Lecture Lecture Week 5Week 5Basic Constructions Basic Constructions of English Sentenceof English Sentence

Sentences and ClausesSentences and ClausesNode

Structural ambiguity?Structural ambiguity?

Fast cars and motorcycles are Fast cars and motorcycles are dangerous.dangerous.

Any ambiguity? Yes/No? Explain!Any ambiguity? Yes/No? Explain!

Phrase structure rulesPhrase structure rules

(1)(1) S S NP VP NP VP

(2)(2) NP NP (Detv) (AdjP)* N (PP) (Detv) (AdjP)* N (PP)

(3)(3) AdjP AdjP (AdvP) Adj (AdvP) Adj

(4)(4) VP VP V (NP) (NP) (PP)* V (NP) (NP) (PP)*

(5)(5) PP PP P (NP/PP) P (NP/PP)

Complex SentenceComplex Sentence

S

NPVP

V

CP

COMP (SUB)

S

I know that the tall librarian put the book on that shelf

Upper S = sentence

Lower S = clause

Complex SentenceComplex Sentence

S SConj

S

The tall librarian put the book on AND the short one removed it

the shelf

Upper S corresponds to a sentence

Lower S corresponds to a clause

The status of VP in EnglishThe status of VP in English

S S NP + VP (as in (1)) NP + VP (as in (1))

VP VP V (NP) (NP) (PP)* (as in (4)) V (NP) (NP) (PP)* (as in (4))

Tests for phrasehood of VP:Tests for phrasehood of VP:• Substitution Substitution • Clefting Clefting • Movement Movement

(8)a. The tall librarian (8)a. The tall librarian put the book on the shelfput the book on the shelf, , and and so didso did John. John.

The tall librarian The tall librarian put the book on the shelfput the book on the shelf, , and John and John did sodid so too. too.

b.b. **It wasIt was put that book on the shelfput that book on the shelf that that the tall librarianthe tall librarian _____. _____.

c. (I told the tall librarian to put that book on c. (I told the tall librarian to put that book on the shelf, and)the shelf, and)

**put that book on the shelfput that book on the shelf the tall the tall librarian ___.librarian ___.

(9)a.(9)a. (I told the tall librarian to (I told the tall librarian to put that put that

book on the shelfbook on the shelf, and) , and) put that book put that book

on the shelfon the shelf

the tall librarian the tall librarian diddid ___. ___.

b.b. ... the tall librarian ... the tall librarian diddid put that put that book on the shelfbook on the shelf..

(10)(10)a. (She denies that) she a. (She denies that) she putsputs all the all the linguistics books in the bin, butlinguistics books in the bin, but

put them in the binput them in the bin she she doesdoes..

b. *b. *puts them in the binputs them in the bin she ___. she ___.

c. She c. She doesdoes put all the linguistics books put all the linguistics books in in the binthe bin..

d. * She d. * She doesdoes putputss all the linguistics all the linguistics books in books in the binthe bin..

(11)(11)a. The bowler a. The bowler took a great catchtook a great catch..

b. *b. *Took a great catchTook a great catch the bowler ___. the bowler ___.

c. (...and) c. (...and) take a great catchtake a great catch the bowler the bowler diddid ___. ___.

d. The bowler d. The bowler diddid take a great catchtake a great catch..

e. *The bowler e. *The bowler did tookdid took a great catch. a great catch.

so

puts/takesputs/takes

does put/take

put/took

did put/take

so

so

puts

present PUT

put

past PUT

takes

present TAKE

took

past TAKE

Revised SRevised S

S

NP AUX VP

TENSE

The tall librarian does/did put that book on…..

---------- puts/put that book on..

The bowler does/did take a great catch

----------- takes/took a great catch

Revised SRevised S

S

NP AUX VP

TENSE

The tall librarian does/did so (16a)

---------- *so (16b)

The bowler does/did so

----------- *so

What about the cleft test?

(20) a. ?It was take a great catch that he did

____.

b. *It was took a great catch that he ____.

Functions in the ClauseFunctions in the Clause

S S NP AUX VP NP AUX VP SubjectSubject TenseTense PredicatePredicate

MaryMary PASTPAST cleaned her teeth. cleaned her teeth.

JohnJohn PRESENTPRESENT eats his dinner. eats his dinner.

The babyThe baby does drink milk does drink milk

PRESENTPRESENT

SubjectsSubjects

Typically filled by NPTypically filled by NP– The babyThe baby ate the yoghurtate the yoghurt

Can also be filled by PPCan also be filled by PP– Under the bedUnder the bed seems the safest.seems the safest.

Or by a clauseOr by a clause– That John leftThat John left surprised mesurprised me

PredicatesPredicates

Typically filled by Typically filled by VPVP– The baby does The baby does drink milk.drink milk.

Can also be filled by Can also be filled by AdjPAdjP– The baby is The baby is extremely happy.extremely happy.

Or by an Or by an NPNP– John is John is a good doctor.a good doctor.

Or by a Or by a PPPP– John was John was in the house.in the house.

SummarySummary

Simple sentence = single S or clauseSimple sentence = single S or clause

Complex sentence > 1 S or clauseComplex sentence > 1 S or clause

Functions of main constituents of S:Functions of main constituents of S:• Subject: Subject: NP/PP/clauseNP/PP/clause• Tense: Tense: Auxiliary verb (Lexical verb)Auxiliary verb (Lexical verb)• Predicate: Predicate: VP/AdjP/NP/PPVP/AdjP/NP/PP

Summary (con't)Summary (con't)

VP = V (minus tense-marking) + .....VP = V (minus tense-marking) + .....

– VP with untensed verb passes all VP with untensed verb passes all three tests for phrasehood:three tests for phrasehood: Substitution (by Substitution (by soso ) ) CleftCleft MovementMovement

––VP with tensed verb fails all three VP with tensed verb fails all three tests tests

Further reading:Further reading:

Fromkin, V. Rodman, R. Fromkin, V. Rodman, R. et alet al. 2005. . 2005. An An Introduction to Language Introduction to Language Ch. 4 Ch. 4