Syntax

• Study of form, position, grouping of elements in sentences

• Study of phrases, clauses, and sentences (the ‘levels’ of grammar in

question)
Syntacticians assume that there is a hierarchical structure to sentences:

1. Divisible into parts

2. Different kinds/types of parts
3. Each part is arranged in a particular way
4. Each part has a specific function of the whole
Understanding why some strings of words are well-formed (grammatical) and why
some are ill-formed (ungrammatical) is one of the major points of investigation in
syntax

Analyzing Syntax:

1. Analyzing/Categorizing linguistic expressions into constituents

• (What are the parts?)

2. Identifying the categories of the constituents

• (What kinds of parts are they?)

3. Determining the functions of constituents

• (What do the parts do?)
• Sentences are more structured than just words one after another

• Certain words belong with others

• Words work in groups

• These groups are called phrases

• Phrases are the immediate constituents of sentences

Phrases should be somewhere

between the S and the individual
words
• The question is: How do we identify constituents?
• Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream
1. Can we remove the underlined from the sentence?
2. Can we remove individual words from the underlined from the sentence?

• A sequence of words (as a whole) is optional here:

1. None of these words can be individually omitted
2. The sequence as a whole is an optional unit in this sentence
3. This sequence seems like it groups together, a constituent.

• Sequences of words that act as constituents of a sentence are phrases

• As you can see, we perform a series of tests to ‘probe’ for constituents

Constituency Tests - Omission

• There are several constituency tests

• We can try deleting words

• Old Sam sunbathed happily
• Old Sam sunbathed happily
• Old Sam Sunbathed

• ‘Happily’ and ‘Old’ seems optional

• ‘Sam sunbathed’ seems obligatory
Constituency Tests - Replacement

• Replace sequence of words with a single word without changing

the structure
• If it works, that sequence is a constituent

• Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream

• Can we replace the underlined with a single word?
• Old Sam sunbathed here/there/somewhere
Constituency Tests – Form a
Question
• Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream

• Another way is to form a question

• Old Sam sunbathed where?

• Where did old Sam sunbathe?

• Can you provide an answer to these questions?

• Answer: beside a stream
• Answers to WH questions are phrases
 Constituency Tests - Movement
• Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream.

• We can also identify phrases by movement tests.

• A phrase can be moved together as a unit to a different position.

• Can ‘beside a stream’ move to a different position?

• Beside a stream, old Sam sunbathed.
Tree diagrams in Syntax

• Tree diagrams are useful because they mark the hierarchical structure of constituents
in a sentence.

• Tree diagrams let us mark which sequence of words act as constituent phrases

• How can we represent ‘beside a stream’, which we now are very positive is a phrase,
with a tree structure?
 A B C

There exists a possibility that a phrase can also exist within a phrase
(recursion), which is what options B and C are suggesting.

Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream

Old Sam sunbathed where?

Old Sam sunbathed beside what?
 B C

• Why not option B?

• Failed multiple constituency tests

• No single word can replace the potential phrase ‘beside a’, we cannot move it, we
cannot delete it

• Phrases are formed by syntactic units (constituents), and also semantic units
– coherent units of sense
• Are there any other phrases in this sentence?

1. Any sequence replaceable with a single word?

2. Any sequence movable in position?
3. Any sequence that can provide an answer to a WH question?

4. He sunbathed beside a stream.

5. Beside a stream, Old Sam sunbathed.
6. Who sunbathed beside a stream? Answer: Old Sam

• ‘Old Sam’ is another phrase

• A phrase is a sequence of words that can function as a constituent in a
sentence structure.
• The same sequence of words might not be a constituent in another context or sentence.

• Old Sam sunbathed beside the stream.

• Though he was old Sam did regular push-ups.
• ‘old Sam’ is not a constituent in this sentence.

• Michael asked how old Sam was. – Two potential meanings

• How old is Sam?
• How is ‘old Sam’?
• Again, why tree structures are useful.
Sam sunbathed beside a stream that had dried up
Is the underlined a constituent? (Try the constituency tests)

Sam sunbathed beside a stream that had dried up If the above structure is
Is the underlined a constituent? possible, then this structure
is not possible.

