SYNTACTIC

CATEGORIES
NP, VP, PP, AdvP ??
SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES
 Syntactic categories include:

Lexical categories Phrasal categories

N (noun) NP (noun phrase)

V (verb) VP (verb phrase)
P (preposition) AP (adjective phrase)
A (adjective) PP (prepositional phrase)
Adv (adverb) AdvP (adverbial phrase)

Traditionally: Parts of speech

Have descriptive meanings
SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES
 Each lexical category has a corresponding phrasal category.
 Examples:

Lexical categories phrasal categories

N (noun) puppy , boy, man, happiness

V (verb) find, run, sleep, throw
P (preposition) over, down, across, into
A (adjective) red, big, happy, candid
Adv (adverb) brightly, again, always, often
 SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES
 Each lexical category has a corresponding phrasal category.
 Examples:

Lexical categories phrasal categories Phrasal categories lexical categories

N (noun) puppy , boy, man, happiness NP (noun phrase) the puppy , the boy, men
V (verb) find, run, sleep, throw VP (verb phrase) finds, see the puppy with the boy
P (preposition) over, down, across, into PP (prepositional phrase) nearly over, nearly over the hill
A (adjective) red, big, happy, candid AP (adjective phrase) very happy, very happy about winning
Adv (adverb) brightly, again, always, often AdvP (adverbial phrase) more brightly, more brightly than the sun
SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES
 Syntactic categories also include:

Functional categories

Det (determiner) T (tense)

• Articles: a and the • Modal auxiliaries: may, might, can, could,

• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those must, shall, should, will, would
• Quantifiers: each, every. • Abstract tense morphemes

Have grammatical functions

How are the phrases and
sentences of a language
constructed?
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 the mother of James Whistler
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 the mother of James Whistler

HEAD
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 the mother of James Whistler

HEAD
The core of every phrase - a lexical category of its same syntactic type
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 the mother of James Whistler
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 the mother of James Whistler

COMPLEMENT

A phrasal category that may occur next to a head,

and only there,
and which elaborates on the meaning of the head
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 the mother of James Whistler
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 the mother of James Whistler

SPECIFIER
An element preceding the head
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 the mother of James Whistler

SPECIFIER HEAD COMPLEMENT

PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 That hairy sheepdog

 My boyfriend cologne

 The coming teacher

PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
 All of the phrasal categories, NP, VP, AP, and PP, have a similar 3-tiered
structure, as follows:

 NP (noun phrase)

 VP (verb phrase)
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE

 NP (noun phrase)

specifier
head complement

 VP (verb phrase)
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE

 AP
specifier
head complement

 PP
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE

 In each of the phrases:

 The head and its

complement are under the
same node
specifier
 Node - A point in a tree
head complement
where branches join
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE

 In each of the phrases:

 The head and its

complement are under the
same node
specifier -> The complement has an
head complement important relationship with
the meaning of the head.
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE

 In each of the phrases:

 The head and its

complement are under the
same node
specifier -> The complement has an
head complement important relationship with
the meaning of the head.
Categories under the same
node - Sisters
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE

 All of the phrasal categories,

NP, VP, AP, and PP, have a
similar 3-tiered internal
structure, as follows:
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE

 This 3-tiered structure, referred to as the X-bar

(X̅ ) schema
 A template or blueprint that specifies how the
phrases of a language are organized.
 The X-bar schema “stands for” the various
phrasal categories.
 The X-bar schema applies to all syntactic
phrases.
PHRASE STRUCTURE TREE

 The X-bar schema is hypothesized

to be part of Universal Grammar.
THE CATEGORY S(ENTENCE)
THE
CATEGO
RY
S(ENTE
NCE)
THE CATEGORY S(ENTENCE)
 We can now provide a fully labeled tree diagram for entire sentences .

 The child found a puppy -> combining of S, NP, and VP structures:

THE CATEGORY S(ENTENCE)

 -Every higher node is said to dominate all

the categories that can be traced down the
tree beneath it.
 - A node is said to immediately dominate
the categories one level below it.
SMALL CLAUSE
• A small clause is an XP composed of an NP followed by a bar level
category, for example:
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
 The information represented in a
PS tree and by the X-bar schema
can also be conveyed by another
formal device
-> Phrase structure (PS) rules.
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
BUILDING PHRASE
STRUCTURE TREES
RECURSIVE
RULE
The kindhearted, intelligent,
handsome boy
RECURSIVE RULE
 To account for the potentially limitless number of adjectives we need
a recursive rule.
 By including this rule, that is, by permitting such structures to grow,
we can easily represent the structure of the NP in question:
RECURSIVE RULE
 Without N we would be forced to have a recursive rule on NP such as ̅
NP→A NP, but it would not work.
 It would allow the Det to show up in an impossible place as in *kind-
hearted, intelligent, the boy
INTENSIFIER
INTENSIFIE
R
 Another way speakers
of English can “grow”
structures of
theoretically limitless
size is by repeating the
category of Intensifier
(Int) within an AP.
 A̅ → Int A
ADJUNCT
ADJUNCT
 V̅ → V̅ PP

 The X-bar schema gives

us the recursion on the
X category, essentially
structures.(PS rules)
ADJUNCT
 A phrasal category that
is sister to an X̅ and
daughter of a higher X̅ ,
is called an adjunct.
ADJUNCT
 The first of the adjunct
patterns above is reflected
in the adjective and
intensifier recursive rule.
 The adjunct is the
intensifier.
 It produces a right-
branching structure.
ADJUNCT
 The second pattern is
reflected in the
prepositional phrase
recursive rule where the
adjunct is a PP and
produces a left-branching
structure.
ADJUNCT
 N → N ̅ PP ̅

 The following structure for

the boat in the ocean white
with foam from the gale
illustrates both NP and PP
recursion.