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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year

/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /


/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

AN INTRODUCTORY TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR


BRUCE L. LILES
Chapter One
GRAMMARS OF ENGLISH

TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR
Until the sixteenth century, Latin was the primary language of scholarship in
England and the rest of Western Europe. The only grammars studied in English schools,
therefore, were Latin grammars, which were designed to give Englishmen the skills
needed to read, write, and sometimes converse in this lingua franca of Western Europe.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, grammars of English began to appear.
Since these early grammars were studied exclusively as an aid to learning Latin, they
rigorously followed Latin models, although the structure of English is quite different
from that of Latin.
For an example of differences between these languages, we can look at how they
indicate such relationships as performer and receiver of action. In Latin these
relationships are expressed primarily by the forms of the words. In the sentence Puer
virum videt, “The boy sees the man,” we know that puer, “boy,” is the one performing
the act and virum, “man,” is the one receiving it because there is no ending on puer, but
- urn is added to vir to give virum. The sentence would mean the same thing if the word
order were reversed: Virum puer videt. To alter the meaning, one must change the
forms of the words, not their order; hence, Vir puerum videt means “The man sees the
boy,” since vir has no ending and puerum ends in - um. In contrast, by the sixteenth
century English was relying exclusively on word order to indicate these relationships.
The sentence The boy sees the man shows that the boy is the performer because the
word boy precedes the verb; the man is the receiver, since man follows the verb. A
change in word order produces a change in meaning (The man sees the boy) or a
meaningless sentence (Sees the man the boy). Logically, a grammar of Latin should
discuss the forms of words, whereas one of English should give more emphasis to the
order in which they are arranged. The purpose of the early grammars of English,
however, was not to provide an accurate description of the language, but rather to serve
as a basis for the study of Latin grammar. English word order was largely ignored, and
the meaning of such relationships as actor and receiver was emphasized as a preface to
Latin forms.

1
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

During the Renaissance, Latin was replaced as the language of scholarship by


English and the other Western European languages. Because of this new role for
English, some Englishmen by the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries were
greatly concerned with refining their language. They felt that English had somehow
become “corrupt” and that it was in need of purification. Through the use of logic they
hoped to return English to an “undefiled” state. With unlimited zeal and imagination but
limited knowledge about language change and the history of English, they added the s
we now have in island and the b of doubt and debt)*; they made other changes based
on equally misunderstood etymologies. They reasoned that since a subjective
complement means the same thing as the noun it renames, people should say It is I
rather than It is me, that one should use the nominative he in Bill wanted to be he but
the objective him in Bill wanted it to be him. Unfortunately, they were silent about
whether to use the nominative or the objective in We discussed its being -. By logic this
should be We discussed its being my, the possessive my agreeing with its. They
reasoned out rules for shall and will, should and would. They legislated against ending
sentences with prepositions and against splitting infinitives. These rules were based
entirely on logic; no attention was given to what educated people were actually saying.
For their classification of words and sentences, they followed the patterns set by
grammars of the preceding two centuries.

From this tradition developed the English grammars used in schools during the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This traditional grammar is best known to many
people in the United States from high-school textbooks, college handbooks, Plain
English Handbook by Walsh and Walsh, and Descriptive English Grammar by House
and Harmon. It followed Latin grammar in concentrating on parts of speech that are
subcategorized according to case, person, number, gender, mood, tense, etc. These
concepts are informative in a study of Latin, but many of the categories are hard to
justify for English. Word order was usually ignored. Sentences were classified as
simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex; clauses were classified as
independent, noun, adjective, or adverb; phrases were prepositional, participial, gerund,
or infinitive. Many school grammars used the study of English grammar as nothing more
than a background for a study of punctuation, subject-verb agreement, pronoun case
forms, and other matters of usage.

* English iland was respelled island by analogy with French isle, although the two words are not related
etymologically. The b in doubt and debt was added by analogy with Latin dubitum and debitum, although
Old French had lost the b in these words before English borrowed them.
prepositional, participial, gerund, or infinitive. Many school grammars used the study of English grammar
as nothing more than a background for a study of punctuation, subject-verb agreement, pronoun case
forms, and other matters of usage.

2
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

STRUCTURAL GRAMMAR
During the nineteenth century, as scholars began studying and comparing large
numbers of languages, many of them radically different in structure from Latin, they
saw that traditional grammar was inadequate. Some missionaries and other people
describing exotic languages assiduously forced them into the framework of Latin
grammar, but others realized the shortcomings of the tradition. This dissatisfaction with
traditional grammar continued into the twentieth century, when Jespersen and Poutsma
found it necessary to make significant departures from traditional grammar in their
monumental works on English.* Many teachers became disillusioned with the grammar
they were teaching when they discovered that it would not account for many ordinary
sentences that are encountered in modern newspapers and magazines; for exercises they
were limited to carefully selected sentences in their texts. They often found that in their
teaching they were relying more upon observations they had made about the language
than upon explanations in the texts.
Discontent with traditional grammar grew to such proportions that during the
second quarter of the twentieth century a new approach to the study of language
evolved: structural linguistics. Followers of this approach felt that it was necessary to
study the structure of a language as objectively as possible without reference to any
other language, and they felt that meaning was a poor guide to the analysis of structure.
Instead of talking about what a noun means (“the name of a person, place, or thing”), for
example, they began looking for other devices to identify nouns. In a sentence such as
The arguments became heated, they said that the word arguments can be recognized as a
noun because it has a plural ending, because it has the suffix -ment, because it follows
the determiner the, and because it precedes the verb became. They attempted to analyze
other grammatical elements in terms of structure rather than meaning.

* Otto Jespersen, A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, 7 vols. (Copenhagen: Ejnar
Munksgaard, 1909-1949). H. A.Poutsma, A Grammar ofLate Modern English (Groningen: P. Noorhoff,
1914-1926). Jespersen and Poutsma belong neither with the traditional grammarians discussed in the
preceding section nor with the structuralists. Gleason in his Linguistics and English Grammar (New York,
1965) calls them “scholarly traditional” grammarians.

3
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The structuralists based their conclusions upon analyses of sentences that they had
collected from native speakers of English. One of the most remarkable of the
structuralists was Charles C. Fries, who obtained access to letters written to a
government agency as a corpus for his analysis presented in American English Grammar
(New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1940). Later he obtained permission to record
telephone conversations, unknown to the people talking. The results of this study'' were
published in The Structure of English (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1952).
Because of Professor Fries’ integrity and efficiency, access to the materials was
carefully controlled. The illustrative material in the published results of the studies had
all names replaced by dashes, and sentences that could identify the speaker because of
their content were carefully excluded. Professor Fries’ work was widely read and
emulated by later structuralists such as Francis, Hill, and Stageberg.*

The work of the structuralists brought attention to the word linguist, a term that had
previously been used to designate someone who studied languages, particularly someone
who spoke several different languages. But after the publication of Leonard
Bloomfield’s Language in 1933, the term linguist became specialized to mean only the
person concerned with the new scientific study of language. The word linguistics
became popular as the name of his discipline. Until the late 1950’s, the terms
structuralist and linguist were practically synonymous in America. The structuralists
made many praiseworthy contributions to the study of language. They challenged
current attitudes and began the scholarly study of language that has rapidly increased
during the last two decades.

