group handed in her resignation at noon.

 b. She handed in her resignation. [The lady running the group is a constituent]
 c. The lady running it handed in her resignation. [the group is a constituent]
 d. The lady running the group did so at noon. [handed in her resignation is a constituent]
 e. The lady running the group handed in her resignation then. [at noon is a constituent]

 Question test. A string is a constituent if you can ask about it using a wh-expression
(e.g. where/how/when/why/what/who(m); with whom?, at what time?, in whose house?).
The answer to the question is also a constituent.

 a. A: What did the lady running the group hand in at noon?

 B: Her resignation.
 b. A: Who handed in her resignation at noon?
 B: The lady running the group
 c. A: When did the lady running the group hand in her resignation?
 B: At noon

 Phrases and the notion of 'head'

 Phrases = constituents larger than a word. Each word-level category (N,V,P etc.) has a
corresponding phrase containing the word-level category itself and material adding
additional information to it or dependent on it.

 Examples of phrases:
 a. Noun Phrase (NP): the (biggest) tree (in the garden)
 b. Verb Phrase (VP): (often) played (in a band) (on Saturday nights)
 c. Prepositional Phrase (PP): (right) under the window
 c. Adjective Phrase (AP): (very) proud (of his children)

 Underlined are the heads of the phrases. The head of a phrase is the word that
determines the properties of the whole phrase.
 Heads are obligatory in phrases. Everything in a phrase depends on the head (e.g. gives
info about the head, is in the phrase because the head requires or allows it).

 Types of phrases
 Noun Phrase (NP)
 a. the woman; a (big) tree; (this) coffee, (our) existence
 b. a (famous) diva (of exceptional talent) (who got run over by a truck)
 c. a (renowned) expert (on indigenous Australian music) (from Brisbane)
 d. (the) (most important) representatives (of workers' interests) (at the conference)

 Why these are called NPs (i.e. why the underlined noun is the head):
 [Link] whole NPs refer to (instances of) the entity/concept named by the noun.
 b. All the material in the phrase gives information about the noun.
 Pronouns (she/her/he/him/it/they/them) are proforms for NPs, not just nouns.
 a. They found [NP a big tree] and sat under it.

 NPs consisting of only one word:

 Mass/plural indefinites: [NP [N Italians]] like [NP [N wine]]
 Pronouns: [NP they] like [NP it]
 Proper names: [NP Maria] likes [NP England]
 Verb phrase (VP)
Which of the structures is correct?
 Why do we assume that VPs exist? Constituents tests show that VPs exist.
 Why is V seen as the head of the constituent? Why do we call it a VP? Answer: All
material in the phrase gives information about the situation expressed by the verb.
 Other examples of VPs (note that some can consist solely of a verb):
 a. (suddenly) died (of cancer) (at a young age)
 b. (blindly) rely on the advice of a counsellor
 c. (often) called him a maladjusted sociopath
 d. give Basil the book; e. sings (many songs)

 Some characteristics of VP:

 Putting an appropriate NP (called a subject) in front of the VP yields a full sentence.
 Most VPs start with V, but sometimes there is an adverb in front of the verb – see examples
above

 Prepositional Phrase (PP)

 a. [PP near [NP the fireplace]]
 b. [PP towards [NP the building]]
 c. [PP of [NP her parents]] d. [PP despite [NP the situation]]
 PPs are not a type of NP. Unlike NPs, PPs mostly denote locations or directions and never
denote entities.

 PPs can’t be replaced by the proforms for NPs:

 a. I went [PP into [NP the building]] [PP with [NP the other people]]
 b. I went [PP into [NP IT]] [PP with [NP THEM]]
 c. *I went IT THEM.

 Proform for spatial PPs: there; for temporal PPs: then. Other PPs can’t be replaced by
proforms, e.g. PPs headed by of, about, despite.
 Prepositional phrases usually consist of P+NP, but sometimes P+PP:
 [PP from [PP under [NP the table]]]

 Most PPs start with the preposition, but sometimes the preposition is preceded by adverbs
and other measure phrases give info about the place/direction expressed by the PP:
 [PP RIGHT near [NP them]] [PP STRAIGHT towards [NP it]] [PP BACK to [NP
London]]
 [PP TEN MINUTES before [NP the meeting]] [PP TEN KILOMETRES into [NP the
desert]]

 Adjective Phrase (AP)

 a. (very) angry (at the rest of the human race)
 b. dull (to the extreme)
 c. (soul-destroyingly) boring
 d. devoid of content
 e. interested (in art) (to some extent)

 APs typically describe NPs. They may appear either inside or outside the NP:
 [NP a [AP very angry] person] shouted at him.
 b. [NP a person [AP very angry about the situation]] shouted at him.
 c. [NP the people] became [AP very angry]

 Adverb Phrase (AdvP)

 a. (very) slowly
 b. (extremely) well
 c. (completely) independently of the approval of his superiors
 AdvPs occur
 (a) inside VP, describing the situation named by the verb,
 (b) inside Aps indicating the degree to which the adjective is applicable,
 (c) inside the AdvPs headed by other adverbs, also indicating the degree to which the main
adverb is applicable.