Rule: If an element (word or phrase) is part of a phrase, it

can only relate to elements in the same phrase. (i.e.
elements can only belong directly to one phrase at a time)
 Key Term - Nodes
• Node
• ‘dominates’ everything below it

• In the below structure, we are saying that Phrase A dominates ‘beside’ and Phrase B ‘a
stream that had dried up’

Node

Node
Review - Constituency Tests
Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream.

1. Omission
• Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream.
• Old Sam sunbathed.

2. Replacement
• Old Sam sunbathed there.

3. Question
• Where did old Sam sunbathe?

4. Movement
• Beside a stream, old Sam sunbathed.

5. Sense/Intuitions
• Beside a
• Beside a stream
• A stream
Activity
• Worksheet 3

• Question 1
• Identify the phrasal constituents.
• Clumsy Irene broke the computer

• Clumsy Irene

• broke the computer

• the computer
• Anxious Judy waited at the station.

• Anxious Judy

• waited at the station

• at the station
• the station
• The bakery smelled extremely delicious.

• The bakery

• smelled extremely delicious

• extremely delicious
• Stressed Toby slept ten happy hours.

• Stressed Toby

• slept ten happy hours

• ten happy hours
• happy hours
Analysis of English
Grammar
Grammatical Functions

Dr Rickey Lu
Dept of English and Communication, PolyU
• What ways can we connect this tree structure?
• Everything needs to connect to the top node, the sentence (S).
• Burton-Roberts (2016 , p.22)
• When dividing a sentence up into parts:
• First, think about the largest two constituents of the S

• Ducks paddle.
• Burton-Roberts (2016 , p.22)
• In English, this is usually the subject (NP) and predicate (VP)

• Subject - Used to mention something (what the sentence is about)

• Predicate - Used to say something about the subject (what is being said about it)

The ducks are paddling away. Those gigantic ducks were paddling away furiously.
 Finding the subject of an S
• Change sentence to a yes/no question.
• The phrase that changes position is the subject.
• Remember: constituents (sequence of words) tend to move together

• The ducks are paddling away.

• Are the ducks paddling away?

• Those gigantic ducks were paddling away furiously.

• Were those gigantic ducks paddling away furiously?

• Sometimes changing the sentence into a question requires the insertion of ‘do’
• My new duck lays lightly boiled eggs.
• Does my new duck lay lightly boiled eggs?

• Note that subjects don’t always begin the sentence.

• It’s important that we identify the whole phrase as a constituent

• The clown in the make-up room doesn’t want to perform.

• Identify the entire subject

• The clown in the make-up room doesn’t want to perform.

• *in the make-up room doesn’t want to perform. <- not a constituent
• Burton-Roberts (2016 , p.22)
Worksheet 3
• Question 2

• Identify the subject and predicate of each sentence.

• My mother eats an early dinner every day.

• [My mother] eats an early dinner every day.

• Silly Kevin forgot to mute his microphone on Zoom.

• [Silly Kevin] forgot to mute his microphone on Zoom.

• As a good intention, the store gave free meals to the
homeless.

• As a good intention, [the store] gave free meals to the homeless.

• The angry looking visitor at the store did not enjoy being ignored.

• [The angry looking visitor at the store] did not enjoy being ignored.
Some Syntax Terminology Example sentence - Ducks Paddle.

• Constituents
1. Constituents • [Ducks] [Paddle]
• (What are the parts?)
• Function
2. Categories • [Ducks] = Subject, [Paddle] = Predicate
• (What kinds of parts are
they?) • Category
• Subjects = Noun Phrases (NP)
3. Functions • [Ducks] is a NP
• (What do the parts do?) • Predicates = Verb Phrases (VP)
• [Paddle] is a VP
• Categories have different functions
• E.g. all subjects are NPs, but not all NPs function as the subject
of an S

• The teacher was liked by most students.

• [The teacher] is a NP that functions as subject here.

• Sam did not enjoy the teacher.

• [The teacher] is a NP that does not function as the subject here.
• [Sam] (another NP) is the subject.
• Identifying the subject and predicate makes it easier for us to analyze a
sentence.
• We know where to start our syntactic analysis

• The subject of a sentence is the NP immediately dominated by S.