* Archibald A. Hill,Introduction to Linguistic Structures (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1958).
W. Nelson Francis, The Structure of American English (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1954).
Norman C. Stageberg, An Introductory English Grammar (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.,
1965).

4
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR
Starting formally in 1957 with the publication of Noam Chomsky’s Syntactic
Structures, a new approach to the study of language was inaugurated. This newer
grammar has gone under various names: generative, transformational, generative-
transformational, and transformational-generative. This is the kind of grammar
presented in this book, and the term transformational is used for consistency and brevity.
Scholars have been so impressed by the importance and potential of transformational
grammar that since 1957 the majority of published studies of English syntax have used
this approach. During the past ten years there have been many developments in
transformational grammar, and there will certainly be more in the future. Almost every
aspect of language is still being examined. There is so much controversy among
linguists that many people use the plural in speaking of transformational grammars:;
there is no single transformational grammar which is accepted by all scholars in the
field. Nevertheless, there are many ideas which most transformationalists do accept.
The transformational grammarian is not content with describing what he finds in a
corpus of sentences collected from native speakers. He feels that his grammar should
enable one to produce all the sentences of a language, and he is as interested in possible
sentences as he is in the ones actually recorded. Since the number of possible sentences
in English or any other language is infinite, no one could have heard all of them. Yet
native speakers of English understand new sentences such as I spilled milk in the
bathtub and He left his shoe polish in the refrigerator. Every day the native speaker
hears, reads, and creates new sentences, sentences which seem so ordinary that he is not
aware that they have never been used before. An adequate grammar of English should
enable a person to produce not just those sentences that have been said in the past, but
all the sentences that a native speaker is capable of creating or understanding. In
addition, the grammar should not generate sentences that a native speaker would reject,
such as *The man horrified the door or *Boy on the roof is.
Notice the asterisk in the last two sentences. This mark is used to indicate that a
sentence or a part of a sentence is ungrammatical; that is, no native speaker of the
language would intentionally use it. By grammatical we are not referring to standard
and nonstandard usage. He ain’t going is grammatical for some people (there are native
speakers who say it), but it is nonstandard (educated speakers do not normally use it).*

* The word intentionally is important. Native speakers do make ungrammatical sentences, especially
when they are excited or tired. These are normally looked upon as unintentional slips.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

He not is going is not grammatical, since no native speakers use this construction.
Calling sentences like He ain’t going and Irregardless of what you think, he taken it
grammatical does not mean that the linguist is encouraging anyone to use them when
applying for a job. He is merely restricting the meaning of the term grammatical to
structures that are normally used by native speakers of English. He refers to
acceptability among various social groups or in various contexts as usage.
The transformationalist is more concerned with the system that underlies the language
than he is with the actual speech of an individual at any given time. All speakers
occasionally stammer, make false starts, use wrong words, get words out of order, and
change constructions in midcourse.
In addition, speech may be affected by physical surroundings, emotions, memory
limitations, distractions, or other features such as chewing gum in the mouth of the
speaker. It is language (the underlying system), not actual speech output, that is of
primary interest to the transformationalist. Another way of stating this is to say that he is
interested in the speaker’s competence, or knowledge of the language, rather than in his
performance, or actual use of it.
In some respects transformational grammar is similar to traditional grammar.
Transformational grammar assigns each sentence an underlying structure that is called a
deep structure. Some traditional grammars used a similar concept in speaking of
“understood” elements. For example, they said that Tom is taller than I has the
underlying form Tom is taller than I am tall and that imperative sentences such as
Come here have an understood subject you. Transformational grammarians agree, but
apply this idea of underlying structure to every sentence and express it in a more abstract
form than traditional grammarians did.
As transformationalists began studying deep structures, they noticed that languages
which are quite different on the surface often show many similar features in their deep
structures. Some linguists are now investigating the possibility that there is a universal
deep structure underlying all languages. Sentences having this universal deep structure
are converted into the sentences of particular languages by a process known as
transformation.*
Although this line of investigation is new and offers almost limitless possibilities
for further research, enough discussions of it have been either published or presented as
papers at professional meetings to make the idea of a universal deep structure seem
plausible. It will probably be several years before we understand universal deep
structure well enough to incorporate information about it into an introductory text. A
slightly earlier concept has, therefore, been adopted for this text. The term deep structure
will be used to refer to an English deep structure, not a universal one.

* The concept of a universal grammar was discussed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and
was then ignored for two centuries. Many linguists now regard this early idea as essentially correct. For a
discussion of the theories of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, see Noam Chomsky, Cartesian
Linguistics (New York: Harper and Row, 1966).

6
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

CHAPTER 2
-Sentence Modifier: is a word or group of words like: "yes, no, certainly, evidently
naturally, maybe, perhaps, possible, in fact, to be sure, obviously…etc.".

SYMBOLS MEANING
S Sentence
SM Sentence Modifier
Nuc Nucleus
NP Noun Phrase
VP Verb Phrase
Aux Auxiliary (Helping Verbs: do-have-be)
MV Main Verb
Manner Adverb of Manner
Place Adverb of Place
Time Adverb of Time
Reason Adverb of Reason
Tense Past/Present
M Modal Verb (can-could-may-might-shall-should-will-
-would-must-ought to-used to)
Have + en Past Participle
Be + ing Continuous Aspect
Det Determiner
AP Adjective Phrase
Intense Intensifier
Parentheses () Optional
Curly Brackets {} Either or
TS Terminal String
SS Surface Structure
DS Deep Structure
Aff Affix Hopping
Neg Negation
Q Question

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Phrase Structure Rules


-PSR 1: S (SM) Nuc
-PSR 2: Nuc NP + VP
-PSR 3: VP Aux + MV (Manner) (Place) (Time) (Reason)
-PSR 4: Aux Tense (M) (Have + en) (Be + ing)

Past
-PSR 5: Tense
Present

-PSR 6: MV NP
Be AP
Place

V (NP)

-PSR 7: NP (Det) N

-PSR 8: AP (Intens) Adj

(SM) Nuc

NP VP

(Det) N Aux MV (Manner) (Place) (Time) (Reason)

Tense (Modal) (Have + en) (Be + ing) V (NP) Be {NP- AP- Place}

Past - Present (Intensifier) Adj.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

EXAMPLES:

Yes, that man drinks coffee.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

(SM) Nuc

NP1 VP

Det N Aux MV

Tense V NP2

present

yes that man drinks coffee

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

He was very rude.

S Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV Be + AP
AP Intensifier + Adj

Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV

Tense Be AP

Intensifier Adj.

Past

He was very rude

10
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

She has been reading a novel.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Tense Have+en Be+ing V NP2

Present Det N

She has been reading a novel

Note: every pronoun is a noun phrase.

11
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The ducks are noisy.

S Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
NP Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV Be + AP
AP Adj

NP VP

Det N Aux MV

Tense Be AP

Present

The ducks are noisy

Terminal String: NP + Present + Be + AP.

The ducks are noisy.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

You could have been repairing the clock.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense M Have+en Be+ing

Det N

Past

You could have been repairing the clock

You could have been repairing the clock.

TS: NP + Past + M + Have + en + Be + ing + V + NP2.

13
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Yes, my neighbor has seen the dog.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Det N Aux MV

V NP2
Tense Have+en

Det N

Present

Yes my neighbor has seen the dog

Yes, my neighbor has seen the dog.

