Syntax: the analysis of sentence structure

1.​ What's in a sentence?

Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream.

Old + Sam + sunbathed + beside + a + stream
*Sam sunbathed stream a Old beside.

[Old Sam] [sunbathed beside a stream].

Constituents:
- categories (e.g. noun phrases (e.g. Old Sam, a stream) verb phrases (e.g. sunbathed
beside a stream) etc.)
- functions (e.g. subject, predicate, object, etc.)

Hierarchical structure of a sentence:

S – NP + VP
S – Old Sam + sunbathed beside a stream.

S – Subject + Predicate
S – Old Sam + sunbathed beside a stream.

2.​ Constituents within constituents (the nesting property of language)

beside a stream​ ​ a stream

beside + a stream​ ​ a + stream
beside a house​ ​ the stream
near a stream​ ​ ​ this stream
a house

3.​ Constituency tests:

a)​ Substitution test:​ ​ ​ ​ b) Wh-question:

Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream.​ Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream.
He sunbathed beside a stream.​ ​ A: Who sunbathed beside a stream?
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ B: Old Sam.

Exercise 1. Apply the substitution test and the wh- question test to determine which of the
bracketed sequences in the following sentences form constituents:

1. [The tragedy] upset the entire family.

2. They hid [in the cave].
3. The [computer was very] expensive.
4. [The town square and the civic building] will be rebuilt.
5. Jane [left town].
6. The goslings [swam across] the lake.
Key:
It upset the entire family. / What upset the entire family?
They hid there. / Where did they hide?
Impossible – not a constituent
This and that / They will be rebuilt. / What will be rebulit?
Jane did (it). / What did Jane do?
Impossible – not a constituent

4. Subject and Predicate

Subject is the topic, the actor or that which is spoken about.

Subject is the NP immediately dominated by S (in declarative sentences).

The man could open the door.

The man
The house on the corner is for sale.
The house on the corner
The rain and fog dissipated.
The rain and fog
The film that I saw last night was depressing.
The film that I saw last night
It is possible that Alfred will know the answer.
It

Tests for identifying subjects:

Subject-auxiliary inversion: The man could open the door. – Could [the man] open the door?
The tag question test: the tag agrees with the subject in gender, number, and person: [The
man] could open the door, couldn’t [he]?

The predicate is generally what remains of a simple sentence after the subject is removed.

Predicate is the VP immediately dominated by S (in declarative sentences).

A test for the predicate:

the sequence may be replaced by do so/do too:

Ronny swam a race.

Ronny swam a race and so did Matty / Matty did too.
 5.

6. Structural ambiguity

1. They are hunting dogs.

a. They are hunting (what?) dogs.
b. They are (what?) hunting dogs.

2. He asked the man who ate the sandwich.

a. He asked the man (what?) who ate the sandwich.
b. He asked (whom?) the man who ate the sandwich.

3. I touched the man with an umbrella.

a. I touched (whom?) the man with an umbrella.
b. I touched the man (with (the use of) what?) with an umbrella.

4. They took the dog to the small animal hospital.

a. To the small hospital for animals
b. To the hospital for small animals

5. We bought the house on the hill.

a. The house was located on the hill (the house on the hill)
b. The transaction took place on the hill (the house may be somewhere else)
 The Subject of an English Sentence

Nouns:

1. Proper nouns: Tom, Jerry, John, Sosnowiec, Poland

2. Common nouns: table, chair, book, water

1. Count nouns: chair, book, student

2. Non-count (mass) nouns: water, flour, love

1. Abstract nouns: friendship, love, idea

2. Concrete nouns: chair, book, water

1. Animate nouns: dog, teacher, John

2. Inanimate nouns: stone, book, table

1. Collective nouns: team, group, government​ ​ is / are

2. Singularia tantum: information, furniture, advice ​ is
3. Pluralia tantum: clothes, cattle ​ are

Noun Phrase:

NP → (Det) (AP) N (PP)

N is the head of the phrase

AP and PP are modifiers (express the quality of the noun)
Det functions as a specifier (makes the phrase more precise or definite)

Det → {Dem, Art, Wh-, Poss, Q}

Dem → {this, that, these, those}
Art → {a, an, the}
Wh → {what, which, whose}
Poss → {my, your ..., NP's}
Q​ → {some, any, every, each, neither, more …}

NP → (N): dogs
NP → (Det + N): the dogs
NP → (Det + A + N): the large dogs
NP → (Det +AP + N): the fiercely barking dogs
NP → (Det + N + PP): the dogs in the yard
NP → (Det + A + N + PP): the nice dogs in the yard
NP → (Det + AP + N + PP): the fiercely barking dogs in the yard
NP → (PN): Goldy
NP → (Pro): He
.

