LESSON 3

Faculty, Del Pilar Academy

Instructor 1, CvSU-Imus
- the study of the sequence of
words which form the structure
of sentences.

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•not only do words occur in a linear
order (or “string”) but they also
enter into hierarchical relationship
known as “constituents”.
•constituents are the proper
subparts of sentences.

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• immediate constituent analysis, though not
wrong, was insufficient since it dealt only
with surface order (Chomsky, 2002).
Sam walked the dog
The dog was walked by Sam.
Did Sam walked the dog?
Visiting relatives can be tiresome.

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• Chomsky argued for the need to distinguish
between deep (or underlying) structure (D-
Structure) and surface structure (S-Structure).
• D-Structure – is the abstract level where all
meaning resides.
• S-Structure – is the actual linear order of
words.

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It is important to distinguish between the two levels
for two reasons:
1. Different sequences on surface (=D, -S)
The dog uncovered the bone.
The bone was uncovered by the dog.
2. Similar or identical sequences on the surface(-D,=S)
Flying planes can be dangerous.

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Two types of rules:
•Phrase Structure Rules
•Transformations

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•The rules of grammar must be
finite in number
•This finite set of rules must be
able to generate

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•Concerned exclusively with form
•Distinguishing between
“grammatical” and “meaningful”

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Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

Furiously sleep ideas green colorless.

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Syntax and meaning are completely
separate

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It is the proper subparts of sentences. The study of
syntax is the analysis of the constituent parts of a
sentence:
• their form (the types of elements, the internal arrangement,
and the relationship among the elements within the
constituent),
• their (external) positioning in respect to other constituents,
and
• their function
The structure of sentence is hierarchical.

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 Constituents may themselves be complex,
containing other constituents. The structure of a
sentence is hence hierarchical.
Note that the same sequences of words may
not always function as a constituent. It is the
context which determines whether a particular
sequence forms a constituent or not.

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In the following three sentences:
• Suzie took in the winter scene.
• They won’t survive in the winter.
• He is happy in the winter.

• I received beautiful flowers for my birthday.

• Though they are beautiful, flowers cause me
to sneeze

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• I bought the house on the hill.
(I bought the house which is on the hill.)
(I bought the house while standing on the hill.)

How can we determine what is a constituent

in a particular sentence?

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 Constituency tests are based on the
principle that only entire constituents may
be manipulated by syntactic operations.
They can be replaced (by pronominal
forms), they can be moved, they can be
conjoined, or they can stand alone.

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replaced by pro-forms
• I received them for my birthday.
• What did you receive for your birthday?

moved
• It was beautiful flowers that I received for my birthday.
• What I received for my birthday was beautiful flowers.
• Did you receive beautiful flowers for your birthday?

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conjoined
I received beautiful flowers and chocolates for
my birthday.

interrogated
(What did you receive for your birthday?)
Beautiful flowers

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1. one-way dependency or
modifier-head
2. Mutual dependency, or
governor-complement

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one-way dependency or modifier-head
blue eyes
deep blue eyes
woman beside me
he swam quickly

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Mutual dependency,
or governor-complement
• neither member of the constituent can be
omitted and one cannot occur without the
other; neither is more central. The first
“governs” or controls the presence of the
second, and the second “completes” the
first.
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Mutual dependency,
or governor-complement
The weather/ is improving
a preposition and its complement (as in on/the shore),
an adjective and its complement (as in dear/to me),
a verb and its complement (as in be/a fool), and
a verb and its object (as in swim/a race).

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Determine the function (Modifier, Head, Governor,
Complement) of each of the underlined constituents and
indicate which other constituent it functions in relation to.
1. She got a disappointingly low grade on her paper.
2. The approaching storm clouds looked ominous.
3. He asked his companions what they wanted to do.
4. They decided to cancel the climb.

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- consists of a set of ordered rules known as rewrite
rules, which are applied stepwise.

string

‘followed by’,
‘is rewritten as’, ‘has as its constituents’,
‘consists of ’, or ‘is expanded as’.

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 Two metaphors
Family Tree Metaphor
• B and C are daughters of A and they are
sisters of each other
• A is referred to as the “mother” or “parent”
of B and C.
• Also, in the tree metaphor, A is seen as a
branching node, as opposed to C, which is
a non-branching node.
Domination Metaphor
• immediate domination and domination
• a node dominates everything below it
B and C are called labeled nodes; a • a node immediately dominates those nodes
node is a point on the tree diagram for which there are no intervening nodes

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The phrase structure rules also allow for choices. The
optional choices are indicated with parentheses:

In every rewrite rule, at least one element must be

obligatory.

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There may also be mutually exclusive choices of
elements in a string; these are indicated with curly
braces:

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These two types of choices can be combined:

This rule leads to the following possibilities:

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 terminal symbols

initial symbols recursive symbol

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For each of the following phrase structure
rules, write out the possible sequences that
each rule generates:
A → B (C D) E
AB+E
AB+C+D+E

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For each of the following phrase structure
rules, write out the possible sequences that
each rule generates:
A → B ({C,D}) E
AB+E
AB+C+E
AB+D+E
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For each of the following phrase structure
rules, write out the possible sequences that
each rule generates:
A → B {C,D} E
AB+C+E
AB+D+E

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NP – Noun Phrase
AP – Adjective Phrase
AdvP – Adverb Phrase
PP – Prepositional Phrase
VP – Verb Phrase

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