Phrase structure rules govern how words and phrases are combined to form grammatical units like noun phrases (NP), verb phrases (VP), and full sentences (S). Phrases are made up of heads and their constituents, which can include other phrases. This recursive property allows phrases to embed within each other to form infinitely long expressions. Trees are used to represent the structure of phrases.

1. PhraseStructure Rules, treesConstituentsRecursionConjunctionshttp://faculty.washington.edu/wassink/LING200/lect14_syntax2.pdf

2. PhraseStructureEverywordbelongsto a lexical category2) Lexical categoriesformheads of phrases3) Thewayphrases are formedisgovernedby rules: phrasestructure rules

3. Phrase Structure RulesRules that determine…

4. …………what goes into a phrase (constituents)

5. …………how the constituents are ordered

6. Constituent: a word or group of words that function as a unit and can make up larger grammatical unitsNoun Phrase NPJohn Nthe boy Det Na little boy Det Adj Na boy in a box Det N PPPhrase Structure Rule for NPs:NP (Det) (Adj) N (PP)Where ( ) indicate optionality

7. PhraseStructureTrees NP NPNPNP N Det N DetAdj N Det N PPJohntheboya littleboya boyP NPin Det Na box

8. Prepositional Phrase (PP)in P

9. from a boy in a box P NPPhrase Structure Rule for PPs PP P (NP)

10. PhraseStructureTrees PP PP P P NP in fromDet N PPa boyP NP in Det N a box

11. RECURSION Some phrasal categories may appear to the left or right of the arrow NP (Det) N (PP) PP P (NP)Recursion: the property of language that allows for the embedding of categories ( which can yield infinitely long phrases)Thecatonthemat in thehouseonthestreet NPDet N PPthecatP NPonDet N PPthematP NP in Det N PPthehouseP NPonDet NthestreetThecatonthemat in thehouseonthestreet

12. VERB PHRASE (VP)sang V

13. ate the cake V NP