TS: SM + NP1 + Present + Have + en + V + NP2.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Betty was in the car yesterday.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP N
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV Be + Place

Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Be Place
Tense

Past

Betty was in the car yesterday

Betty was in the car yesterday.

TS: NP + Past + Be + Place + Time.

15
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

She has been writing an article recently.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

V NP2
Tense Have+en Be+ing

Det N

Present

She has been writing an article recently

She has been writing an article recently.

TS: NP1 + Present + Have + en + Be + ing + V + NP2 + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

They might have been cheating you.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Past
MV V + NP2

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense M Have+en Be+ing

Past

They might have been cheating you

They might have been cheating you.

TS: NP1 + Past + M + Have + en + Be + ing + V + NP2.

17
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Bill sold the tickets.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux

MV

V NP2
Tense

Past

Det N

Bill sold the tickets

TS: NP1 + Past + V + NP2.

Bill sold the tickets.

18
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

They drank the wine yesterday.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

V NP2
Tense

Past Det N

They drank the wine yesterday

They drank the wine yesterday.

TS: NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + Time.

19
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

People could have been running in the park.

S Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense + M + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Past
MV V

Nuc

NP VP

Aux

Place

MV

V
Tense M Have+en Be+ing

Past

people could have been running in the park

People could have been running in the park.

TS: NP + Past + M + Have + en + Be + ing + V + Place.

20
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The car will hit the child.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux

Det N MV

V NP2
Tense M

Present Det N

The car will hit the child

TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2.

The car will hit the child.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

He could give the answer yesterday.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + M
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

V NP2
Tense M

Past Det N

He could give the answer yesterday

TS: NP1 + Past + M + V + NP2 + Time.

He could give the answer yesterday.

22
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

No, those women have planted the garden.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Det N Aux MV

V NP2
Tense Have+en

Det N

Present

No those women have planted the garden

TS: SM + NP1 + Present + Have + en + V + NP2.

No, those women have planted the garden.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

That man will drive carefully in town today because of the ice.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV + Manner + Place + Time + Reason
Aux Tense + M
Tense Present
MV V

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Manner Place Time Reason

Det N

Tense M

Present

That man will drive carefully in town today because of the ice

TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + Manner + Place + Time + Reason

That man will drive carefully in town today because of the ice.

24
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Certainly, he is very clever.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV Be + AP
AP Intensifier + Adj

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV

Be AP
Tense

Intens Adj

Present

Certainly he is very clever

TS: SM + NP + Present + Be + AP.

Certainly, he is very clever.

25
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

She may have finished her homework lately.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

V NP2
Tense M Have+en

Present Det N

She may have finished her homework lately

TS: NP1 + Present + Have + en + V + NP2 + Time.

She may have finished her homework lately.

26
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Certainly, she might be telling lies.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense M Be+ing

Past

Certainly she might be telling lies

TS: SM + NP1 + Past + M + Be + ing + V + NP2.

Certainly, she might be telling lies.

27
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Give an example to the following structure:

NP1-Present-V-NP2

He reads a book.

I play tennis.

NP1-Present-M-V-NP2

She will brush her hair.

He may write a message.

That boy can play basketball.

NP- Present-Be-Place

He is in London.

I'm here.

Note: in transformational grammar TGG, we have something called deep structure and surface
structure.

The surface structure (SS): is the actual explicit structure of sentences.

The deep structure (DS): is the underlying structure of any sentence.

A deep structure sentence should be:

1- Declarative.

2-Affirmative.

3-Active.

Note: when we draw a tree diagram, we must rely on the deep structure of the sentence .

28
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

e.g.

-He is in the garage. (Deep Structure)

Is he in the garage? (Surface Structure)

He isn't in the garage. (Surface Structure)

Q: Give the deep structure of the following sentences?

-The lady did not play tennis. (Surface Structure)

The lady played tennis. (Deep Structure)

-Does Lois wash the dishes? (Surface Structure)

Lois washes the dishes. (Deep Structure)

29
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Did they follow the rules yesterday? (surface structure)

They followed the rules yesterday. (deep structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Tense

V NP2

Past

Det N

Q They followed the rules yesterday

TS: Q + NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + Time.

They followed the rules yesterday.

30
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Do we have a guest today? (surface structure)

We have a guest today. (deep structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

Nuc

SM

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Tense

V NP2

Present

Det N

Q We have a guest today

TS: Q + NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Time.

We have a guest today.

31
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Had those women planted the trees? (surface structure)

Those women had planted the trees. (deep structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

SM

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Tense Have+en

V NP2

Det N Past

Det N

Q Those women had planted the trees

TS: Q + NP1 + Past + Have + en + V + NP2.


Those women had planted the trees.

32
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Wasn't he playing basketball in the yard last night? (surface structure)


He was playing basketball in the yard last night. (deep structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place + Time
Aux Tense + Be + ing
Tense Past
MV V + NP2

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Place Time

V NP2
Tense Be+ing

Past

Neg Q He was playing basketball in the yard last night

TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + Past + Be + ing + V + NP2 + Place + Time.


He was playing basketball in the yard last night.

33
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Aren't we in the class now? (surface structure)

We are in the class now. (deep structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV Be + Place

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Be Place
Tense

Present

Neg Q We are in the class now

TS: Neg + Q + NP + Present + Be + Place + Time.

We are in the class now.

34
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

We were invited by our aunt. (surface structure)

Our aunt invited us. (deep structure)

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
S

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Tense

V NP2

Det N Past

Our aunt invited us

TS: NP1 + Past + V + NP2.

Our aunt invited us.

35
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The window is broken by John. (surface structure)

John breaks the window. (deep structure)

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Tense

V NP2

Present

Det N

John breaks the window

TS: NP1 + Present + V + NP2.

John breaks the window.

36
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

ACTIVE & PASSIVE

- The door was closed by Cathy. (Passive)

Cathy closed the door. (Active)

- I was told to go. (Passive)

Someone told me to go. (Active)

- He was taught French. (Passive)

Someone taught him French. (Active)

- I saw you. (Active)

You were seen by me. (Passive)

- The cake had been eaten. (Passive)

Someone had been eaten the cake. (Active)

- He is sending a letter. (Active)

A letter is being sent. (Passive)

Q- Derive the deep structure?

37
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Jack will leave the town tonight.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + M
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Tense M

V NP2

Present

Det N

Jack will leave the town tonight

TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2 + Time.


Jack will leave the town tonight.

38
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

I was distracted. (Passive) (Surface Structure)


Someone distracted me. (Active) (Deep Structure)

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
S

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Tense

V NP2

Past

Someone distracted me

TS: NP1 + Past + V + NP2.

Someone distracted me.

39
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

A letter could have been sent. (Passive) (Surface Structure)

Someone could have sent a letter. (Active) (Deep Structure)

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Tense M Have+en

V NP2

Past

Det N

Someone could have sent a letter

TS: NP1 + Past + M + Have + en + V + NP2.


Someone could have sent a letter.

40
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

NOTE: NEGATION IS A SENTENCE MODIFIER.

A letter couldn't have been sent. (Passive) (Surface Structure)

Someone could have sent a letter. (Active) (Deep Structure)

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Tense M Have+en

V NP2

Past

Det N

Neg Someone could have sent a letter

TS: Neg + NP1 + Past + M + Have + en + V + NP2.

