This document discusses syntax and sentence structure. It defines syntax as the rules of sentence formation and the component of grammar that represents a speaker's knowledge of phrase and sentence structure. It discusses constituents, phrase structure rules, syntactic categories, and phrase structure trees. Phrase structure trees are used to represent the hierarchical structure of sentences and show constituent structures and syntactic categories. The document notes that language has an infinite quality, as sentences can always be lengthened through the addition of modifiers. It provides examples of phrase structure trees and tests to identify verbs phrases and noun phrases.

1. The Sentence Patterns
of Language
By: Steffany Villanueva
SYNTAX

2. Grammar
 Mental representation of a speaker’s
linguistical competence
 What a speaker knows about the
language, including its phonology,
morphology, syntax, semantics and
lexicon
BEFORE YOU GET CONFUSED…

3. Syntax
 The rules of sentence formation.
 The component of the mental grammar
that represents speakers’ knowledge of
the structure of phrases and sentence.
BEFORE YOU GET CONFUSED…

4. σύν syn, "together", and τάξις táxis, "an ordering“
arrangement
Refer directly to the rules and principles that govern the
sentence structure of any individual language
structure (word order)
SYNTAX

5. Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
nonsense, but grammatically correct.

6. Chief swore President the Justice the
in new

7. Sequence is made up of meaningful words
DOES IT MAKE SENSE?
Chief swore president the justice
the in new.

8. Every sentence is a sequence of words
But not every sequence of words is a sentence.
Chief swore president the justice
the in new.

9. Determined by rules shared by the speakers of a language
Example:
WHAT GRAMMATICALITY IS
BASED ON

10. Determined by rules shared by the speakers of a language
Example:
Jack and Jill ran the hill up.
WHAT GRAMMATICALITY IS
BASED ON

11. I am proud to be my mother

12. Vicente believes to be a gentleman

13. Joana ate the baby

14. Not based on what is taught in school but on the rules constructed
unconsciously as children
Children acquire most of the syntactic rules of their language even before
learning to read.
Does not depend on having heard the sentence before.
Example:
Enormous crickets in pink socks
danced at the prom.
WHAT GRAMMATICALITY
IS NOT BASED ON

15. Does not depend on the truth of the sentence
If it did, lying would be impossible.
Example:

16. Does not depend on the truth of the sentence
If it did, lying would be impossible.
Example:
I look like Jessy Mendiola.
WHAT GRAMMATICALITY IS NOT
BASED ON

17. Constituent- (phrase) is a group of words which “belong together” in a
sentence. Ability to stand alone.
COMPONENTS

18. String – group of words is constituent or not
A. Proform test- stands for contituents already mentioned.
E.g. pronouns (which replace NPs; she/him/they etc). Other
proforms: somewhere, do so, there).
Examples:
a. The lady running the group handed in her resignation at noon.
b. She handed in her resignation. [→ The lady running the group
is a constituent]
CONSTITUENTS
TESTS

19. A string is a constituent if you can ask about it using a wh-expression
(e.g. where/how/when/why/what/who(m); with whom?, at what
time?, in whose house?). The answer to the question is also a
constituent.
Ex.
A: What did the lady running the group hand in at noon?
B: Her resignation.
A: Who handed in her resignation at noon?
B: The lady running the group
A: When did the lady running the group hand in her resignation?
B: At noon
B. QUESTION TEST

20. If a string can be moved to some other position in the sentence,
it is very likely to be a constituent.
a. Egbert was reading a thick book about formal logic on the
balcony on Sunday.
b. b. On Sunday, Egbert was reading a thick book about formal
logic on the balcony.
c. On the balcony, Egbert was reading a thick book about
formal logic on Sunday.
d. Egbert was reading on the balcony on Sunday a thick book
about formal logic.
C. MOVEMENT TEST

21. If you can coordinate two strings (i.e. join them together using
conjunctions (e.g. and, or)), the strings are constituents
a. I went to the post office to post a letter.
b. I went to the post office to post a letter and did the shopping.
c. I did the shopping and went to the post office to post a letter.
D. COORDINATION TEST

22. NOUN PHRASE
a. the woman; a big tree; this coffee, our existence
b. a (famous) singer (of exceptional talent) (who got run over by
a truck)
c. a (renowned) expert (on indigenous Australian music) (from
Brisbane)
d. the (most important) representatives (of workers' interests)
(at the conference)
PHRASES

23. Ex. . Her mother READ A BOOK
a. (suddenly) died (of cancer) (at a young age)
b. (blindly) rely on the advice of a counsellor
c. (often) called him a maladjusted sociopath
d. (quickly) give Basil the key e. (often) eats (dinner) (in the kitchen)
VERB PHRASE

