Chapter 7

Phrasal structure and verb complementation

Introduction to phrase structure grammar
Chomsky argued for the necessity to distinguish deep/underlying structure and surface structure.
Deep structure:-is he abstract level in which all meaning resides modifying the structure of simple
sentences, the lexical and phrasal categories to which words in the sequence belong, and the
hierarchical relationships in which the words enter.
Surface structure:-is the actual linear order of words.it is important to distinguish between the two
levels for two reasons:

 Distinguish sequences on the surface

 Similar or identical sequences on the surface
According to classical standard form of generative grammar syntax has two types of rules:
Phrase structure rules:-account for the form of deep structures and it specifies what is constituent of
what meaning it reveals the hierarchical structures of sentences.
Transformations:-perform various syntactic operations on the output of phrase structure rules to
produce surface structures. They may move, transpose, add and delete elements, but they may not
change meaning.

Constituents
Are the proper sub parts of sentence. The study of syntax by itself is the analysis of the constituent
parts of a sentence which are:
o their for
o Their positioning in respect to other constituents and
o Their function

There are two basic relationships possible between the members of a constituent:
 One way dependency or modifier-head
 Mutual dependency or governor-complement

A phrase structure grammar of English

It is a set of rules that generate any possible simple sentences of English.
 The form of phrase structure rules
In the form of phrase structure rules we use a formalism to represent phrase structure which consists
of the set of ordered rules known as rewrite rules. A rewrite rule has a single symbol on the left and
one or more symbols on the right.
A B+C
C D
When depicted in the form of tree diagram:
A
B C
D
Phrase structure rule allows for choices
A (B) C
Mutually exclusive choices of elements in a stringe,

A {B, C} or A { }
These two types of sentences can be combined:
A ({B, C}) D
This rule leads to the following possibilities:
A A A A
But not or
D B D B C D B C

Subject and predicate

In constructing our phrase structure English, we begin with the initial symbol S=sentence and S
consists of two constituents: The subject (Su) and the predicate (Pred).the subject is usually defined as
the topic the actor or that which is spoken about. The predicate is defined as the comment the action
or that which is said about the subject; it says something true or false about the subject.
From of subject and predicate
S NP+VP
 Phrase
Are group of words which acts as a single part of a speech in a particular sentence.

Noun phrase
Is a phrase that functions as a noun (gerund phrase, infinitive phrase or a prepositional phrase).
I like living in my own world. (gerund phrase as object)
A noun phrase can be expanded in many different ways.

Expansions of NP

N dogs
Det N the dogs
Det A N the large dogs
Det AP N the loudly barking dogs
Det N PP the dog in the yard
Det A N PP the ferocious dog behind the fence
Det AP N PP the wildly yapping dog on the sofa
Pro He
PN Goldy

Symbols and their implication

Det:-{Dem, Art, Wh, poss, Q}

Dem:-{this ,that ,these those}
Art:-{a, an, the}
Wh:-{which, what, whose}
Poss:-{my, our, their, Jhone’s, the man’s….}
Q:-{some, any ,every, each, neither, more….}
Deg:-{more, most, less, least, very, quite, rather exceedingly, awfully, absolutely ,pretty…………}
PSpec:-{right, straight, slap, one mile, three seconds……}
 Adjective phrase
Is a phrase that functions as an adjective. For instance, infinitive phrase, participal phrase and
prepositional phrase.
The time to act is now. (infinitive phrase indicating what kind of time)
The adjective phrase can be expanded in different ways.

Expansions of AP

AP A happy
Deg A very happy
Adv A blissfully happy
Deg Adv A very blissfully happy
A PP dear to me, tired of him, glad about that

Adverb phrase
Is a phrase that functions as an adverb. Example:-infinitive phrase and prepositional phrase.
Let’s plan to meet after lunch. (prepositional phrase indicating when to meet.)
AdvP (Deg) Adv

Expansions of AdvP and PP

Adv Adv quickly

Deg Adv very quickly
PP P NP on the beach
P P NP from behind the door
P P P NP out from under the table
 Prepositional phrase
Are group of words which begins with a preposition and usually ends with a noun or a pronoun, called
the object of the preposition.
I am going to the stage. [Stage is the object of the preposition ‘’to’’.]

