1Psych 56L/ Ling 51:Acquisition of LanguageLecture 11Development of Syntax & Morphology IAnnouncementsNo office hours on 11/18/08 - sorry! Please email if youneed to discuss anything with me or Jacquece.Reminder: Homework 2 due in class on Wednesday11/12/08.Adult Knowledge: The Target StateSyntaxCreativity of Human LanguageAbility to combine signs with simple meanings to create(1) Utterances with complex meanings(2) Novel expressions(3) Infinitely manySentences never heard before...“Some tulips are starting to samba onthe chessboard.”Sentences of prodigious length...“Hoggle said that he thought that the odiferous leader of thegoblins had it in mind to tell the unfortunate princess thatthe cries that she made during her kidnapping from thenearby kingdom of Dirindwell that the goblins themselvesthought was a general waste of countryside ...”2An Account That Won’t Work“You just string words together in an order that makessense”In other words...“Syntax is determined by Meaning”(The way words are put together is determined solely bywhat they mean)Syntax is More than MeaningNonsense sentences with clear syntaxColorless green ideas sleep furiously. (Chomsky)A verb crumpled the ocean.I gave the question a goblin-shimmying egg.…which are incomprehensible when the syntax is nonsense*Furiously sleep ideas green colorless.Ocean the crumpled verb a.*The question I an egg goblin-shimmying gave.Famous nonsense sentences with clear syntax‘Twas brillig and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe;All mimsy were the borogroves,And the mome raths outgrabeBeware the Jabberwock, my son!The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jujub bird, and shunThe frumious Bandersnatch!”Lewis Carroll, JabberwockySyntax is More than MeaningSyntax is More than Meaning'It seems very pretty,' she said when she hadfinished it, 'but it's RATHER hard to understand!'(You see she didn't like to confess, ever toherself, that she couldn't make it out at all.)'Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas --only I don't exactly know what they are!However, SOMEBODY killed SOMETHING:that's clear, at any rate -- '3And these same nonsense sentences with nonsensesyntax are incomprehensible…‘Toves slithy the and brillig ‘twaswabe the in gimble and gyre did...Syntax is More than MeaningUngrammatical sentences that make perfect senseJareth put the cape on.Jareth put on the cape.Jareth put it on.*Jareth put on it.Syntax is More than MeaningUngrammatical sentences that make perfect senseSarah gave a ring to the Wiseman.Sarah gave him a ring.Sarah donated a ring to the Wiseman.*Sarah donated him a ring.Syntax is More than MeaningUngrammatical sentences that make perfect senseJareth made Hoggle leave.Jareth let Hoggle leave.Jareth saw Hoggle leave.*Jareth wanted Hoggle leave.*Jareth made Hoggle to leave.*Jareth let Hoggle to leave.*Jareth saw Hoggle to leave.Jareth wanted Hoggle to leave.Syntax is More than Meaning4Cross-language VariationIf syntax was entirely determined by meaning, then we shouldnot expect to find syntactic differences between languages ofthe world….but we do see variation.English: Sarah sees that book.Korean: Sarah ku chayk poata. Sarah that book seeSyntax is More than MeaningCross-language VariationIf syntax was entirely determined by meaning, then we shouldnot expect to find syntactic differences between languages ofthe world….but we do see variation.English:Baso put the money in the cupboard.Selayarese (spoken in Indonesia): Lataroi doe injo ri lamari injo i Baso.put money the in cupboard the BasoSyntax is More than MeaningSo…what does determinehow you string words together?Answer: Syntax!(That is, our knowledge of the possible forms of sentences inour language.)“Syntax is determined by Meaning”(The way words are put together isdetermined solely by what theymean)A TemplateA sentence consists of a Noun Phrase followed by a Verb PhraseSNPVPPhrase Structure RulePhrase Structure TreeS --> NP VP5Noun PhraseVerb PhraseA TemplateHoggleThe chickenSeven goblinsSarahA feelingThe strangest storythat you ever did hearslepttricked the guardsleftsaid that Hoggle thoughtthat pixies were nastykicked the bucketgot drunk on dwarf wineNoun PhraseVerb Phrase6 SentencesA TemplateHoggleThe chickenSeven goblinsSarahA feelingThe strangest storythat you ever did hearslepttricked the guardsleftsaid that Hoggle thoughtthat pixies were nastykicked the bucketgot drunk on dwarf wineNoun PhraseVerb Phrase36 SentencesA TemplateHoggleThe chickenSeven goblinsSarahA feelingThe strangest storythat you ever did hearslepttricked the guardsleftsaid that Hoggle thoughtthat pixies were nastykicked the bucketgot drunk on dwarf wineNoun Phrase Verb PhraseNPDetNVPVNPNPNVPVA TemplateNP --> Det NNP --> NVP --> V NPVP --> V6A Tiny Little Grammar5 RulesS --> NP VPNP --> Det NNP --> NVP --> V NPVP --> V9 WordsDet: the, four, someN: goblins, crystals,peachesV: understood, ate,approached468 Sentences122,100 SentencesA Tiny Little Grammar5 RulesS --> NP VPNP --> Det NNP --> NVP --> V NPVP --> V30 WordsDet: the, four, some+ 7 moreN: goblins, crystals,peaches + 7 moreV: understood, ate,approached + 7 moreEmbedded SentencesAdditional VP RuleHoggle thought Sarah ate the peach.VP  V SLudo said Hoggle thought Sarah ate the peach.The fairy claimed Ludo said Hoggle thought Sarah ate thepeach.The Wiseman’s birdhat hoped the fairy claimed Ludo saidHoggle thought Sarah ate the peach.Sentence-inside-a-sentenceRecursionInfinitely many sentencescan be generated!ComplementizerComplementizer: words like THAT, IF, and WHETHER thatallow one sentence to be the subject or object of anothersentenceHoggle realized that Sarah ate the peach.Whether Sarah ate the peach didn’t matter.S’ → Comp SVP → V S’S → S’ VP7A Slightly Bigger Grammar9 RulesS --> NP VPS --> S’ VPNP --> Det NNP --> NVP --> V NPVP --> VVP --> V SVP --> V S’S’ --> Comp SSentences it can generate:Hoggle likes jewels.A Slightly Bigger Grammar9 RulesS --> NP VPS --> S’ VPNP --> Det NNP --> NVP --> V NPVP --> VVP --> V SVP --> V S’S’ --> Comp SSentences it can generate:Hoggle likes jewels.S --> NP VPA Slightly Bigger Grammar9 RulesS --> NP VPS --> S’ VPNP --> Det NNP --> NVP --> V NPVP --> VVP --> V SVP --> V S’S’ --> Comp SSentences it can generate:Hoggle likes jewels.S --> NP VPNP --> N VP --> V NPA Slightly Bigger Grammar9 RulesS --> NP VPS --> S’ VPNP