Syntax and Syntactic Properties

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture on syntax, including the principles of compositionality, grammatical structures, syntactic constituents, and different types of ambiguity.

What is the Principle of Compositionality in linguistics?

The meaning of a sentence is a function of the meanings of the words it contains and the way in which these words are syntactically combined.

What illustrates that different syntactic combinations produce different meanings?

The sentences 'The dog bit the man.' and 'The man bit the dog.' show how word order changes meaning.

Give an example of a grammatical but meaningless sentence.

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

What is grammatical judgement?

reflection of speakers’ mental grammar, and not a test of their conscious knowledge of the prescriptive rules

What do linguists mean when they say a sentence is grammatical?

It means that a native speaker would recognize that the string of words forms a sentence.

What are syntactic constituents?

Certain groups of expressions within a larger phrase that can form a syntactic unit.

What are the three tests for identifying syntactic constituents?

1. Answers to Questions

2. Clefting

3. Pro-form Substitution

What is a descriptive grammar?

A linguist's theory of a native speaker's mental grammar, including elements like the lexicon and phrase structure rules.

What is lexical ambiguity?

A single word corresponds to distinct expressions that differ in meaning, syntactic properties, or both.

Give an example of structural ambiguity.

The sentence 'Elizabeth poked the triceratops with a pointy stick.' can mean different things depending on how the structure is interpreted.

What is the function of adjuncts in syntax?

Adjuncts are optional elements in a sentence that can be added without changing the core meaning.

What is an argument in the context of syntactic properties?

An expression that must co-occur with other expressions in a grammatical sentence.

How does word order affect sentence structure?

Word order can determine the grammatical structure and meaning of a sentence, as seen in different languages.

What distinguishes a noun phrase (NP) from a noun (N)?

An NP can include determiners and adjectives, while an N is just the noun itself.

What is the purpose of phrase structure rules?

They represent patterns of syntactic combinations, specifying how different syntactic categories combine.

What is the difference between a transitive and intransitive verb?

A transitive verb requires a direct object, while an intransitive verb does not.

In the context of syntax, what is ambiguity?

Linguistic forms can have more than one distinct meaning or structure.

What are the four main types of verbs?

1. Intransitive 2. Transitive 3. Ditransitive 4. Sentential complement.

How can syntactic distribution reveal syntactic categories?

Expressions in the same syntactic category share similar syntactic properties and distribution in sentences.

What are the types of syntactic properties?

• word order

• co-occurrence

What question should we ask to determine the word order of a sentence?

How can (or must) expressions be ordered with respect to each other?

What question should we ask to determine the co-occurrence of a sentence?

If an expression occurs in a sentence, what other expressions can/must co-occur with it?

What is the general word order structure of an English sentence?

The general word order structure of an English sentence follows the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) pattern, where the subject precedes the verb, which is then followed by the object.

What is the significance of word order across different languages?

Different languages will have different rules about word order, changing the meaning and punctuation.

What is the word order of English + Spanish noun phrases?

• in Engish, adjectives precede nouns

• following the order of determiners, adjectives, and then nouns.

  • ex. '“the green triceratops”

• in Spanish, the nouns precede the adjectives

• the order of nouns and then adjectives.

  • ex: "el triceratops verde."

What is the word order of the English prepostitional phrases?

• in English, propositions precede nouns

  • ex. with this child

• in Japanese, prepositions follow nouns in a postpositional manner, called postpositions

  • ex. "kodomo to" meaning this child with

What are co-occurrence relationships?

An expression may require or permit other expressions to form a grammatical sentence in a syntactic structure. These relationships highlight how certain words or phrases must appear together to maintain grammaticality.

What is a co-occurring argument?:

An expression that occurs in a sentence requires certain other expressions to appear to form a grammatical sentence or structure.

Provide an example of a co-occurrence relationship

I sent a letter.

I sent.

• the verb “send” requires a subject and an object to form a grammatical sentence

  • verb “send” requires 2 arguments a letter and are arguments of “sent”

What is a re-occurring complement?

a non-subject argument that typically provides additional information or specifies details about an action or state expressed by the verb.

How does the verbs “ask'“ and “put” illustrate different argument structures?

The verb 'ask' typically requires an argument structure including a subject, a 'wh-' phrase (for the question), and an object (who to ask), while 'put' usually takes a subject, a direct object (what is being placed), and an indirect object (where it is being placed).

Example of “ask” in a co-occurrence relationship

In the sentence "I asked him a question," the verb "ask" co-occurs with a subject "I," an indirect object "him," and a direct object "a question."

Example of “put” in a co-occurrence relationship

In the sentence "She put the book on the table," the verb "put" co-occurs with a subject "She," a direct object "the book," and an indirect object "on the table."

Which phrases require arguments? Provide examples.

• prepositions, noun, verbs, and certain adjectives

  • The Triceratops lives in the backyard.

  • The boy flew his kite.

  • The squirrel danced in the tree.

  • The Triceratops is fond of leaves.

Define grammaticality.

For a sentence to be grammatical, the expressions within it must have all and only the arguments they require

Define adjuncts.

Expressions whose appearance in a sentence are optional

examples of adjuncts

The small Triceratops is my friend.

Contract example between Adjunct vs Argument: ‘She sang beautifully at the concert.’ vs ‘She sang a song.’

In the sentence 'She sang beautifully at the concert,' 'beautifully' is an adjunct providing extra detail, while 'a song' in 'She sang a song' is an argument that is essential for the sentence's structure.

Define Agreement

• a kind of argument

• some expressions can require other forms to share a grammatical quality

Examples of syntactic constituent

The Triceratops devoured the leaf on the step.

• The Triceratops - one constituent

• the leaf: constituent; complements devour

• on the step: constituent; adjunct

How to use the Answers to Questions Constituency Test?

To determine if a phrase is a constituent, ask specific questions about it or attempt to substitute it with a pronoun. If the phrase answers the question or can be substituted, it functions as a single constituent.

Examples of using the Answers to Questions Constituency Test?