SYNTAX

The Ackles Broch Quassed

Gimp and Moopy were ackles.
One trafen Gimp and Moopy were
broaching quassed. Moopy poated
one of Gimp’s frapers because il
couldn’t scrop ils. Gimp posed, “Somp
op my fraper.” But Moopy wouldn’t
comp ho to ilt. So Gimp sworched to
squilt. Then, Armp deperted into the
slep. It taupled both of the ackles,
and luped em off to edsen.
SYNTAX:
the analysis of
sentence structure
-the study of the rules
governing the way words are
combined to form sentences in
a language. 3
Properties of syntactic knowledge:

a. Humans can understand and

produce an infinite number of
sentences they never heard
before.

The colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

-Noam Chomsky
 Syntax and meaning
• Non-sense sentences with clear syntax
• Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
• A verb crumpled the milk.
• I gave the question a scuba-diving egg.

• Sentences are composed of discrete units

that are combined by rules. These rules
explain how speakers can store infinite
knowledge in a finite space- brain.
Properties of syntactic knowledge:

b. Our grammar can understand and

produce long sentences.

“Bill said that he thought that the

esteemed leader of the house had it
in mind to tell the unfortunate vice
president that the calls that he
made from the office in the White
House that he thought was
private…..”
Some words seem to belong together.

The bright colors of the petals are inviting

the birds and insects to pollinate the flower.
The Pothos is trailing on the stick.

-a component that -group of words that

determines the property belong together
of the constituent

HEAD CONSTITUENTS
PHRASE
However…
Not any words in the Constituents or
Phrases can always be together.
We need lexical rules to specify which
words can be used when we rewrite
Constituents or Phrases.
 How Phrases are formed is governed by:
Phrase Structure Rules.

PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES

determine:

• …what goes into a phrase (‘constituents’)

• …how the constituents are ordered
Phrase structure rules are usually of the
form:

•meaning that the constituent A is

separated into the two sub-constituents
B and C
•E.g.

11
Example: What does an NP consist of?
“Noun phrases have a Det and a N”

Nouns can be:

–PN {Mary, George}
–N {girl, boy, dog}
–Pro

Determiners can be:

Articles
Quantifiers (number, ordinal)
Pronouns (demonstrative, possessive, indefinite, definite)
The main phrase structure rules:

1. S  NP VP
2. NP  {Det N, Pro, PN}
3. VP  V (NP) (PP) (Adv)
4. PP  P NP
5. AP  A (PP)

(where ‘()’ indicates optionality)

Sentences

•must contain an NP and a VP

The dog ate the bone.
NP VP

•May contain an auxiliary verb

The dog will eat the bone.
NP Aux VP

S NP (Aux) VP
If we look at phrases, some patterns emerge:

Noun Phrase (NP)

•John N
•the boy Det N
•a little boy Det Adj N
•a boy in the bubble Det N PP

Phrase structure rule for NPs:

NP (Det) (Adj) N (PP)
16
Verb phrase (VP)
•sang V
•ate the cake V NP
•ate the cake hungrily V NP Adv
•sang a song in the shower V NP PP
•fell into the pond slowly V PP Adv

Phrase structure rule for VPs:

VP V (NP) (PP) (Adv)

17
18
19
Prepositional phrase (PP)

•in P
•from a boy in a bubble P NP PP

Phrase structure rule for PPs:

PP P (NP)

20
21
Adjective Phrase (AdjP)

•pretty Adj
•pretty in pink Adj (PP)

Phrase structure rule for AdjPs:

AdjP Adj (PP)

22
Adverb Phrase (AdvP)

•slowly Adv
•slowly through the fire Adv (PP)

Phrase structure rule for AdvPs:

AdvP Adv (PP)

23
24
 The drunken sailor saluted the puzzled cat

NP VP

art adj N V NP

The drunken sailor saluted art adj N

the puzzled cat

 Phrase Structure Rules & tree
diagrams
• NP  (Det) N
• PP  P NP

The boy (NP) the boy in the yard

NP
Det N Det N PP

The boy P NP

Det N

The boy in the yard

 Phrase Structure Rules

• VP  V (NP) (PP)
• S  NP VP

took the money (VP) took the money from the bank
VP
V NP V NP PP
Det N
Det N P NP
took the money
Det N

took the money from the bank

 The old tree swayed in the wind
S

NP VP

Det Adj N V PP

P NP

Det N

The old tree swayed in the wind

 The children put the toy in the box
S

NP VP

Det N V NP PP

Det N P NP

Det N

The children put the toy in the box

 Exercises
• Locate the principal NP and VP.

a)  Miriam swims.
b)  The dog is barking.
c)  Peter told the truth.
d)  The wicked witch spilled the potion.
e)  The runner with the best time won the prize.
 Exercises
• What category is the leader for
each phrase?
a.  ancient pyramids
b.  in the early evening
c.  drove a car
 Exercises
• Draw phrase structure trees for the following
sentences:

1. The puppy found the child.

2. The ice melted.
3. The hot sun melted the ice.
4. The house on the hill collapsed in the wind.
5. A girl laughed at the monkey.
BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS

• S-V • S-IV
• S-V-O • S-TV-DO
• S-V-C • S-LV-SC
• S-V-O-O • S-TV-IO-DO
• S-V-O-C • S-TV-DO-OC
 “The World is an Apple”
S LV SC

This is a story by Alberto Florentino.

S LV SC AC

Mario gained a lot of money from stealing.

S TV DO A
One day, Mario stole. He stole an apple for
S IV S TV DO

her daughter. Gloria consider that incident a

IO S TV DO

misfortune for the family.

OC IO
Why do we study
syntax?
 To create variety.

Last night was a meaningful event. The host was so dynamic. The audience was
entertained. The parents were emotional. The children were inspired. The staff was
very accommodating. Each of the members of the group was excited to perform.
 The event held at the Auditorium was indeed a meaningful one. When the host started
speaking, everybody paid attention. Then the children were asked to give their heartfelt messages
to their parents, where the parents then got emotional. Everybody cannot also forgot how
accommodating the staff was when they were always ready to serve and provide all our needs.
 “This sentence has five words. Here are five more
words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together
become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing
is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck
record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the
sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings.
It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short
sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And
sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will
engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a
sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the
impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of
the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important”.
--Gary Provost
So write with a combination of short, medium, and long
sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t
just write words. Write music.
To correct and improve sentence structur

Last night a meaningful event. The host was so. was

entertained. The children suprised, the staff was very
accommodating and they are fun to be with.
 To improve reading comprehension

Last night was considered a meaningful event because everybody was able to gain
learning experiences from the host, who was so dynamic; the group, who showed skilled
performances; the parents, who got emotional when their children gave inspiring
messages; and the staff, who accommodated each of the participants very well.