Chapter 3How many phrases can you make?What is syntax? How is the organizational structure of a speaker’s syntax similar to that of their phonology and morphology?X-Bar Theory: The universal blueprint for internal phrasal structureX-Bar examplesWhat the Rules of Syntax Rules DoWhat the Rules of Syntax DoSlide 8Slide 9Structurally ambiguous headlines: Crash BlossomsWhat Grammaticality Is Not Based OnSentence StructureSlide 13Constituents and Constituency TestsSlide 15An Excellent Resource for English GrammarQUIZSyntactic CategoriesTypes of Syntactic CategoriesPhrase Structure TreesFind the heads, complements, specifiersSlide 22Slide 23Slide 24PS RulesBuilding Phrase Structure TreesSlide 27The Infinity of Language: Recursive RulesStructural AmbiguitiesSlide 30Chapter 3Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of LanguageHow many phrases can you make?You don’t need to use all the words, and your phrases don’t need to make meaningful sense. How many two and three-word phrases can you make out of the following words in one minute: huge in student a bug this ate house the I bet you don’t have ANY of the following phrases: bug in --- ate the --- giant in --- student ate huge student ate --- house in the --- ate this hugeWhat is syntax? How is the organizational structure of a speaker’s syntax similar to that of their phonology and morphology? •Syntax is the part of grammar that pertains to a speaker’s knowledge of sentences and their structures;•the rules enabling speakers to combine discrete units (i.e. words & phrases) into an infinite number of utterances to express anything•A speaker’s syntax is organized hierarchically •According to X-Bar Theory, any speaker of any language shares an in-born blueprint for combining words into possible phrases, or XPs: (optional)(optional)X-Bar Theory: The universal blueprint for internal phrasal structureXP = VP (Verb Phrase) ‘students love syntax’XP = NP (Noun Phrase) ‘The name of the band’lovestudentssyntax(bar-level; here: V-bar)VP NPV NPNPN-barDet N PPtheof the bandnameX-Bar examplesAWhat the Rules of Syntax Rules Do•allow us combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences•specify the correct word order for a language–For example, English is a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) language•The President nominated a new Supreme Court justice•*President the new Supreme justice Court a nominated•describe the relationship between the meaning of a group of words and the arrangement of the words–work to live, or live to work –I taught German to the students vs. I taught the students German –I gave you a headache vs. *I gave a headache to you.What the Rules of Syntax Do•The rules of syntax also specify the grammatical relations of a sentence, such as the subject and the direct object–Your dog chased my cat vs. My cat chased your dog•Syntax rules specify constraints on sentences based on the verb of the sentence, such as C-selection (complement-selection) and S-selection (semantic-selection)*The boy found *Disa slept the baby*The boy found in the house Disa sleptThe boy found the ball Disa slept soundlyZack believes Robert to be a gentleman *The tree likes the kid*Zack believes to be a gentleman The kid likes the treeZack tries to be a gentleman *The ocean murdered the surfer*Zack tries Robert to be a gentleman The surfer drowned in the ocean ‘found’ must take NP complement ‘tries’ & ‘believes’ take different complements ‘sleep’ can’t take an NP complement ‘like’ & ‘murder’ must be animate•Syntax rules also tell us how words form groups and are hierarchically ordered in a sentence“The captain ordered the old men and women off the ship” This sentence has two possible meanings:–1. The captain ordered the old men and the old women off the ship–2. The captain ordered the old men and the women of any age off the ship The meanings depend on how the words in the sentence are grouped (specifically, to which words is the adjective ‘old’ applied?)–1. The captain ordered the [old [men and women]] off the ship–2. The captain ordered the [old men] and [women] off the shipWhat the Rules of Syntax Do•These groupings can be shown hierarchically in a tree•These trees reveal the structural ambiguity in the phrase “old men and women”–Each structure corresponds to a different meaning•Structurally ambiguous sentences can often be humorous. These are known as crash blossoms.What the Rules of Syntax DoStructurally ambiguous headlines: Crash BlossomsWhat Grammaticality Is Not Based On•Grammaticality is not based on prior exposure to a sentence–“The vegan stud muffins brewed beet-red butter beer.”•Grammaticality is not based on meaningfulness–“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”–“The cold fire froze my meowing dog.”•Grammaticality is not based on truthfulness–“My Porsch’ is in the garage.”Sentence Structure•We could say that the sentence “The child found the puppy” is based on the template: Det—N—V—Det—N •But this would imply that sentences are just strings of words without internal structure•This sentence can actually be separated into several groups:–[the child] [found a puppy]–[the child] [found [a puppy]]–[[the] [child]] [[found] [[a] [puppy]]Sentence Structure•A tree diagram can be used to show the hierarchy of the sentence: The child found a puppyConstituents and Constituency Tests•Constituents are the natural groupings in a sentence•Tests for constituency include:–1. “stand alone test”: if a group of words can stand alone, they form a constituent•A: “What did you find?”•B: “A puppy.”–2. “replacement by a pronoun”: pronouns can replace constituents•A: “Where did you find a puppy?”•B: “I found him in the park.”Constituents and Constituency Tests–3. “move as a unit” test: If a group of words can be moved together, they are a constituent•“The child found a puppy.”  “A puppy was found by the child.”An Excellent Resource for English Grammarhttp://www.amazon.com/A-Students-Introduction-English-Grammar/dp/05216128881. Morphology and syntax have ____ structures in common: a. unambiguous b. hierarchical c. prescriptive d. arbitrary 2. Which is not a constituent: a. the kids play b. on a whim c. gave the