Adjectives:

1. Gradable adjectives: small, big, hungry

small – smaller – the smallest

2. Non-gradable adjectives: dead, starving, tiny

dead – *more dead – *the most dead

Predicative adjectives: She is alone. (*The scratch was mere.)

2. Attributive adjectives: a mere scratch (*an alone girl)

Adjective Phrase:

AP → A (fierce)
A is the head

AP → Deg A (very fierce)

Deg – specifier of A

AP → Adv A (fiercely barking)

AP → Deg Adv A (very fiercely barking)
very fiercely = AdvP
AdvP – modifier of A

AP → A PP (dear to me)
PP – complement of A

AP → ({Deg, AdvP}) A (PP)

Adverb Phrase:

1. Degree adverbs:
more, quite, too, so, very

2. General adverbs:
silently, slowly, quietly, quickly, now

AdvP → (Deg) Adv

AdvP → Adv (quickly)

AdvP → Deg Adv (very quickly)
Adv is the head
Deg is the modifier of the adverb

Prepositions:

Some English prepositions:

in, on, of, off, beside, by, from, at, away, after, before, with, up, down, near, since, during, till,
until, upon, onto, within, behind, below, above, opposite, past, per, unto, among, amid, via,
over, beyond, aside, along, around, out, outside, inside, through, to, towards, without,
versus, as, like

Prepositions express locative (e.g. at home) and temporal relations (e.g. on Monday).

Prepositional Phrase: Phrase structure rules for NP:

PP → P NP (on the beach) NP → {(Det) , PN, Pro}

→ (AP) N (PP)
P is the head Det → {Dem, Art, Wh-, Poss, Q}
AP → ({Deg, AdvP}) A (PP)
NP is the object of the preposition (OP) AdvP → (Deg) Adv
PP → P {NP, PP}
PP → P P NP (from behind the door)

PP → P {NP, PP}
 The Predicate of an English sentence

Expansions of VP:

VP → V NP​ ​ ​ ​ ​ open a package

VP → V NP NP ​ ​ ​ ​ write a friend a letter

VP → V NP PP​ ​ ​ ​ give an excuse to the teacher

VP → V AP​ ​ ​ ​ ​ feel lonely

VP → V NP AP​ ​ ​ ​ make the dog angry

VP → V PP​ ​ ​ ​ ​ jump into the pool

VP → V PP PP​ ​ ​ ​ talk about the problem with a friend

VP → V​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ smile

Syntactic subcategories of verbs:

VP → Vgp (Complement)
Vgp → V (Prt)
Vgp → V:​ get
Vgp → V Prt: ​ get up

Because of the type of verb complement we distinguish the following syntactic subcategories
of verbs:

1. Intransitive verbs, e.g. On holiday I often swim.

2. (Mono)transitive verbs, e.g. The police killed the criminal.
3. Ditransitive verbs, e.g. I sent the letter to my grandma.
4. Complex-transitive verbs, e.g. I find English fascinating.
5. Intensive verbs (copulas), e.g. You look good.
6. Prepositional verbs, e.g. I depend on you.
7. Diprepositional verbs, e.g. I talked to my teacher about the test.
 ●​ Intransitive and (Mono)transitive verbs:

1. Intransitive verbs:

No obligatory complement after the verb!

She smiled. (S + Vgp)

The package arrived. (S + Vgp)
After the argument, she cried. (S + Vgp)

2. Transitive (monotransitive) verbs:

The verb is followed by an obligatory direct object (dO), which is a person or thing affected
by the action of the verb. It is either a NP or a subordinate clause.

He bought a new car. (S + Vgp + dO)

Sue broke the vase. (S + Vgp + dO)
Vivian wrote that she was unhappy. (S + Vgp + dO)

●​ Ditransitive verbs:

Two obligatory complements:

direct object and indirect object (the goal or benefactive of the action, something animate)

I gave Olga roses. (S + Vgp + iO + dO)

I gave roses to Olga. (S + Vgp + dO + iO)

The iO can be a NP (Olga) or PP (to Olga)

A test for distinguishing PP functioning as an iO and as another phrase (indirect object

movement):

1a. Jerry sent a letter to Elaine. - Jerry sent Elaine a letter.

