The structure of sentences - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The structure of sentences

Syntax

Slide2

Formal syntax: Learning objectives

Explain

the

notions

“

language

organ”

and

“

Universal

Grammar

”

Explain

the

similarities

and

differences

between

languages

(

principles

and

parameters

)

Explain

how

sentences

are

constructed

Slide3

Evidence for an independent language faculty

:

People

display

a

knowledge

of

grammar

that

is

deeper

than

what

they

could

get

from

the

linguistic

input

they

receive

–

the

poverty

-

of

-

the

stimulus

argument

Language

impairment

(

aphasia

/

Down

syndrome

):

language

independent

from

intelligence

Slide4

Transformational generative grammarChomsky

:

structuralist

explanations

could

not

distinguish

between

sentences

such

as: John

is

easy

to

please

and

John

is

eager

to

please

While

the

surface

structure

is

similar

,

the

deep

structure

reveals

a major

difference

:

the

implied

subject

in

the

first

is

John

and

in

the

second

John

is

the

object

Slide5

Transformational generative grammarChomsky

:

structuralist

grammars

could

not

explain

ambiguity

which

can

arise

from

the

syntactic

arrangement

of

clauses

,

e.g

.

Stolen

painting

found

by

tree

Slide6

Universal Grammar: Principles & parameters

People

– “

pre

-

programmed

”

with

principles

of

grammar

–

Universal

Grammar

(UG)

Universal

grammar

has

a

biological

basis

–

a

language

organ

Principles

of

UG are

common

across

all

languages

One

of

these

principles

,

which

is

considered

as

an

essential

property

of

human

language

, is

recursion

:

allows

individuals

to

understand

an

unlimited

number

of

sentences

without

memorizing

each

one

of

them

(

cf

.

poverty

of

stimulus

)

Slide7

Principle of recursionGrammars

are

finite

but

they

nonetheless

enable

individuals

to

produce

and

understand

an

infinite

number

of

sentences

This

is

made

possible

through

the

principle

of

recursion

Recursion

means

that

grammatical

processes

can

apply

more

than

once

,

which

enables

speakers

to

produce

sentences

of

indefinite

length

and

complexity

Slide8

Mechanisms of recursionEmbedding

: One

can

always

add

additional

subordinate

clauses

within

a

frame

of

the

sentence

e.g

.

This

is

the

house

that

Jack

built

<

This

is

the

cheese

that

lay

in

the

house

that

Jack

built

<

This

is

the

mouse

that

nibbled

the

cheese

that

lay

in

the

house

that

Jack

built

etc

.

Coordination

:

We

can

use

coordinating

conjunctions

(

and

, but, or

etc

.) to link

an

indefinite

number

of

sentences

e.g

.

Mary

went

to

the

airport

and

John

went

to

the

bus station but

Joanna

cancelled

her

trip

and

went

to

the

mall

.

Slide9

Parameters of UGSome of

the

principles

of

UG are

underspecified

,

which

means

that

they

can

be

realized

through

different

parameters

in

different

languages

Once

all

the

parameters

have

been

correctly

set for a

particular

language

,

then

we

have

a

grammar

for

this

language

Example

:

every

language

must

have

a

subject

–

principle

(

underspecified

);

subject

can

be

expressed

in

different

ways

–

parameter

values

(

pronouns

in

English

and

Italian

)

Slide10

Modularity of language

Principles

and

parameters

–

part

of

a

syntactic

computational

mechanism

This

mechanism

feeds

both

the

articulatory

(

phonetic

)

component

and

the

interpretative

(

semantic

)

component

Each

of

these

components

functions

independently

-

modularity

Various

modules

can

feed

each

other

through

interfaces

Phonetic

form

(PF)

interface

with

articulatory

module;

Logical

form

(LF) –

interface

with

the

interpretative

module

Slide11

Y-model: centrality of syntax

Syntax

draws

information

from

the

lexicon

and

“

feeds

”

both

PF

and

LF

PF LF Lexicon

Syntax

Slide12

Table of grammatical categories

Type

Word

category

Examples

Phrasal

category

Lexical

Noun

(N)