Someone could have sent a letter.

A letter couldn't have been sent.

41
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Note: We write (Neg) in the tree diagram and the terminal string.

She doesn't come today. (Surface Structure)

She comes today. (Deep Structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Tense

Present

Neg She comes today

TS: Neg + NP + Present + V + Time.

She comes today.

She doesn't come today.

42
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Some students haven't done their homework. (Surface Structure)

Some students have done their homework. (Deep Structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M + Have + en
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N
S

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Tense Have+en

V NP2

Det N Present

Det N

Some students have done their homework

TS: NP1 + Present + Have + en + V + NP2.

Some students have done their homework.

Some students haven't done their homework.

43
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Doesn't Edith like coffee? (Surface Structure)

Edith likes coffee. (Deep Structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV

Tense V NP2

Neg Q Edith Present likes coffee

TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + Present + V + NP2.

Edith likes coffee.

Doesn't Edith like coffee?

NOTE: NEGATION AND QUESTION ARE SENTENCE MODIFIERS.

44
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Isn't Cathy washing the dishes in the kitchen now? (Surface Structure)

Cathy is washing the dishes in the kitchen now. (Deep Structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place + Time
Aux Tense + Be + ing
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Place Time

Tense Be+ing V NP2

Present Det N

Neg Q Cathy is washing the dishes in the kitchen now

TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + Present + Be + ing + V + NP2 + Place + Time.


Cathy is washing the dishes in the kitchen now.
Isn't Cathy washing the dishes in the kitchen now?

45
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

He has not been teaching English recently. (Surface Structure)


He has been teaching English recently. (Deep Structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2 Time
Tense Have+en Be+ing

Present

Neg He has been teaching English recently

TS: Neg + NP1 + Present + Have + en + Be + ing + V + NP2 + Time.


He has been teaching English recently.
He has not been teaching English recently.

46
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Couldn't that book have been forgotten on the shelf? (Surface Structure)

Someone could have forgotten that book on the shelf. (Deep Structure)

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense + M + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2 Place
Tense M Have+en

Past Det N

Neg Q Someone could have forgotten that book on the shelf

TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + M + Have + en + V + NP2 + Place.

Someone could have forgotten that book on the shelf.

Couldn't that book have been forgotten on the shelf?

47
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Q-Derive the deep structure of the following sentences, then write the TS
(drawing the tree diagram is NOT obligatory)

1. Anita was not driven to the theatre last night.


Deep Structure:
Someone drove Anita to the theatre last night.
Terminal String:
Neg-NP1-Past-V-NP2-Place-Time.

2. The document had not been released in the court last week.
Deep Structure:
Someone had released the document in the court last week.
Terminal String:
Neg-NP1-Past-Have+en-V-NP2-Place-Time.

3. Are the grapes picked in September?


Deep Structure:
Someone picks the grapes in September.
Terminal String:
Q-NP1-Present-V-NP2-Time.

4. Bad advice was given.


Deep Structure:
Someone gave bad advice.
Terminal String:
NP1-Past-V-NP2.

5. Pistachio nuts are not grown in the garden.


Deep Structure:
Someone grows pistachio nuts in the garden.
Terminal String:
Neg-NP1-Present-V-NP2- Place.

6. His bike could not have been stolen.


Deep Structure:
Someone could have stolen his bike.
Terminal String:
Neg-NP1-Past-M- Have+en-V-NP2.

7. The hall is not being painted now.


Deep Structure:
Someone is painting the hall now.
Terminal String:
Neg-NP1-Present-Be+ing-V-NP2-Time.

48
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Q-Extract the deep structure of the following sentences, then write the TS
(drawing the tree diagram is obligatory)

1. Aren’t you singing in your room?


Deep Structure:
You are singing in your room.
Terminal String:
Neg-Q-NP1-Present-Be+ing-V-Place.

2. Are the roads cleaned once a week?


Deep Structure:
Someone cleans the roads once a week.
Terminal String:
Q-NP1-Present-V-NP2-Time.

3. The payment has not been made.


Deep Structure:
Someone has made the payment.
Terminal String:
Neg-NP1-Present-Have+en-V-NP2.

4. Wasn’t the criminal arrested last month?


Deep Structure:
Someone arrested the criminal last month.
Terminal String:
Neg-Q-NP1-Past-V-NP2-Time.

5. Your shirts might have been ironed.


Deep Structure:
Someone might have ironed your shirts.
Terminal String:
NP1-Past-M-Have+en-V-NP2.

6. My car was not being cleaned.


Deep Structure:
Someone was cleaning my car.
Terminal String:
Neg-NP1-Past-Be+ing-V-NP2.

7. Have not the guests forgotten the appointment?


Deep Structure:
The guests have forgotten the appointment.
Terminal String:
Neg-Q-NP1-Present-Have+en-V-NP2.

49
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Anita was not driven to the theatre last night.


Deep Structure: Someone drove Anita to the theatre last night.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 +VP
VP Aux + MV + Place + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Place Time
Tense V NP2

Past

Neg Someone drove Anita to the theatre last night

Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + Place + Time.

Someone drove Anita to the theatre last night.

Anita was not driven to the theatre last night.

50
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The document had not been released in the court last week.
Deep Structure: Someone had released the document in the court last week.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place + Time
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Place Time
Tense Have+en V NP2

Det N

Past

Neg Someone had released the document in the court last week

Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Past + Have + en + V + NP2 + Place + Time.


Someone had released the document in the court last week.
The document had not been released in the court last week.

51
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Are the grapes picked in September?


Deep Structure: Someone picks the grapes in September.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2 Time
Tense

Present Det N

Q Someone picks the grapes in September

Terminal String: Q + NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Time.


Someone picks the grapes in September.
Are the grapes picked in September?

52
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Bad advice was given.


Deep Structure: Someone gave bad advice.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense

Past

Someone gave bad advice

Terminal String: NP1 + Past + V + NP2.


Someone gave bad advice.
Bad advice was given.

53
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Pistachio nuts are not grown in the garden.


Deep Structure: Someone grows pistachio nuts in the garden.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Place

Tense

V NP2

Present

Someone grows pistachio nuts in the garden

Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Place.


Someone grows pistachio nuts in the garden.
Pistachio nuts are not grown in the garden.

54
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

His bike could not have been stolen.


Deep Structure: Someone could have stolen his bike.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense M Have+en

Past Det N

Neg Someone could have stolen his bike

Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Past + M + Have + en + V + NP2.


Someone could have stolen his bike.
His bike could not have been stolen.

55
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The hall is not being painted now.


Deep Structure: Someone is painting the hall now.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + Be + ing
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2 Time
Tense Be+ing

Present Det N

Neg Someone is painting the hall now

Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Present + Be + ing + V + NP2 + Time.

Someone is painting the hall now.


The hall is not being painted now.

56
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Aren’t you singing in your room?


Deep Structure: You are singing in your room.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense + Be + ing
Tense Present
MV V

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V Place
Tense Be+ing

Present

Neg Q You are singing in your room

Terminal String: Neg + Q + NP1 + Present + Be + ing + V + Place.


You are singing in your room.
Aren’t you singing in your room?

57
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Are the roads cleaned once a week?