24. The three main types: spatial PPs (expressing places or directions, as in ),
temporal PPs (expressing times,) and other PPs expressing more abstract
meanings
a. [PP near [NP the fireplace]]
b. [PP towards [NP the building]]
c. [PP after [NP the discussion]]
d. [PP in [NP the evening]]
e. [PP of [NP her parents]]
f. [PP despite [NP the situation]]
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

25. A. S = NP VP
B. NP= (Det)(Adj) N (PP)
C. PP= P NP
D. VP= V (NP) (PP) (Adv)
PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES

26. Ambiguity (Double Meaning)
Example:
We need more (intelligent leaders). (more of intelligent leaders)
We need (more intelligent) leaders. (leaders that are more intelligent)
Grammatical Relations and how they are understood
Ex. Mary hired Bill.
Bill hired Mary.
Bill was hired by Mary.
ABOUT SYNTAX?

27. The TREE DIAGRAM
Root (entire sentence)
Leaves (individual words)
Hierarchical structure (groupings)
Constituent structures
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
the child found the puppy
the child found the puppy
the child found the puppy
the puppy

28. A family of expressions that can substitute for one another without loss of
grammaticality
Ex. The child found the puppy.
Your neighbor found the puppy.
This yellow cat found the puppy.
He found the puppy.
SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES

29. Noun Phrase (NP) – subject or object in the sentence
Verb Phrase (VP) – verb by NP or PP
Sentence (S)
Determiner (Det)
Adjective (Adj)
Adverb (Adv)
Noun (N)
SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES

30. Pronoun (Pro)
Preposition (P)
Prepositional Phrase (PP)
Auxiliary Verb (Aux) –have, be, will, must, etc.
Verb (V)
SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES

31. A tree diagram with syntactic category information provided (syntactic labels)
Constituent structure tree
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREES

32. PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
the child found the puppy
S
the child
NP
found the puppy
VP
the
Det
child
N
found
V
the puppy
NP
the
Det
puppy
N

33. The TREE DIAGRAM
Root (entire sentence)
Leaves (individual words)
Hierarchical structure (groupings)
Constituent structures
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
the child found the puppy
the child found the puppy
the child found the puppy
the puppy

34. PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
the child found the puppy
S
the child
NP
found the puppy
VP
the
Det
child
N
found
V
the puppy
NP
the
Det
puppy
N

35. PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
S
NP VP
Det N V NP
Det N
the puppy
foundchildthe

36. PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
S
NP VP
Det N V NP
Det N
the puppy
foundchildthe Lexical Categories-lowest
categories in the tree.
Syntactic Categories
Node

37. PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
S
NP VP
Det N V NP
Det N
the puppy
foundchildthe Lexical Categories-lowest
categories in the tree.
Syntactic Categories
Node
“ALL” is
important

38. MORE PHRASE STRUCTURE
TREES
S
NP VP
Det NPN PP
the boy
V
saw P NPDet N
the man Det Nwith
the telescope
Three different structural positions representing three grammatical relations.

39. MORE PHRASE STRUCTURE
TREES
S
NP VP
Det NPN PP
the boy
V
saw P NPDet N
the man Det Nwith
the telescope
Reveal ambiguities

40. MORE PHRASE STRUCTURE
TREES
S
NP VP
Det NPN
the boy
V
saw
P PP
Det N
the man
Det Nwith
the telescope
NP
Reveal ambiguities

41. There is no longest sentence in any language
Speakers can lengthen any sentence by various means
Adding adjectives, clauses, etc.
THE INFINITUDE OF LANGUAGE

42. THE INFINITUDE OF LANGUAGE
NP
Det N PP
P NP
Det N PP
P NP
Det N PP
P NP
Det N
the girl with the feather on the ribbon on the brim
Limitless aspect of language
Is reflected in phrase structure
Trees.

43. THE INFINITUDE OF LANGUAGE
NP
Det N PP
P NP
Det N PP
P NP
Det N PP
P NP
Det N
the girl with the feather on the ribbon on the brim
But as the structures grow longer
They become more increasingly
Difficult to produce and understand.
-due to short term memory limitations
-muscular fatigue*
-breathlessness, etc.*

44. ANY
QUESTION?

45. Find the VPs in the following sentences.
1. She wrote several books on British history.
2. She apparently believes the stories about the aliens.
3. She read a book and went to bed.
4. They emptied and refilled the tank.
Find the NPs in the following sentences.
1. People from the mainland often forget Tasmania when they draw maps
of Australia.
2. 2. At the next meeting, the president of the committee called in an expert
on environmental
TEST

46. S
NP VP
Pro V Pro
I thank you