Puppy

, park

Noun

Phrase

(NP)

Lexical

Verb

(V)

Take

,

run

,

beVerbal

Phrase (VP)Lexical

Adjective (A)Good, red, big

Adjective

Phrase

(AP)

Lexical

Adverb (

Adv

)

Happily

,

fast

Adverb

Phrase

(

AdvP

)

Functional

Determiner

(D)

This

,

the

, a, his

Determiner

Phrase

(DP)

Functional

Preposition

(P)

In

, on,

between

Prepositional

Phrase

(PP)

Functional

Complementizer

(C)

that

Complementizer

Phrase

(CP

Slide13

Lexical vs. Functional categoriesWords

that

belong

to

lexical

categories

are

semantically

rich

and

contribute

primarily

to

the

meaning of the sentence (nouns, verbs

, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions

) – open categoryWords

in functional categories –

semantically weak, and contribute

more to the grammar of

sentences

than

to

the

meaning

(

e.g

.

determiners

) –

closed

category

Slide14

CompositionalityGrammar of every

language

–

compositional

and

hierarchical

Sentences

are

made

of

smaller

constituents

(

phrases

), which in turn are made

up of even

smaller constituents (words)

Slide15

Compositionality: Constituency tests1)

noun

replacement

(

A

girl

with

a golden

earring

ate

an

apple

>

She

ate

an

apple vs. *She with a golden earring

ate an apple)- only

an entire nominal

constituent can be

replaced with a pronoun 2)

verb replacement (She ate

an

apple

and

so

did

I vs. *

She

ate

an

apple

and

so

did

I a

pear

)-

only

an

entire

verbal

constituent

can

be

replaced

with

do

Certain

groups

of

words

form

close

units

:

constituents

,

e.g

.

Nominal

constituent

(1) (NP=

noun

phrase

), (2)

verbal

constituent

(VP=

verb

phrase

)

Slide16

HierarchyEven

though

sentences

are

linear

on

the

surface

,

their

constituents

are

organized

in

a

hierarchical

way

Slide17

ProjectionComposing the

structure

of

a sentence

begins

with

words

that

belong

to

categories

such

as

noun

,

verb, preposition, adjective, or determinerThese

words – heads of phrasesPhrases

are constructed bottom-up

: words are drawn

from a lexicon – a

mental dictionary stored in

people

’s

brain

-

and

merged

into

structures

Once

they

are

inserted

into

structures

they

project

phrases

(

XPs

)

of

the

same

category

(

e.g

. NP, VP, DP)

which

form

larger

constituents

that

compose

a sentence

Slide18

MergeStructure building begins with

the

predicate

,

which

is

the

central element

of

a

clause

Once

a

predicate

projects

its

phrase, it has to be combined with

a phrase/s of the

type it needsTo do that

, the grammar must have a

mechanism that combines

phrasesThis is done by merging

one

phrase

with

another

Slide19

Merge: example (1)

Those

children

want

a

puppy

Want

– a

transitive

verb

or a

two

-place

predicate

,

which

means

that it requires two NPs

of a certain type as

arguments: an agent argument and a

theme argument (thematic (theta) roles

)It projects two

empty positions which need

to

be

filled

by

NPs

(

e.g

.

Those

children

-

agent

and

a

puppy

-

theme

)

Direct

object

(

puppy

) –

internal

argument

because

it

forms

a

closer

unit

with

a

predicate

Subject

(

Those

children

) –

external

argument;

does

not

form

the

same

unit

as

predicate

and

direct

object

Substitution

test:

Those

children

want

a

puppy

and

so

do I; *

Those

children

want

a

puppy

and

so

do I a

cat

Slide20

Nominal constituent merge (DP)

Each

of

the

nominal

constituents

that

the

predicate

selects

is a

product

of a separate merge operation which

consists of merging

a noun and a

determiner Note the nominal

constituent a puppy in

Example 1: The determiner

a

projects

a

determiner

phrase

(DP),

which

needs

a

noun

phrase

(NP) as

its

complement

Since

DP

selects

NP

and

not

viceversa

, DP is

the

head

of

the

nominal

constituent

(

e.g

.