Deep Structure: Someone cleans the roads once a week.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2 Time
Tense

Present

Det N

Q Someone cleans the roads once a week

Terminal String: Q + NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Time.


Someone cleans the roads once a week.
Are the roads cleaned once a week?

58
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The payment has not been made.


Deep Structure: Someone has made the payment.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense Have+en

Present

Det N

Neg Someone has made the payment

Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Present + Have + en + V + NP2.


Someone has made the payment.
The payment has not been made.

59
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Wasn’t the criminal arrested last month?


Deep Structure: Someone arrested the criminal last month.
S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP Time
Tense

Det N

Past

Neg Q Someone arrested the criminal last month

Terminal String: Neg + Q + NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + Time.


Someone arrested the criminal last month.
Wasn’t the criminal arrested last month?

60
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Your shirts might have been ironed.


Deep Structure: Someone might have ironed your shirts.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense M Have+en

Det N

Past

Someone might have ironed your shirts

Terminal String: NP1 + Past + M + Have + en + V + NP2.


Someone might have ironed your shirts.
Your shirts might have been ironed.

61
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

My car was not being cleaned.


Deep Structure: Someone was cleaning my car.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Be + ing
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense Be+ing

Past

Det N

Neg Someone was cleaning my car

Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Past + Be + ing + V + NP2.


Someone was cleaning my car.
My car was not being cleaned.

62
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Have not the guests forgotten the appointment?


Deep Structure: The guests have forgotten the appointment.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP
Tense Have+en

Det N Det N

Present

Neg Q The guests have forgotten the appointment

Terminal String: Neg + Q + NP1 + Present + Have + en + V + NP2.


The guests have forgotten the appointment.
Have not the guests forgotten the appointment?

63
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

(1) Derive the deep structure of the following sentences, then write the TS
(drawing the tree diagram is NOT obligatory) (choose FIVE only)

1. He had not written three books.


DS: He had written three books.
TS: Neg + NP1 + Past + Have + en + V + NP2.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense Have+en

Det N

Past

Neg He had written three books

He had not written three books.


DS: He had written three books.
TS: Neg + NP1 + Past + Have + en + V + NP2.

64
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

2. A workman will repair the computer tomorrow.


DS: A workman will repair the computer tomorrow.
TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2 + Time.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + M
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Tense M V NP2

Det N

Present Det N

A workman will repair the computer tomorrow

A workman will repair the computer tomorrow.


DS: A workman will repair the computer tomorrow.
TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2 + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

3. Is not the road being repaired now?


DS: Someone is repairing the road now.
TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + Present + Be + ing + V + NP2 + Time.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + Be + ing
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Tense Be+ing V NP2

Present Det N

Neg Q Someone is repairing the road now

Is not the road being repaired now?


DS: Someone is repairing the road now.
TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + Present + Be + ing + V + NP2 + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

4. The brochure will be finished next month.


DS: Someone will finish the brochure next month.
TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2 + Time.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + M
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Tense M V NP2

Present Det N

Someone will finish the brochure next month

The brochure will be finished next month.


DS: Someone will finish the brochure next month.
TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2 + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

5. Sally did not open a shop.


DS: Sally opened a shop.
TS: Neg + NP1 + Past + V + NP2.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV

Tense V NP2

Past Det N

Neg Sally opened a shop

Sally did not open a shop.


DS: Sally opened a shop.
TS: Neg + NP1 + Past + V + NP2.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

6. Does the waitress serve breakfast at 7 o'clock?


DS: The waitress serves breakfast at 7 o'clock
TS: Q + NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Time.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Tense V NP2

Det N

Present

Q The waitress serves breakfast at 7 o'clock

Does the waitress serve breakfast at 7 o'clock?


DS: The waitress serves breakfast at 7 o'clock.
TS: Q + NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

(2) Extract the deep structure of the following sentences, then write TS
(drawing the tree diagram is obligatory) (choose FIVE only)

1. Tourists don't visit this museum in winter.


DS: Tourists visit this museum in winter.
TS: NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Time.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Tense V NP2

Det N

Present

Neg Tourists visit this museum in winter

Tourists don't visit this museum in winter.


DS: Tourists visit this museum in winter.
TS: NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Time.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

2. Should not you take these tablets in the morning?


DS: you should take these tablets in the morning.
TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + Past + M + V + NP2 + Time.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Tense M V NP2

Past Det N

Neg Q you should take these tablets in the morning

Should not you take these tablets in the morning?


DS: you should take these tablets in the morning.
TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + Past + M + V + NP2 + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

3. You must wash coloured clothes separately.


DS: You must wash coloured clothes separately.
TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2 + Manner.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Manner
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Manner

Tense V NP2

Det N

Present M

You must wash coloured clothes separately

You must wash coloured clothes separately.


DS: You must wash coloured clothes separately.
TS: NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2 + Manner.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

4. Many parents did not influence their children strongly.


DS: Many parents influenced their children strongly.
TS: Neg + NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + Manner.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV + Manner
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Manner

Tense V NP2
Det N

Past Det N

Neg Many parents influenced their children strongly

Many parents did not influence their children strongly.


DS: Many parents influenced their children strongly.
TS: Neg + NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + Manner.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

5. John Higgs was awarded a science prize last month.


DS: Someone awarded John Higgs a science prize last month.
TS: NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + NP3 + Time.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2 + NP3
NP3 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Tense V NP2 NP3

Past Det1 Det2 N

Someone awarded John Higgs a science prize last month

John Higgs was awarded a science prize last month.


DS: Someone awarded John Higgs a science prize last month.
TS: NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + NP3 + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

6. Is Omicron unstoppable now?


DS: Omicron is unstoppable now.
TS: Q + NP1 + Present + Be + Adj + Time.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV Be + AP
S

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Tense Be AP

Present

Q Omicron is unstoppable now

Is Omicron unstoppable now?


DS: Omicron is unstoppable now.
TS: Q + NP1 + Present + Be + Adj + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Draw trees of the following sentences:

1. Lois might be upstairs.

S Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M
Tense Past
MV Be + Place

Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV

Be Place
Tense M

Past

Lois might be upstairs

TS: NP1 + Past + M + Be + Place.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

2. Evidently, she had read the magazine reluctantly.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Manner
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Manner

V NP2
Tense Have+en

Det N

Past

Evidently he had read the report reluctantly

TS: SM + NP1 + Past + Have + en + V + NP2 + Manner.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

3. That president must have lacked courage.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

Det N

V NP2
Tense M Have+en

Present

That president must have lacked courage

TS: NP1 + Present + M + Have + en + V + NP2.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

4. Danny could have been repairing the clock.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N
S

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV

V NP2
Tense M Have+en Be+ing

Det N

Past

Danny could have been repairing the clock

TS: NP1 + Past + M + Have + en + Be + ing + V + NP2.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

5. The members would have chosen the leader then.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + M + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Det N Tense M Have+en

V NP2

Past

Det N

The members would have chosen the leader then

TS: NP1 + Past + M + Have + en + V + NP2 + Time.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

6. Harold might have been sitting in his room.

S Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense + M + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Past
MV V

Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Place

Tense M Have+en Be+ing

Past

Harold might have been sitting in his room

TS: NP + Past + M + Have + en + Be + ing + V + Place.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

7. They had gone to the mall.

S Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Past
MV V

Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Place

Tense Have+en

Past

They had gone to the mall

TS: NP + Past + Have + en + V + Place.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

8. He will be a minister next week.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + M
Tense Present
MV Be + NP2
NP2 Det + N

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Tense M Be NP2

Present Det N

He will be a minister next week

TS: NP1 + Present + M + Be + NP2 + Time.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

9. Yes, Murphy has been very quiet recently.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + M + Have + en
Tense Present
MV Be + AP
AP Intensifier + Adj

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Tense Have+en Be AP

Intens Adj

Present

Yes Murphy has been very quiet recently

TS: SM + NP + Present + Have + en + Be + AP + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

10. The firemen will be having trouble soon.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense + M + Be + ing
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Time

Det N Tense M Be+ing V NP2

Present

The firemen will be having trouble soon

TS: NP1 + Present + M + Be + ing + V + NP2 + Time.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Q/ Choose the correct sentence that best fits the given formula:

1. NP + present + M + have + en + be + place


a. The sheep must have been in the field .
b. The kids must have been eating.
c. People could have been running in the rain.