1b. Jerry sent a letter to Toronto. - *Jerry sent Toronto a letter.

The test doesn’t work if both object are pronouns or if the dO is a pronoun:
I gave the book to her. – I gave her the book.
I gave it to her. – *I gave her it.
I gave it to Ingrid. – *I gave Ingrid it.
 ●​ Intensive verbs (copulas):

The complement serves the function of subject complement (sC): it identifies, locates or
describes the subject.

It can be an AP, NP or PP:

I am hungry. (S + Vgp + AP)

He became a chemist. (S + Vgp + NP)
She was in a good mood. (S + Vgp + PP)

A test for distinguishing sC from dO:

dO can be the subject of a passive sentence, while sC cannot!

She became a lawyer. – *A lawyer was become her. (sC)

She saw a lawyer. – A lawyer was seen by her. (dO)

●​ Complex-transitive verbs:

Two obligatory complements:

Direct object
Object complement (oC), which characterizes the object

oC can be a NP, AP or PP

I found your jokes extremely funny. (S + Vgp + dO + AP)

We considered him a fool. (S + Vgp + dO + NP)
They regard that as the best design. (S + Vgp + dO + PP)

Sometimes to be is inserted between the dO and oC:

I consider him to be a fool.

The NP functioning as an oC cannot become the subject of a passive sentence:

We considered him a fool - *A fool is considered him (by us).

●​ Prepositional and Diprepositional verbs:

1. Prepositional verbs: 2. Diprepositional verbs:

The PP in the complement position is Two prepositional complements

called prepositional complement (pC)
She argued with him about the money.
Max looked at me. (S + Vgp + pC) (S + Vgp + PP + PP)
The rewrite rules for the VP:

Intransitive: VP → Vgp​ ​ (She cried.)

(Mono)transitive: VP → Vgp NP ​ (He read the book.)

Intensive: VP → Vgp {NP, AP, PP}​ (She was a teacher / happy / at home.)

Ditransitive: VP → Vgp NP {NP, PP} (He gave me the book / the book to me.)

Complex-transitive: VP → Vgp NP {NP, PP, AP} (We consider him a fool. / She put the baby
in the crib. / She made him happy.)

(Di)prepositional: VP → Vgp PP (PP) (He talked to me (about the money).)

VP → Vgp ({NP ({NP, PP, AP}), AP, PP (PP)})

Auxiliaries in Active and Passive sentences

Auxiliaries are specifiers of lexical verbs:

-​ Primary auxiliaries: be, have

-​ Dummy auxiliary: do (did)
-​ Modal auxiliaries: will (would), can (could), may (might), shall (should), must
-​ Phrasal equivalents and borderline auxiliaries: dare, need, let, ought to, have to

Special inflectional features (defective morphology) of modals:

-​ they don’t take –s in the 3rd p sg: *He cans / musts / mays go.
-​ they don’t have nonfinite forms (eg. infinitives: *I have to can.)

Special distribution of modals:

-​ they precede not (in negatives): He must not / cannot go.
-​ stand before the subject in the question: Must you go?
-​ are used with emphatic markers (so, too): I can do it, and so can you!
-​ they cannot stand alone in a sentence, but there must be a lexical verb present with
them: *He can.
Auxiliaries in the Active Voice

Specifiers of the verb bite in the active voice:

_________________________________________________________________________

Aux → T (M) (Perf) (Prog)

T → {past, pres}
M → {shall, can, will, may, must}
Perf → have –en
Prog → be –ing

Tense – marked by a bound morph on the first element in Aux.

It’s an obigatory element!

could have been biting

The rule of affix hopping: past is added to can (could), -en is added to be (been), -ing is
added to the main verb (biting)
Auxiliaries in the Active Sentence

Auxiliaries, unlike other specifiers, are obligatory!

Thus, they are daughters of the sentence rather than of the VP!

Adding the Pass element in Aux:

Aux → T (M) (Perf) (Prog) (Pass)

Pass → be –en
Verb subcategories and the Passive Voice

1. Monotransitive verbs: the dO becomes the Su in the pass sentence

​ Tom bought a car (dO). → A car (Su) was bought by Tom.

2. Intransitive verbs: passivization impossible (no dO):

​ She smiled.

3. Copulative verbs: passivization impossible (no dO – there is sC!):

​ He is a teacher. → *A teacher is he.