 [S [NP Mary] [VP [AdvP very quickly] memorised [NP the material] [AdvP perfectly]]]
 [AP [AdvP vaguely/incredibly/(so) very/somewhat] interesting]]
 [AdvP [AdvP incredibly/(so) very/somewhat] skillfully]]

 Putting the pieces together: Analysing whole sentences

 Basic rule of sentence structure: S = NP + VP. Thus, NP and VP are immediate
constituents of sentences.
 Words are the ultimate constituents.

 The NP outside VP is called the subject. (Subjects determine the verb’s inflection:
 His mother writes books vs. I write books.)
 Older, unnecessary term for VP: predicate.
 An example of a structure for a whole sentence:

 [S[NP [D The] [AP [A old] [N man] [PP [P in] [NP [D the] [N café]]]] [VP [Adv(P) often]
reads [NP books by French authors] [PP on Saturday nights]]]
 More on notation: Constituents can be represented with either trees (=phrase markers,
tree diagrammes) or (labelled) bracketing
 Each node (=point in tree with a category label) stands for a constituent.

 Triangle notation abbreviates constituents whose internal structure is not of interest:

 Coordination (=the linking of material using conjunctions and, or) obeys two basic
principles:
 a. Coordination is possible only with constituents of the same category.
 b. Coordination forms a phrase of the same category as that of the coordinated
constituents.

 Possessive ‘s attaches to NPs, not nouns

 a. [That lady]'s husband left.
 b. [That lady near the door]'s husband left. (=the husband of that lady near the door)
 c. [That lady you talked to]'s husband left. (=the husband of that lady you talked to)
 d. [That lady you saw]'s husband left. (=the husband of that lady you saw)

 Remember: the possessor (the person/thing that has the noun heading the whole phrase) is
always a full NP which combines with ‘s to form a (definite) determiner.
 Possessor NPs are the only type of NP that can’t be replaced by a normal pronoun: Ann’s
car ≠ *she’s car.
 This is because there are special possessive determiners: her car. These act as proforms for
the D constituent in the tree.

 Auxiliaries and lexical verbs

 Auxiliaries (hard-to-define verb-like words with grammatical functions):
 Modal auxiliaries: can, may, must, shall, will, as well as need in some uses.
 Other auxiliaries: be, as well as have and do in some uses.

 Auxiliaries differ from normal verbs (lexical verbs) as follows:

 A) In question inversion, auxiliaries go before the subject NP, lexical verbs do not:
 Does she work? vs *Works she? Has she worked vs. *Worked she?
 B) Thus, in tag questions an auxiliary can appear but not a lexical verb:
 She has worked, hasn't/didn't she? vs. *She worked, worked she?

 C) Negative particles (not, n't) can negate auxiliaries but not lexical verbs:
 she mustn't/must not smoke vs. *she smokes not
 D) Lexical verbs can be transitive (i.e. take an object), auxiliaries cannot:
 he wants/needs a drink vs. *he must a drink

 E) Lexical verbs can take a complement VP introduced by to. Auxiliaries cannot.

 He wants to VP, she tried to VP; he must VP, she did VP
 With inversion, tag questions, negation, if there is no auxiliary, a dummy auxiliary do
must be inserted. This phenomenon is called do-support:
 a. *smokes she? should be . does she smoke?
 b. *she smokes not should be . she does not smoke
 c. *she smokes, smokes she? should be . she smokes, doesn't she

 Some verbs can be used either as lexical verbs or as auxiliaries.

 HAVE is an auxiliary if used in forming the perfect tense. Otherwise it is lexical:
 a. Have (aux) you eaten? b. Don't you have (lex) a pencil?
 DO as a transitive verb is a lexical verb. Otherwise it is an auxiliary (e.g. in do-support and
its emphatic use)

 a. Did (aux) you do (lex) work/a dance?

 b. Martians DO (aux) exist, I DID (aux) see one!
 NEED always behaves like a lexical verb when transitive, and means ‘have to have’.

 When it means just ‘have to’ it can be either a lexical verb or an auxiliary. If used as an
auxiliary, it is uninflected and is mainly confined to negative contexts and questions (Need
he go? He needn’t go. *He need go.).
 he doesn't need (lex) a pencil
 a. He need (aux) (*s/*ed) not do that. b. He doesn’t need to do that.