a

puppy

)

Slide21

DP mergeNP puppy is

inserted

in

the

complement

NP

node

projected

from

D

a

to

create

DP

a

puppy

DP NPD: a N:

puppy

Slide22

VP mergeDP a

puppy

merges

with

V

want

to

create

VP

want

a

puppy

VP

DP

NP

V:

want D: a N: puppy

Slide23

Merge: sentence constructionSo far the

grammar

has

created

a new

constituent

(VP)

by

merge

The

next

step

is to

merge

the VP with the external argument (subject

) to form the whole

sentenceThe external argument cannot

be directly merged

onto the VP (substitution shows

that they do not

form

the

same

constituent

)

We

need

a separate

node

(XP)

above

VP to

merge

the

subject

with

Slide24

Tense phrase (TP)Semantic

core

of

the

sentence is

constituted

by

tense

Tense

projects

its

own

phrase

(TP)

which connects different constituents together

into a sentenceT-head contains

information related to tense

, as well as agreement

Tense phrases provide the central “

scaffolding” for a sentence, a structure to which

the

more

meaningful

lexical

phrases

will

be

attached

External

argument is

linked

with

VP

through

TP

Slide25

Tense Phrase (TP)Those

children

want

a

puppy

.

TP

DP VP

those

NP

want

DP

children

a

NP

puppy

Slide26

Tense PhraseTP takes

VP as

its

complement

The

external

argument (

subject

) is

not

a

complement

: it

does

not

occupy

a complement position but a specifier position to

the left of TP (

in English)Two syntactic

levels: VP – lexical information

pertaining to constituents; TP: grammatical

information pertaining to the sentence (

tense

+

agreement

)

There

is

an

even

higher

level

of

structure

,

which

contains

information

pertaining

to

discourse

: at

this

level

, sentence

type

(

e.g

.

declarative

,

interrogative

) is

encloded

This

highest

structural

level

is

usually

defined

as CP (

Complementizer

phrase

)

Slide27

Complementizer phrase (CP)The

basic

function

of

complementizers

is to

turn

an

independent

sentence

into

a

complement

Therefore

each subordinate clause is headed by

an additional phrase

projected by the

complementizer (CP)Different types

of complementizers depending on the

type of subordinate

clause

:

in

declaratives

,

complementizers

like

that

(

I

heard

that

those

children

want

a

puppy

)

;

in

interrogtives

,

comps

like

if

(He

wondered

if

it

would

rain

)

A CP

selects

a TP

in

this

context

Slide28

Projection of CP from that

CP

C:

that

TP

those

children

want

a

puppy

Slide29

CP in simple sentences

Matrix

clauses

can

also

be

divided

in

different

types

(

e.g

.

declarative, interrogative, exclamative) In subordinate

contexts, different types

of clauses are associated with

different complementizers, which

means that clause

type is determined at the CP

level

Since

matrix

clauses

can

also

be

divided

along

the

same

lines

, CP is

also

present

and

determines

clause

type

in

matrix

contexts

(

even

though

there

is no

overt

complementizer

)

Slide30

AdjunctionMerge joins

phrases

by

placing

one

phrase

into

the

complement

or

specifier

of

another

phraseIt is also possible to merge phrases

that are not complements or

specifiers of their host

phrase - this is called

adjunction and it adds

modifiers to phrasesHeads, complements

,

and

specifiers

make

up

the

core

meaning

of

a

phrase

,

while

adjuncts

add

extra

description

(

Those

little

children

in

the

park

want

a

puppy

badly

)

Slide31

AdjunctionSince adjoined

phrases

are

different

from

complements

and

specifiers

,

adjunction

creates

a site for

Merge

by

copying the phrasal node of

the host phraseAll

the adjuncts are attached

to the extended structures

In this way the

integral parts of a phrase

,i. e.

