Slide 1Do these headlines mean the same thing?Could these sentences be used to describe the same event?Could these be English sentences?Could these sentences be interpreted in multiple ways?Can you make these sentence longer?Jabberwocky (by Lewis Carroll)What is syntax?Hierarchical structure in syntaxSlide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14Slide 15Structural ambiguityStructural ambiguityWhat do we call these groups of words within a sentence?Syntactic constituentsWhat are the constituents here?What are the constituents here?Tips for identifying syntactic constituentsTips for identifying syntactic constituentsTips for identifying syntactic constituentsIntroducing phrase structure treesSlide 26For next timeQ: Explain how this (lame) joke works.Do these headlines mean the same thing?•UFO hovering over pasture abducted cow•Cow abducted UFO hovering over pasture •UFO abducted cow hovering over pasture1 http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/homemade-ufo-usb-drive-07-08-2009/Could these sentences be used to describe the same event?•Big Foot kissed a unicorn.•A unicorn was kissed by Big Foot.•It was a unicorn that Big Foot kissed.•It was Big Foot who kissed a unicorn.•A unicorn kissed Big Foot.2http://zuill.us/andreablog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/big-foot-web.jpg•The student saw a unicorn.•A unicorn was seen by a student.•A unicorn student the saw.•Unicorns are UFOs by the bay.Could these be English sentences?3http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-monsters-in-the-bible.php/unicornCould these sentences be interpreted in multiple ways?•She read the magazine on top of the roof.•There were lots of brilliant women and men.•Benny ate the chocolate with his hands.•I bought a hotdog with sauerkraut. 6Can you make these sentence longer?•That baby has big feet.•He said that baby has big feet.•She thinks he said that baby has big feet. •He knows she thinks he said that baby has big feet.7http://philsroadbikingblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/bigfoot.htmlJabberwocky (by Lewis Carroll)`Twas brillig, and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe:All mimsy were the borogoves,And the mome raths outgrabe. Do you understand?What type of day was it?What did the toves do?Where did they do it?How were the borogoves? What type of day was it?What did the toves do?How were the borogoves? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rpCUZXLuck8What is syntax?the component of language that governs how words are put together into meaningful units (Syntax is GRAMMAR—as linguists think of it.)NB: Syntax is about descriptive rules, not prescriptive ones! 9Hierarchical structure in syntax•Like morphemes in words and phonemes in syllables, words in sentences aren’t just strung together like beads on a string, there’s HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE.How do we know this?102 important pieces of evidence…#1) Properties of syntactic rules: Rules for moving words around in sentences apply to whole phrases, not just individual words.Make this sentence passive: Professors love chocolate.Chocolate is loved by professors.Evidence for hierarchical structure11•Now make this sentence passive: Curly-haired linguistics professors from Texas love fancy dark chocolate.Fancy dark chocolate is loved by curly-haired linguistics professors from Texas. *Chocolate curly-haired linguistics from Texas is loved by professors fancy dark.Evidence for hierarchical structure12#2) Structural ambiguity: Sometimes the structure of a phrase or sentence is ambiguous (even if the meaning of the words is clear) Explain how this phrase is structurally ambiguous: broccoli and cheese soupEvidence for hierarchical structure13Practice with structural ambiguity…Evidence for hierarchical structure14The above phrases are structurally ambiguous. For each phrase, figure out the different possible meanings (write them down)1. pitiful gun show2. old women’s shoes3. high energy secretary4. rum and apple cake15“I shot an elephant in my pajamas…how he got in my pajamas, I’ll never know.”How do we explain the two interpretations?16Structural ambiguity•I shot [an elephant] in my pajamas17I shot [an elephant in my pajamas]Structural ambiguity18What do we call these groups of words within a sentence?SYNTACTIC CONSTITUENTS:syntactic units that function as a part of a larger unit (like a phrase or sentence)SYNTACTIC CONSTITUENTS:syntactic units that function as a part of a larger unit (like a phrase or sentence)19Syntactic constituentsA few important types of constituents:• Noun Phrases (NPs)• Verb Phrases (VPs)• Prepositional Phrases (PPs)20•I shot an elephant in my pajamasWhat are the constituents here?21NPs (Noun Phrases)1. I2. an elephant3. my pajamasVP: shot an elephant in my pajamas (Verb Phrase)PP: in my pajamas (Prepositional Phrase)What are the constituents here?•I shot an elephant in my pajamas22NPs:1. I2. an elephant in my pajamas3. my pajamasVP: shot an elephant in my pajamasPP: in my pajamasDorothy greeted the monkey with wings.•What are the NPs?Pronouns or phrases that can be substituted with pronouns.Tips for identifying syntactic constituents23Tips for identifying syntactic constituentsDorothy greeted the monkey with wings.•What’s the VP?VPs can sometimes be substituted with “do so too” (did so too, will do so too, etc.) in an added clause.E.g.: Dorothy greeted the monkey with wings, and the Wizard did so too. = …and the Wizard “greeted the monkey with wings.”24Tips for identifying syntactic constituentsDorothy greeted the monkey with wings.•What’s the PP?PPs begin with a preposition. They can sometimes be substituted with an adverb like there or now (though this one can’t).25Introducing phrase structure trees•There are different types of phrases that constitute sentences, –NP –VP–PP (Preposition)NPDet nounThe manFor next