2. NP + past + have + en + V + NP
a. We will have caught him.
b. The students had nominated Sue.
c. We are electing him.

3. NP + past + M + V + NP
a. Cathy should use the phone.
b. The bus will hit the boy.
c. He could sing in the party.

4. NP + present + M + have + en + be + ing + V + place


a. Jane is in the party.
b. Jack will have been running in the house.
c. She must have been washing the dishes.

5. NP + past + M + have + en + be + NP
a. He was the landlord.
b. Everybody had gone home.
c. They would have been conservatives.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Extract the deep structure of the following sentences, then write the TS. (drawing
the tree diagram is obligatory)

1. My uncle does not visit his house in the countryside.


Deep Structure: My uncle visits his house in the countryside.
Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Place.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Place

Det N Tense V NP2

Present Det N

Neg My uncle visits his house in the countryside

DS: My uncle visits his house in the countryside.


TS: Neg + NP1 + Present + V + NP2 + Place.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

2. Should not you take these pills in the evening?

Deep Structure: you should take these pills in the evening.


Terminal String: Neg + Q + NP1 + Past + M + V + NP2 + Time.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Time

Tense M V NP2

Past Det N

Neg Q you should take these pills in the evening

DS: you should take these pills in the evening.


TS: Neg + Q + NP1 + Past + M + V + NP2 + Time.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

3. Many teachers did not influence their students positively.

Deep Structure: Many teachers influenced their students positively.


Terminal String: Neg + NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + Manner.

S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV + Manner
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Manner

Tense V NP2
Det N

Past Det N

Neg Many teachers influenced their students positively

DS: Many teachers influenced their students positively.


TS: Neg + NP1 + Past + V + NP2 + Manner.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Q/ Write the formula for each of the sentences below, make the addition Or
deletion that is called for, and write the resulting sentence.

Example:
Sally was playing.
NP + Past + Be + ing + play
Add have + en:
NP + Past + Have + en + Be + ing + play
Sally had been playing.

1. I ate then. (Add be + ing)


NP + Past + V + Time.
I was eating then.
NP + Past + Be + ing + V + Time.

2. They drank the wine. (Add will)


NP + Past + V + NP2.
They would drink the wine.
NP + Past + M + V + NP2.

3. We had gone to the shop. (Delete have + en)


NP + Past + Have + en + V + Place.
We went to the shop.
NP + Past + V + Place.

4. You could have listened to me. (Add be + ing)


NP + Past + M + Have + en + V + Place.
You could have been listening to me.
NP + Past + M + Have + en + Be + ing + V + Place.

5. They might be disappointed. (Delete may)


NP + Past + M + Be + AP.
They were disappointed.
NP + Past + Be + AP.

6. Sam was telling a lie. (Add have + en)


NP + Past + Be + ing + V+ NP2.
Sam had been telling a lie.
NP + Past + Have + en + Be + ing + V + NP2.

7. You could have been repairing the clock. (Delete be + ing)


NP + Past + M + Have + en + Be + ing + V + NP2.
You could have repaired the clock.
NP + Past + M + Have + en + V + NP2.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

8. I was going. (Add shall)


NP + Past + Be + ing + V.
I should be going.
NP + Past + M + Be + ing + V.

9. I could see him well. (Delete can)


NP + Past + M + V + NP2 + Manner.
I saw him well.
NP + Past + V + NP2 + Manner.

10. The waitress must be laughing at us. (Add have + en)


NP + Present + M + Be + ing + V + Place.
The waitress must have been laughing at us.
NP + Present + M + Have + en + Be + ing + V + Place.

Q/ Give a sentence that best fits the given formula:


NP + Past + M + V + place.
Ali could play in the garden.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Chapter Four Lexical Features

Lexical Features of Nouns

Nouns

+ common - common

+ concrete - concrete

+ count - count + count - count

+ animate - animate + animate - animate

+ human - human

+ masculine - masculine + masculine - masculine

Note: - common nouns = proper nouns [e.g. John, Iraq, Asia…etc.]

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Noun Features Noun Features


+ Noun + noun
+ common - common
+ concrete
+ count Edith
boy + animate
+ human
+ masculine
Noun Features Noun Features
+ Noun + noun
+ common + common
table + concrete
flower + concrete
+ count + count
- animate - animate
Noun Features Noun Features
+ Noun + noun
note - concrete happiness + common
+ count - concrete
- animate - count

Q/ Give the features of the boldfaced words:

1. The monkey chewed the food slowly.


2. A student coughed loudly.
3. Bob handed a ruler to me.
4. The accident occurred suddenly.
5. The bull attacked the man.

Sentence Noun Feature


number
+ noun
+ common
Monkey + concrete
+ count
+ animate
- human
1 +/- masculine
+ noun
+ common
Food + concrete
- count
- animate

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+ noun
+ common
2 Student + concrete
+ count
+ animate
+ human
+/- masculine
Bob + noun
- common
+ noun
3 + common
Ruler + concrete
+ count
- animate
+ noun
4 Accident + common
- concrete
+ count
+ noun
+ common
+ concrete
Bull + count
+ animate
- human
5 + masculine
+ noun
+ common
+ concrete
Man + count
+ animate
+ human
+ masculine

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Verb Features

Transitive
Verbs
Intransitive

Transitive verb: it permits a following noun phrase NP.


Those verbs who have a following NP will be listed or will have the feature:
+
[ NP]

E.g.:

He shot a rabbit.

I waxed the car. [+ NP ]

John tore the page.

He killed the thief.

She cleans the room.

I brought a car.

She left the city.

[+ NP ]

The verb permits

Verb NP/object

E.g.:

An event occurred.

She died.

She travelled.

She graduated.

He fled.

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-
Note: verbs with the feature [ NP] may be followed by nothing or by optional
adverbials.

E.g.:

-
The nurse was sleeping. [ NP]
-
The nurse was sleeping calmly. [ NP]

Note: some intransitive verbs must be followed by adverbials if the sentence is to be


grammatical.

E.g.:

We lay there.

obligatory

-
[ NP]
[+ Place]

He glanced at the clock.

-
[ NP]
[+ Place]

I stepped in the mud.

-
[ NP]
[+ Place]

Note: there are also transitive verbs that must have adverbials of place following the NP.

E.g.:

She set the book there.

+
[ NP]
[+ Place]

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/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The doctor laid the bag on the shelf.