head

,

specifier

,

and

complement

, are

distinguished

from

adjuncts

There

are

restrictions

on

the

number

of

complements

or

specifiers

we

can

have

in

the

sentence but

not

on

adjuncts

:

the

phrasal

node

can

be

copied

indefinitely

Slide32

Adjunction VPVP

AdvP

DP

badly

NP

V:want D: a N:puppy

Slide33

Movement Besides building phrase

structures

,

syntax

can

also

move

parts

of

phrase

structures

around

,

by detaching them from the

position in which they

were originally inserted

in the structure,

and moving them

somewhere else

Slide34

Movement and deletionMovement

functions

by

copying

an

item

into

a new

location

,

leaving

a

copy

in

the original position (sometimes described as a trace

(t). This copy must later

be deleted, because

both copies cannot

be pronounced at the same timeSyntax

distinguishes between two

types

of

movements

:

head

movement

(

e.g

.

auxiliary

movement

in

questions

)

and

phrasal

movement

(

e.g

. wh-

movement

in

questions

)

Slide35

Auxiliary movementAuxiliary (

Aux

)

movement

comes

into

play

when

we

want

to

generate

a

simple

question in English e.g. Does

the man like movies?

The auxiliary do is originally

inserted under T, acquiring

tense and agreement

features, and then

moves

to C

CP

has

an

empty

complementizer

C as

its

head

and

it

has

a TP as

its

complement

.

Aux

movement

in

the

case

of

simple

questions

takes

whatever

there

is

under

T

(do

+

tense

/

agreement

=

does

)

and

moves

it to

the

previously

empty

head

position

, C

Slide36

Illustration CP TP C

does

T VP

DP

[

PRES/AGR

]

the

man

V DP

like

movies

Move

Slide37

WH-movementWh-questions (

e.g

.

What

do

you

like?),

unlike

simple

questions

,

exhibit

two

different

movements

to CP:

head movement of the auxiliary (T-C)

and phrasal movement of

the wh-phrase (i.e

. wh-movement) Therefore, in

questions such as “What do

you like?”, CP must contain two

empty

positions

to

host

the

moved

elements

:

the

C-

head

position

for

the

auxiliary

and

the

specifier

position

for

the

wh-

phrase

Slide38

WH-movementWhat appears

after

the

verb

like

, as

its

complement

.

Like

is a

transitive

verb

and

requires a direct object complement

, and what stands

in for the missing

thing that you would

like (e.g. What do

you like? I like coffee). First, aux

movement

applies

.

The

auxiliary

do

undergoes

head

movement

from

T to C.

Then

, wh-

movement

applies

.

The

wh-

phrase

moves

from

its

original

complement

position

(

since

it

replaced

the

complement

of

the

verb

like

) to

the

specifier

of

CP.

Slide39

WH-movement CP

SpecCP

What

C TP

do

SpecTP

you

VP

T

V DP

aux

movement

like

what

wh-

movement

Slide40

SummaryMuch of

grammatical

structure

does

not

have

to

be

“

learned

”

People

“

know

” a

lot

about what is or isn’t a possible grammatical

structure without having

been taught, or even having

had the right kind

of experience to have

learned it: they know it

because

principles

of

UG are

innate

The

principle

of

recursion

enables

individuals

to

produce

and

understand

an

infinite

number

of

sentences

based

on a

limited

input

(

cf

.

Poverty

of

stimulus

)

Slide41

SummaryOne principle of

the

structure

of

sentences

–

compositionality

:

sentences

are

composed

of

clauses

and

phrases, which in turn are

made up of smaller

clauses and phrases

or wordsCompositionality - achieved

by projection of

simple phrases from words

from

the

mental

lexicon

The

phrases

projected

take

on

the

lexical

and

functional

categories

of

the

words

that

project

them

Slide42

SummaryFormal syntax -

based

on

deducing

abstract

grammatical

principles

from

observing

what

sentences

are

possible

and not possible, without regard to how

they are usedFormal approaches

insist on the centrality

of syntax whithin

the human language faculty;

other types of approaches

(

e.g

.

functional

perspectives

) put

greater

emphasis

on

semantics

or

language

usage

Slide43

Learning objectivesExplain

the

notions

“

language

organ”

and

“

Universal

Grammar

”

Explain

the

similarities

and

differences between languages (principles and

parameters)Explain how sentences

are constructed