Introduction to Language and
Communication
Dr. Meera Al Kaabi
Spring 2017
HSR 130
Levels of Analysis
Phonetics/Phonology
Sound
Structure
Morphology
Syntax
Word Sentence
Structure Grammar Structure
Use
Meaning
Semantics
Pragmatics
Review
What is Syntax?
Properties of syntax?
What is the meaning of generative?
What are the units of syntax?
Two types of categories in Syntax?
Examples of Lexical Categories?
Examples of Functional Categories?
Sentences are organized into units that
are bigger than words called?
Word Order
We are all aware of the importance of
the order of words in a sentence. For
example, in English the order of
words is Subject + verb + object, as
in the sentence in (1).
The dog chased the man.
Word Order
In Arabic, the order is Verb + subject +
object, as in the sentence in (2).
xaafa l-klab-u l-raul-a
scare (3ps) def-dog-nom def-man-acc
def = definite article
nom = nominative case ()
acc = accusative case ()
Word Order
In Japanese, the order is Subject +
object + verb, as in the sentence in
(3).
watashi-ga hako-o akemasu
I-subj box-obj open
I open the box
Word Order
So, each language has its own rules of word
order, just like each language has its own
phonology and morphology.
Sounds are ordered in a specific way in
Arabic, which is different than the way they
are ordered in English or Chinese.
Similarly, morphemes are ordered in specific
ways, etc
Order and Meaning
Order is critical to meaning:
The dog is chasing the man.
vs.
The man is chasing the dog.
Order and Category
In some cases, the only way to know
what a word is by looking at its
position in the sentence (its order
relative to other the words): Noun
(1) The man goes on many long
walks.
(2) The man walks the dog.
Verb or noun? How do you know? Verb
Preceding adjective in (1)
Surrounding nouns in (2)
Possible Word Groupings
You know how to group words into possible
word groups and recognize impossible word
groupings.
The man walks the dog in the morning.
So, sentences are not simply flat sequences of
words; they have some sort of internal
structure where words are related to each
other: walks the dog is ok, dog in the is not!
Clauses/Phrases
Possible groupings correspond to clauses
or phrases.
In the sentence The man walks the dog in the
morning vey quickly
these are the possible word groups or
phrases:
The man
the dog
the morning
in the morning
walks the dog
walks the dog in the morning
The Noun and its Phrase
The Noun and its Phrase
We recognize nouns thanks to what they
appear with:
They appear with determiners:
the/these/some/my/their dogs
a/this/that dog
Some nouns take no determiner:
Plural nouns: Dogs bark
Non-count nouns: Fatima likes jewelry
Nouns can also appear with adjectives:
old man, angry dog
The Noun and its Phrase
So, a noun phrase can be made of
one noun only (the noun is all by
itself), as in:
Dogs are dangerous.
Jewelry is expensive.
The Noun and its Phrase
A noun phrase can also be made of a
noun preceded by a determiner, as
in:
The dog is dangerous.
Her jewelry is expensive.
The Noun and its Phrase
A noun phrase can also be made of a
noun preceded by a determiner
or/and an adjective, as in:
Angry dogs are dangerous.
The old man is walking.
The Noun and its Phrase
The noun, and whatever words can go with,
form a noun phrase. We use NP to indicate a
noun phrase
Therefore, we can have rules to generate
noun phrases in English:
NP N (Dogs are dangerous)
NP D N (The dog is dangerous)
NP A N (Angry dogs are dangerous)
NP D A N (The old man is walking)
The Noun and its Phrase
To summarize these rules and
indicate the optional elements using
parentheses, we can have ONE single
phrase structure rule:
NP Rule: NP (D) (A) N
(where D and A are optional, and the head
is obligatory)
The Noun and its Phrase
Note that each phrase must have a
head (the non-optional element).
In an NP, the head is a noun N.
Head
The head is a word whose syntactic
category determines the category of
the whole phrase:
the dog is a Noun Phrase (NP), the
head is the Noun dog
the angry dog is also a Noun Phrase
(NP), the head is the Noun dog
So, N is the head of NP
And the structure each phrase can be
represented in terms of a
tree diagram
Tree Diagrams
Tree diagrams graphically represent
phrase structure:
NP NP NP
N D N D A N
jewelry the dog the angry
dog
How to draw syntactic trees!
https://youtu.be/OOQqVXLuv-M
The Verb and its Phrase
The Verb and its Phrase
A VP is group of words whose head
is a verb
The man walks
The man walks the dog
The man walks in the morning
The man walks quickly
The man walks the dog in the
morning quickly
The Verb and its Phrase
(1) VP V (walks)
(2) VP V NP (walks the dog)
(3) VP V PP (walks in the morning)
(4) VP V AdvP (walks quickly)
(5) VP V NP PP AdvP (walks the dog in
the morning quickly)
(6) VP V (NP) (PP) (AdvP) (NP, PP and
AdvP are all optional)
The man walks
VP
V
walks
The man walks the dog
VP
V NP
walks
D N
the
dog
The man walks in the morning
VP
V PP
walks
P NP
i
n
D N
the morning
The man walks quickly
VP
V AdvP
walks
Adv
quickly
he man walks the dog in the morning quickly
VP
V NP PP AdvP
walks
D N P NP Adv
the dogi
quickly
n
D N
the morning
The Adjective and its Phrase
To be continued.