4. Ditransitive verbs: either the dO or iO becomes the Su in the pass sentence

​ I gave Helen (iO) some flowers (dO).
​ → Some flowers (Su) were given to Helen by me.
​ → Helen (Su) was given some flowers by me.

5. Complex transitive verbs: the dO becomes the Su in the pass sentence (but not the oC)

​ They elected Biden (dO) president (oC).

​ → Biden (Su) was elected president by them.
​ → *President was elected Biden by them.

6. Prepositional verbs: the OP in non-locative prep verbs become Su in the pass sentence:

​ They agreed to the terms (OP). → The terms (Su) were agreed to by them.

​ Locative prep verbs – passivization impossible:

​ The picture hung on the wall (OP). → *The wall was hung on by the picture.
 Adverbials

Types of adverbials:

Adverbials are optional constituents of the sentence.

Adjunct adverbials (aA): modify the verb

Disjunct adverbials (dA): sentence adverbs
Conjunct adverbials (cA)

Phrasal categories of adverbials:

AdvP: monthly, very quickly, frankly, personally, sadly, however, finally

PP: ​ on Tuesday, in the kitchen, for no reason, to my surprise

NP: ​ ten miles, last year, next weekend

S: ​ ​ where I was, after I left, since I am poor

_________________________________________________________________________

1. Adjunct adverbials (aA)

Adjuncts usually answer the following questions:

1. How? (manner): enthusiastically (AdvP), with enthusiasm (PP)

2. When? (time): next week (NP), on Tuesday (PP), after I left (S)

3. Where? (place): there (AdvP), in the kitchen (PP), where I was (S)

4. Why? (reason): for no reason (PP), since I am poor (S)

5. How many times?: twice (AdvP)

6. How long?: for two years (PP)

7. How often?: monthly (AdvP)

Traditionally, adjuncts are said to modify the verb.

In fact, they modify the verb together with its obligatory complements. Thus:

VP → ̅V ({AdvP, PP, NP, S})

V̅ → Vgp (Complements)
2. Disjunct adverbials (dA)

Disjuncts denote the speaker’s attitude towards the meaning of the sentence.

Disjuncts modify the whole sentence.

AdvP: certainly, seriously, hopefully, sadly, frankly, oddly

PP: to my surprise, to my regret, in all frankness

Disjuncts appear at the beginning of the sentence and are optional sisters of S:

S → ({AdvP, PP}) S

! The same lexical item may be both an adjunct and a disjunct:

I take descriptive grammar seriously. (aA)

Seriously, that’s the best news I’ve heard. (dA)

3. Conjunct adverbials (cA)

Conjuncts express textual relations.

AdvP: moreover, however, nevertheless, next, finally, consequently, thus, hence

PP: in addition, in conclusion, on the one hand, in other words, as a result, for example

Like disjuncts, conjuncts are sisters of S.

 Simple sentences in English: Revision of phrase structure rules

S → NP Aux VP

NP → {(Det) , PN, Pro}

→ (AP) N (PP)

Det → {Dem, Art, Wh-, Poss, Q}

AP → ({Deg, AdvP}) A (PP)

AdvP → (Deg) Adv

PP → P {NP, PP}

Aux → T (M) (Perf) (Prog) (Pass)

T → {past, pres}

M → {shall, can, will, may, must}

Perf → have –en

Prog → be –ing

Pass → be –en

VP → V̅ ({AdvP, PP, NP, S})

V̅ → Vgp (Complements)

V̅ → Vgp ({NP ({NP, PP, AP}), AP, PP (PP)})

For the use of disjuncts and conjuncts:

S → ({AdvP, PP}) S
Descriptive Grammar

Test 2: Syntax

1. The structure of a sentence in English

2. Constituency tests (wh-question, substitution)

3. The subject and the predicate of a sentence (meaning, identification tests)

4. Structural ambiguity

5. Words as syntactic categories (lexical and non-lexical)

6. Nouns and Noun Phrases in English

7. Adjectives and Adjective Phrases in English

8. Adverbs and Adverb Phrases in English

9. Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases in English

10. Subcategories of verbs in English (monotransitive, intransitive, ditransitive,

intensive, complex-transitive, prepositional/diprepositional)

11. The structure of the Verb Phrase and verb complementation in English

12. Tree diagrams of simple sentences

13. Auxiliaries (types, order, and place within the structure of the sentence)

14. Passivization

15. Adverbials (types and properties of adjuncts, disjuncts, and conjuncts)