+
[ NP]
[+ Place]
+
[ NP Place]

A door sneezed.
The coffee prayed.
The umbrella coughed.

coffee, door, umbrella--------inanimate/ - human


sneezed, prayed, coughed---------animate/ + human

These sentences are unacceptable because the subject noun phrases are non-human and
the verb requires human subject.

The man sneezed.


The lady prayed.
The child coughed.

Note: it's very important to our grammar whether a noun names a human or not.

Note: verbs that do not permit nonhuman subject have the feature:

[ - [ - human] ]

It's not allowed

to put noun feature the verb

it means: it's not allowed to put the noun--------before the verb-------.

Q/ Explain why the following sentences are ungrammatical or odd?

Q/ Use features to explain why the following sentences are ungrammatical or odd?

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/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

* The street bit me.

Street [ - animate]

bit [- [ - animate] ]

The verb (bite) doesn't allow [– animate] noun to be the subject.

* The chair tasted the soup.

Chair [ - animate]

Tasted [- [ - animate] ]

The verb (Taste) doesn't allow [– animate] noun to be the subject.

-Both human and animals can bite, taste, run, etc.

So we use [- [ - animate] ]

Instead of [- [ - human] ]

Note: verbs that do not permit inanimate subject have the feature: [- [ - animate] ]

* His curiosity lay on the bed.

Curiosity [ - concrete]

lay [ - [ - concrete] ]

The verb (lay) doesn't allow [ - concrete] noun to be the subject.

* Pettiness tasted good.

Pettiness [ - concrete]

taste [ - [ - concrete] ]

The verb (taste) doesn't allow [ - concrete] noun to be the subject.

Note: verbs that do not permit [ - concrete] subject have the feature: [ - [ - concrete] ]

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* A snake occurred

Snake [ + concrete]
occur [ - [ + concrete] ]
The verb (occur) doesn't allow [ + concrete] noun to be the subject.

* Six dogs elapsed

dogs [ + concrete]
elapse [ - [ + concrete] ]
The verb (elapse) doesn't allow [ + concrete] noun to be the subject.

Note: verbs that do not permit [ + concrete] subject have the feature:

[ - [ + concrete] ]

99
University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Q/ Draw the tree diagram for the following sentences?

-That singer must have lacked courage.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
NP1 Det + N
VP Aux + MV
Aux Tense + M + Have + en
Tense Present
MV V + NP2

Np Vp

Det N Aux MV

Tense M Have+en V NP2

That singer Present must have lacked courage

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-Yes, Harry might have been studying in his room.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense + M + Have + en + Be + ing
Tense Past
MV V

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Place

V
Tense M Have+en Be+ing

Past

Yes Harry might have been studying in his room

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

- They went to the mall.

S Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV V

Nuc

NP VP

Aux MV Place

Tense

Past

They went to the mall

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Q/ Write the features of these nouns?

monkey-hen-curiosity-poverty-water-eraser.

Monkey Hen Curiosity Poverty Water Eraser


Name + + + + + +
Common + + + + + +
Concrete + + - - + +
Count + + - - - +
Animate + + -
Human - -
Masculine -/+ -

Q/ Write the sentences. Then make the addition Or deletion that is called for:
1- NP + Past + be + ing + V (Add have + en)
I was playing.
I had been playing.
2- NP1 + Present + V + NP2 (Add Modal)
I play tennis.
I can play tennis.
3- NP1 + Present + M + V + NP2 (Add be + ing)
I must play tennis.
I must be playing tennis.
4- NP1 + Present + M + have + en + be + ing + V + Place (Omit have + en)
I must have been playing in the garden.
I must be playing in the garden.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Exercises 40
A. Use features to explain why the following sentences are ungrammatical:
1. *The perseverance is a virtue.
DETERMINER AND NOUN RESTRICTIONS
This sentence is ungrammatical because
Perseverance is [- concrete] [- count]
[- concrete] [- count] nouns do not take (the)
An abstract noun do not take a determiner.
2. *He has read book.
This sentence is ungrammatical because
Book is [ + count] [ - plural]
Book is [ + count] which must take a determiner (a/an/the).
a count noun must take a determiner.
3. *A birds flew into the room.
Ungrammatical because the noun birds is [+ count] [ + plural]
[+ plural] noun doesn't take (a) because (a) indicates a singular noun.
4. *Despair dropped to the floor.
The verb doesn't permit [- concrete] to be the subject.
[- [ - concrete] ] [- [ - animate] ]
Drop [+ concrete] [+ animate] [+ human]
5. *The eagle prayed for an hour.
The verb (pray) does not permit [- human] subject before it.
pray [- [ - human] ]
6. *They handed the book.
hand is a ditransitive verb.
we need 2 NP
hand NP to NP.
I handed her a book
Oi Od
I handed a book to her.
[+ NP1 NP2]
They handed the book to someone.
+
hand [ NP Place]
7. *We vanished the spot.
-
because the verb (vanish) is intransitive [ Np].
8. *The tree coughed loudly.
The noun (tree) is [- human].
cough [- [- animate] ]
cough [- [ - human] ]
9. *The bread dripped.
The noun (bread) is [- liquid].
drip [- [ - liquid] ]
10.*My boss elapsed.
The verb (elapse) [- human] [- concrete].
elapse [- [ + human] ]

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

B. Give the features of the boldfaced words:


1. The monkey chewed the food slowly.

monkey food
Noun + +
Human - -
Concrete + +
Count + -
Animate + -
Common + +

+
Chew [ Np]
Chew [ - [ - human] ]

2. A student coughed loudly.

Student
noun +
human +
concrete +
count +
animate +
common +

Cough [ - NP]
Cough [ - [ - human] ]
Cough [ - [ - animate] ]

3. He glanced at the water.

water
noun +
human -
concrete +
count -
animate -
common +

- +
Glance[ NP] [ Place]

4. Bob handed a ruler to me.

Bob ruler
noun + +
human + -

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

concrete + +
count + +
animate + -
common + +
+ +
hand [ NP NP] or [ NP Place]

5. The accident occurred yesterday.

accident
noun +
human -
concrete +
count +
animate -
common +

Occur [ - NP]

C. Examine the following sentences and decide why some of them are
ungrammatical. What generalizations can you make about much, many, fewer, and
less?
1. Much energy was spent on this project. 
2. Many apples were in the basket. 
3. *Much children were in the room. 
Children [ + count]
Many children were in the room. 
4. *Many dandruff was in his hair. 
Dandruff [ - count]
Much dandruff was in his hair. 
5. *He ate less apples than I did. 
Apples [ + count]
He ate fewer apples than I did. 
6. He has fewer friends than I have. 
7. She has less confidence than Jane has. 
8. *He has fewer poise than I. 
Poise [ - count]
He has less poise than I. 

