Understanding Syntax in English Sentences

1. 2010-11 LINGUA INGLESE 1 modulo A/BIntroduction to English Linguisticsprof. Hugo Bowles Lesson 13 Syntax 2

2. The top of the tree • So the tree for any sentence (S) should start like this: • This means that every sentence is made up of a noun phrase and a verb phrase S NP VP

3. The bottom of the tree • What we need to do is to connect: the structure at the top of the tree TO the words of the sentence at the bottom of the tree the hairy dog walks quickly in the park S NP VP Det A N V Adv P Det N

4. Connecting top and bottom • You need to start at the bottom of the tree and build more phrases on to the categories. These phrases could be: • Noun phrases • Adverb phrases • Prepositional phrases • Adjective phrases

5. What a complete tree looks like • a sentence divides into a noun phrase ……………….. and a verb phrase these attach to phrases or and categories categories attachto words the hairy dog walks quickly in the park S NP VP PP NP AP AdvP Det A N V Adv P Det N

6. How to analyse the syntactic structure of a simple sentence It’s a bit like decorating a Christmas tree: • Write S NP + VP at the top • Write the words of the sentence at the bottom • Write the categories above the words • Where necessary put the categories into phrase structures (NP, Adv,P, AP, PP) • Attach the phrase structures to the main NP and VP

7. Ambiguous sentences These sentences look the same but they have a different meaning • The man hit the intruder with a stick • The man hit the intruder with a wooden leg They should have a different syntactic structure. Where is the difference going to be

8. Disambiguating With a wooden leg and with a stick are both prepositional expressions BUT …… • with a wooden leg is about the intruder so it is attached to the noun • with a stick is about how he hit the intruder so it is attached to the verb

9. Romeo/Juliet loves Juliet/Romeo • Juliet loves Romeo Romeo Juliet S NP VP NP N V N

10. 3. He loves carrots • He loves carrots S NP VP NP PRO V N

11. 4. The lamb followed Mary • The lamb followed Mary S NP VP NP Det V N N

12. 6. The cat killed the mouse • The cat killed the mouse S NP VP NP Det V N Det N

13. 7. Jack killed the giant • Jack killed the giant S NP VP NP V N Det N

14. 8. She solved the mystery • She solved the mystery S NP VP NP V PRO Det N

15. 5. Beavers build dams • Beavers build dams S NP VP NP V N N

16. 9. The witnesses helped her • The witnesses helped her S NP VP NP DET N V PRO

17. 10. Alice followed the rabbit • Alice followed the rabbit S NP VP NP N N V Det.

18. 10. Alice followed the white rabbit • Alice followed the white rabbit S VP NP NP AP. N V Det. A. N

19. 12. Alice slowly followed the white rabbit • Alice slowly followed the white rabbit S VP NP NP Adv.P AP. N Asv V Det. A. N

20. 13. He gave her a kiss • He gave her a kiss S VP NP NP. NP PRO V PRO Det. N.

21. 14. She rewarded him with a kiss • She rewarded him with a kiss S VP NP PRO V PRO P. Det. N.

22. 14. She rewarded him with a kiss • She rewarded him with a kiss S VP NP PP NP. NP PRO V PRO P. Det. N.

23. 14. She rewarded him with a kiss • She rewarded him with a kiss S VP NP PP NP. NP PRO V PRO P. Det. N.

24. 15. She paid the money to the cashier • She paid the money to the cashier S VP NP PRO V P. Det. Det. N N.

25. 15. She paid the money to the cashier • She paid the money to the cashier S VP NP PP NP. NP PRO V P. Det. Det. N N.

26. 15. She paid the money to the cashier • She paid the money to the cashier S VP NP PP NP. NP PRO V P. Det. Det. N N.

27. 16. The porter called George a taxi • The porter called George a taxi S VP NP Det N Det. V. N N.

28. 16. The porter called George a taxi • The porter called George a taxi S VP NP NP NP. Det N Det. V. N N.

29. 16. The porter called George a taxi • The porter called George a taxi S VP NP NP NP. Det N Det. V. N N.

30. 17. The medicine made her ill • The medicine made her ill S VP NP Det N V. N A.

31. 17. The medicine made her ill • The medicine made her ill S VP NP NP. AP Det N V. N A.

32. 17. The medicine made her ill • The medicine made her ill S VP NP NP. AP Det N V. N A.

33. 18. Those unhappy students failed the final exam S Those unhappy students failed the final exam NP VP AP NP AP. Det A N V. Det.. A N.

34. 18. Those unhappy students failed the final exam S Those unhappy students failed the final exam NP VP AP NP AP. Det A N V. Det.. A N.

35. 18. Those unhappy students failed the final exam S Those unhappy students failed the final exam NP VP Det A N V. Det.. A N.

36. 19. The dog bit the old man on the nose S The dog bit the old man on the nose NP VP PP NP. NP. AP. Det N V Det A. N. P. Det N.

37. 20. The woman on the bus told me the story of her life S The woman on the bus told me the story of her life NP VP NP. NP PP. PP. NP. NP. NP. NP AP. Det N P Det N. V. Pro. Det.. N. P A N

38. 21. He saw the girl in the green park He saw the girl in the green park S VP NP PP NP NP AP P V Det N P Det A N

39. 22. He saw the girl in the green dress He saw the girl in the green dress S VP NP NP PP NP NP AP P V Det N P Det A N

40. Disambiguation • See slides 7 and 8 for the problem of sentences like 21. and 22. which look the same on the surfac but have a different tree structure.