• The predicate of a sentence is the VP immediately dominated by S.

Note: It is not common convention to label subject and predicate on tree diagrams
• The subject of a sentence is the NP immediately dominated by S.
• The predicate of a sentence is the VP immediately dominated by S.

‘The teacher’ is an NP, but is not immediately dominated by S

Some more syntax terminology
• Two constituent nodes dominated by same immediate node are sisters

• The node dominating them is the mother, the nodes immediately below the
mother are daughters

• Sisters are at the same level in the tree structure

• Constituents have functions based on their relationship to sisters

Heads
• Phrases (NP, VP, etc.) also have heads (Remember in morphology?)
• Only one head per phrase

• Heads are the obligatory element in that phrase, the center of the phrase

• The category of the head determines the category of the phrase

• E.g. Old Sam
• Head?
• Sam
• Lexical category of Sam?
• N
• Therefore, the phrase ‘Old Sam’ is a NP
Worksheet 3
• Question 3

Identify what might be the head of the subject NP and predicate VP of

the sentences in question 1.
• My mother eats an early dinner every day.

• [My mother] eats an early dinner every day

• [mother] is the head of the subject NP

• [eat] is the head of the predicate VP
• Silly Kevin forgot to mute his microphone on Zoom.

• [Silly Kevin] forgot to mute his microphone on Zoom.

• [Kevin] is the head of the subject NP

• [forgot] is the head of the predicate VP

• As a good intention, the store gave free meals to the
homeless.

• As a good intention, [the store] gave free meals to the homeless.

• [store] is the head of the subject NP

• [gave] is the head of the predicate VP

• The angry looking visitor at the store did not enjoy being ignored.

• [The angry looking visitor at the store] did not enjoy being ignored.

• [visitor] is the head of the subject NP

• [did] is the head of the predicate VP

• Consider this tree. Why is it structured this way?

• The function of ‘very’ is related to ‘fresh’

• *Ten very wontons
• Ten fresh wontons AP

• ‘Very’ is a modifier – another function

• What is the head of phrase C?

• Fresh

• What lexical category is ‘fresh’?

• Adjective
• Phrase C is therefore an adjective phrase (AP)

• Modifiers are optional, heads are obligatory

• Phrase C and ‘wontons’ are also sisters
NP

• Which is necessary/optional, Phrase C or

AP
‘wontons’?
• *Ten very fresh
• Ten wontons

• Phrases can also function as heads and modifiers

• Phrase C is the modifier here

• What category is Phrase B?

• Phrase C is an AP (Adjective Phrase)
• But, the head of Phrase B is not an A, it is a N (wontons)
therefore, phrase B is a NP
 Why not these structures?

A B

• No head in phrase B Here, ‘Very’ and phrase C are sisters

• ‘Very’ is cut off from what it is modifying ‘Very’ is modifying ‘fresh wontons’
*Ten very wontons
• Are the sister relationships (‘beside’ and Phrase B) in this phrase also
modifiers?
PP

• Omission test
• *Old Sam sunbathed beside
• *Old Sam sunbathed a stream

• What is the head of Phrase A?

• ‘Beside’ is the head
• The head, ‘Beside’, provides the category of the phrase (Prepositional Phrase,
PP)
• If the head requires more, the other elements are called complements (Another function!)
• E.g. ‘besides’ needs ‘a stream’
• In English, complements usually follow the head

• Modifiers, on the other hand, are not essential

• E.g. ‘wontons’ does not need ‘very fresh’
• In English, modifiers can precede or follow the head
• Examine the sentence: Steve hates bad traffic.

1. What is the subject and predicate of the sentence?

2. Can you identify the phrases and the heads of the phrases?

3. Can you identify the sister relationships?

• Complement/modifier?

• Everything in parentheses are functions

• Everything in the nodes are the constituents
• The head’s lexical category is the category of the phrase
Worksheet 3
• Question 4

• Draw the tree structures of the following phrases.

• Ignore the categories for now. (Just write ‘phrase’)

• Remember that the tree structure will differ depending on whether

the sister relationships are complements or modifiers.
• Behind the dumpster
• playing the piano
• A rather bothersome boy
• arrived at the airport