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Final Exam
Q1. Generate the following sentences using Phrase Structure rules and tree
diagrams: (20 marks)

1. Evidently, they have read the report reluctantly.


S SM + Nuc
Nuc NP1 + VP
VP Aux + MV + Manner
Aux Tense + Have + en
Tense Present
MV V + NP2
NP2 Det + N

SM Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Manner

V NP2
Tense Have+en

Det N

Present

Evidently they have read the report reluctantly

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

2. The guests were very happy at the party last night.

S Nuc
Nuc NP + VP
VP Aux + MV + Place + Time
Aux Tense
Tense Past
MV Be + AP
NP Det + N
AP Intensifier + Adj

Nuc

NP1 VP

Aux MV Place Time

Det N

Tense Be AP

Past Intens Adj

The guests were very happy at the party last night

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Q2. Explain this rule with examples? (10 marks)

-PSR 6: MV NP
Be AP
Place

V (NP)

This rule says that an MV is to be rewritten as any one of the following structures:
1- be + NP (This book is a text.)
2- be + place (she is in the car.)
3- be + AP (Adjectival Phrase) (she was very rude.)
4- V (John ran.)
5- V + NP (Bill sold the tickets.)
This means that the choices of this rule are:
1- MV be + NP---- He is a teacher.
2- MV be + Place----- He is at home.
3- MV be + AP------- He is clever.
4- MV V---- She laughed.
5- MV V + NP ------ I bought a car.

Q3. The transformationalist is concerned with system not actual speech. Explain?
(10 marks)
Starting formally in 1957 with the publication of Noam Chomsky’s Syntactic Structures,
a new approach to the study of language was inaugurated. This newer grammar has gone
under various names: generative, transformational, generative-transformational, and
transformational-generative. This is the kind of grammar presented in this book, and the
term transformational is used for consistency and brevity. Scholars have been so
impressed by the importance and potential of transformational grammar that since 1957
the majority of published studies of English syntax have used this approach. During the
past ten years there have been many developments in transformational grammar, and
there will certainly be more in the future. Almost every aspect of language is still being
examined. There is so much controversy among linguists that many people use the plural
in speaking of transformational grammars:; there is no single transformational grammar
which is accepted by all scholars in the field. Nevertheless, there are many ideas which
most transformationalists do accept.
The transformational grammarian is not content with describing what he finds in a
corpus of sentences collected from native speakers. He feels that his grammar should
enable one to produce all the sentences of a language, and he is as interested in possible
sentences as he is in the ones actually recorded. Since the number of possible sentences
in English or any other language is infinite, no one could have heard all of them. Yet
native speakers of English understand new sentences such as I spilled milk in the

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

bathtub and He left his shoe polish in the refrigerator. Every day the native speaker
hears, reads, and creates new sentences, sentences which seem so ordinary that he is not
aware that they have never been used before. An adequate grammar of English should
enable a person to produce not just those sentences that have been said in the past, but
all the sentences that a native speaker is capable of creating or understanding. In
addition, the grammar should not generate sentences that a native speaker would reject,
such as
*The man horrified the door or *Boy on the roof is.
Notice the asterisk in the last two sentences. This mark is used to indicate that a sentence
or a part of a sentence is ungrammatical; that is, no native speaker of the language would
intentionally use it. By grammatical we are not referring to standard and nonstandard
usage. He ain’t going is grammatical for some people (there are native speakers who say
it), but it is nonstandard (educated speakers do not normally use it). *He not is going is
not grammatical, since no native speakers use this construction. Calling sentences like
He ain’t going and Irregardless of what you think, he taken it grammatical does not
mean that the linguist is encouraging anyone to use them when applying for a job. He is
merely restricting the meaning of the term grammatical to structures that are normally
used by native speakers of English. He refers to acceptability among various social
groups or in various contexts as usage.
The transformationalist is more concerned with the system that underlies the language
than he is with the actual speech of an individual at any given time. All speakers
occasionally stammer, make false starts, use wrong words, get words out of order, and
change constructions in midcourse.
In addition, speech may be affected by physical surroundings, emotions, memory
limitations, distractions, or other features such as chewing gum in the mouth of the
speaker. It is language (the underlying system), not actual speech output, that is of
primary interest to the transformationalist. Another way of stating this is to say that he is
interested in the speaker’s competence, or knowledge of the language, rather than in his
performance, or actual use of it.
In some respects transformational grammar is similar to traditional grammar.
Transformational grammar assigns each sentence an underlying structure that is called a
deep structure. Some traditional grammars used a similar concept in speaking of
“understood” elements. For example, they said that Tom is taller than I has the
underlying form Tom is taller than I am tall and that imperative sentences such as Come
here have an understood subject you. Transformational grammarians agree, but apply
this idea of underlying structure to every sentence and express it in a more abstract form
than traditional grammarians did.
As transformationalists began studying deep structures, they noticed that languages
which are quite different on the surface often show many similar features in their deep
structures. Some linguists are now investigating the possibility that there is a universal
deep structure underlying all languages. Sentences having this universal deep structure
are converted into the sentences of particular languages by a process known as
transformation.* Although this line of investigation is new and offers almost limitless
possibilities for further research, enough discussions of it have been either published or
presented as papers at professional meetings to make the idea of a universal deep
structure seem plausible. It will probably be several years before we understand
universal deep structure well enough to incorporate information about it into an
introductory text. A slightly earlier concept has, therefore, been adopted for this text.

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University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English / Fourth Year
/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

The term deep structure will be used to refer to an English deep structure, not a universal
one.

Q4. Write the formula for the following sentences below and make the addition or
deletion called for: (10 marks)

1. She answered the questions. (Add be + ing)


TS: NP1 + Past + V + NP2.
She was answering the questions.

2. They may be happy now. (Delete "may")


TS: NP1 + Present + M + Be + AP + Time.
They are happy now.

3. The teacher must be watching us. (Add have + en)


TS: NP1 + Present + M + be + ing + V + NP2.
The teacher must have been watching us.

4. They have gone mad about the cheating. (Delete have + en)
TS: NP1 + Present + Have + en + V + NP2 + Place.
They went/ go mad about the cheating.

5. They could have been fixing the machine. (Delete be + ing)


TS: NP1 + Past + M + Have + en + V + NP2.
They could have fixed the machine.

Q5. A. Use features to explain why the following sentences are ungrammatical:
(choose 3) (6 marks)

1. She bought yesterday.


The verb (buy) [ + NP]
The verb (buy) must be followed by a noun phrase.

2. The cat sang for an hour.


Cat [ - human]
The verb (sing) [ - [ - human] ]
The verb (sing) does not permit [- human] subject before it.
3. She put the book.
+
The verb (put) [ NP Place]
The verb (put) must be followed by a noun phrase and a place.

4. The wall bit me.


Wall [ - animate]
The verb (bite) [ - [ - animate] ]
The verb (bite) does not permit [- animate] subject before it.

5. Much boys attended the film.

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/ First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022 /
/ Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G. /

Much [ - count]
boys [ + count]
(much) is used with non-count nouns
(boy) is countable noun
we should use many instead.

B. Give the features for the underlined words: (Choose 2) (4 marks)

1. The students wrote down the notes.


2. A cow was in the street.
3. He lacks confidence.
4. They gave him two books.

students cow confidence gave


Name + + + [ +
NP/Place]
Common + + + Or
Concrete + + -
[+ NP/NP]
Count + + -
Animate + +
Human + -
Masculine +/- -

University of Mosul / College of Arts / Department of English /


Fourth Year / First Semester / Evening Class / Grammar / 2021-2022
Lectures in Transformational Generative Grammar T.G.G./ Chapters 1-2-3-4
By Professors: Mahfoodh Mahmood &Ahmed Abdulwahid Mohammed
Prepared by: Senior Student: Afrah kalid Rashid Al-Helali

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