Conjunction
Our phrase structure rules do not yet account for the conjunction of elements (with, and, but, or).they
are presented as either phrasal or lexical categories. Conjunctions can join the following:

PP+PP on the table and under the chair

P+P over or under
NP+NP the tortoise and the hare
N+N cold coffee and warm beer
N+N cats and dogs
AP+AP very slow and quite tedious
A+A long and boring
AdvP+AdvP very cautiously but quite happily
Adv+Adv quietly and smoothly

Verb phrase
This term is often used to indicate the individual words that make up the verb in a sentence.
Sometimes the verb phrase includes an adverb. A verb phrase can function only as a verb.
It is verbal+complements and modifiers.
Mrs. Hanna should work peacefully with her collegues on the school compound.(the verb phrase
consists of the verb form should work + the adverb peacefully.)
In order to study the structure of the verb phrase, we need to focus on the category of V gp
Or verb group which consists lexical verb with or without a particle.
Verbs fall in to different classes based on the type of complement structures that they require. This is
called the verb subcategorization.
_____NP _____AP _____PP
Based on the type of complement a verb takes, a number of subcategories of verbs can be identified:

1.Intransitive verb/intrans
Example:-arrive, cry, lough and swim
_____ By then aunts, uncles and cousins had arrived.

2.Transitive verb/trans/ monotransitive

Example:-hit, eat, kill and tie
_____NP I dug a giant hole
The complement of the verb here is a noun phrase functioning as a direct object(dO).a direct object is
defined as the person or thing affected by the action of the verb.

3.ditransitive verb(ditrans)
Example:-give, send, tell, lend, buy, offer and show with the following subcategorization frames:
______NP1 NP2 Krishan’s mother sent me dress. OR
______NP2 pp[to/for NP1] Krishan sent flowers to me.
This subcategorization frame can be written more economically as follows:
______NP{NP,PP[to/for NP]}

4.copula(tive)verb(cop)
Example:- become, seem, appear, feel, be, grow and look with the following subcategorization
frame:
_____NP she is a main operator on a print machine.
_____AP she seems perfectly relaxed.
_____PP he was in a good position.
Or more concisely: ____ {NP,AP,PP}

5. Complex transitive verb(complex trans)

Comes with the following subcategorization frame:
_____NP NP I consider him a real classmate.
_____NP AP She maded him strong.
_____NP PP You consider this as a weakness?
Or more concisely: ____ NP{NP,AP,PP}
There are two subclasses of verbs in this category:

Nonlocative:-find ,consider ,make, think, elect, call, hold, regard(as), take(for),devote(to)

Locative:-hang, put, place, lay, set, touch, shoot, pierce
6. prepositional verb(prep)
Come with the following subcategorization frame:
_____PP Adanech had insisted on the marriage.
Yohannis stood on the buried bomb.

7.diprepositional verb(diprep)
Example:-confer, talk and insult with the following subcategorization frame:
_____PP PP I talked with my boyfriend about some staffs.
The difference between prepositional and diprepositional is that prepositional is general and
diprepositional is specific.
We talked with our parents about marriage. (diprepositional)
We talked with our parents. (Prepositional)

Expansions of VP

VP V NP open a package
V NP NP write a friend a letter
V NP PP give an excuse to the teacher
V AP feel lonely
V NP AP make the dog angry
V PP jump in to the pool
V PP PP talk about the problem with a friend
Review of phrase structure rules
The following are the phrase structure rules.

S NP VP
NP {(Det)N,PN,Pro}
N {(AP)N(PP),N}
Det {Art, Dem, Poss, Q, Wh-}
Dem {this ,that ,these ,those}
Art {a, an, the}
Wh- {which, what, whose}
Poss {NP- ‘s, my, our, their……….}
Q {some, any, every, each, neither, more…..}
AP ({Deg,AdvP}) A (PP)
AdvP (Deg)Adv
PP (PSpec) P{NP,PP}
VP Vgp({NP({NP,PP,AP}),AP,PP (PP)})
 Addis Ababa University

Name:-Serawit Dejene
ID.No:-GSR/3190/13
Course title:-structure of modern English
Course code:-(EFL611)

Submitted to Dr. Mendida Berkesa(PhD)

Reference
 Laurel J. Brinton from University of British Columbia and Donna M. Brinton from
University of Southern California (2010),The linguistic structure of modern English,
George Benjamin publishing company.
 Mc Graw Hill companies (2001), writers choice grammar and composition, texas edition
printed in the United States of America.
 William A.Sabin(1999),The Gregg Reference manual,eighth edition printed by Mc Graw
companies in the united states of America.