Syntax Tests for constituent structure

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SyntaxTests for constituent structure

• LING 200
• Spring 2006

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Constituent structure
phrase structure rule VP ? V (NP) (PP) tree
VP
V NP PP put Det
N P NP
the car in Det N
the
garage
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Constituent structure

• Where do the PS rules come from?
• Some tests
• Structural ambiguity
• Coordination
• Substitution
• Movement

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Compositionality

• Meaning of complex expressions is compositional
• Meaning of morphologically complex words, phrases
  is determined by
• morpheme meaning
• morphological or syntactic structure

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Structurally ambiguous words
Adj
Adj
un Adj
V Adj V Adj
un V able
fold able
fold 2 readings (interpretations) of
unfoldable not capable of being folded
capable of being unfolded un- negative
Adj___Adj un- reverse V___V
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Announcements and reminders

• Syntax homework posted after class, due next
  Thurs in section
• Clicker data will be tabulated and posted as soon
  as possible
• Midterm next Friday
• multiple choice
• material covered in text, lecture, section
  through morphology
• review in sections next week

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The idea behind compositionality is that

1. the meaning of a complex expression is
   essentially unpredictable
2. the meaning of a complex expression lt solely the
   meaning of its parts
3. the meaning of a complex expression lt the meaning
   of its parts the way the parts are structured
4. none of the above

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Structurally ambiguous headlines

• DEALERS WILL HEAR CAR TALK AT NOON
• 2 SISTERS REUNITED AFTER 18 YEARS AT CHECKOUT
  COUNTER
• HOSPITALS ARE SUED BY 7 FOOT DOCTORS
• SQUAD HELPS DOG BITE VICTIM
• HERSHEY BARS PROTEST
• ENRAGED COW ATTACKS MAN WITH AXE

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long vowels or diphthongs in accented syllables
have falling tone, high to normal.
Note Sahaptin has both long and short
diphthongs. Short Aj Aw iw uj. Long AAj AAw
iiw uuj.

1. long vowels or diphthongs is not ambiguous
2. 2 possible meanings long vowels or long
   diphthongs, diphthongs or long vowels
3. 2 possible meanings vowels or long
   diphthongs, diphthongs or long vowels
4. 2 possible meanings long vowels or
   diphthongs, diphthongs or long vowels

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Structural ambiguity and constituency
Enraged cow attacks man with axe.
the real world reading
S

NP
VP

Adj N V NP

enraged cow
attacks N PP


man
P NP



with N



axe
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Enraged cow attacks man with axe.
the humorous(?) reading   S
NP VP Adj
N V NP PP enraged
cow attacks N P NP

man with N


axe
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Structural ambiguity and constituency

• The nomination of Dr. Henry Foster to the
  Surgeon Generals office appears to be in trouble
  after he admitted that he had performed at least
  39 abortions on TV last night.
• he admitted...last night vs. he performed
  abortionslast night

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Structural ambiguity and constituency

• More phrase structure rules
• VP ? V (NP) (PP) (Adv) (CP)
• CP Complementizer phrase
• CP ? Comp S
• Comp Complementizer
• Comp ? that, if, whether

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Structural ambiguity and constituency

he performed last night reading S


NP VP

N V CP

he
admitted Comp S


NP VP


N
V NP Adv


that he performed N last night

abortions
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he admitted ... last night reading
  S NP VP
N V CP Adv
he admitted Comp S last night
that NP
VP
N V NP

he performed N
abortions
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Structural ambiguity

• Adverb placement
• Adverbs are an optional VP constituent
• Ambiguity results lt 2 VPs in this sentence,
  multiple possibilities for Adv placement

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Summary of structural ambiguity

• Meaning is compositional meaning of whole lt
  meaning of parts structure of parts
• Structural ambiguity as a test for syntactic
  structure
• Reading1 lt Structure1
• Reading2 lt Structure2

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Coordination test for constituency

• Only identical categories, lexical or phrasal,
  can be conjoined.
• PS rule schema for conjoined (coordinated)
  categories
• X ? X Conj X
• XP ? XP Conj XP
• Conj ( Conjunction) ? and, or, but, as well as,
  etc.

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Conjoined lexical categories
PP
P NP P Conj P
Det N PP above and beyond the
call P NP

of N

duty
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Conjoined phrasal categories
NP ? NP Conj NP NP ? (Det) (Adj) N NPAdjso-so
Ncoffee NPAdjexcellent Ndesserts They
have NPNPAdjso-so Ncoffee Conjbut
NPAdjexcellent Ndesserts.
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The student wrote a message and to the
professor. Native speakers, is this a
grammatical sentence?

1. The sentence is grammatical.
2. The sentence is ungrammatical.

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Ungrammatical coordination
1. If conjoined elements do not belong to the
same category
write V ___ (NP) (PP) Julia wrote NPa
memo. Julia wrote PPto the dean. Julia wrote
NPa memo and PPto the dean.
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Ungrammatical coordination

• 2. If conjoined elements are not constituents

Julia wrote NPa memo. Julia wrote PPto the
dean. Julia wrote NPa memo and to the.
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John sings badly but plays the guitar
beautifully. Native speakers, is this a
grammatical sentence?

1. The sentence is grammatical.
2. The sentence is ungrammatical.

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Coordination and constituency
Virginia loves syntax. Virginia listened
enthusiastically. Virginia loves syntax and
listened enthusiastically. Conclusion loves
syntax and listened enthusiastically are the
same kind of constituent (VP)
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VP
VP Conj
VP V NP
and V Adv loves
N listened enthusiastically
syntax
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Coordination and constituency

• I wanted a green truck.
• I wanted the same kind of canopy that Virginia
  bought.
• I wanted a green truck and the same kind of
  canopy that Virginia bought.
• Conclusion a green truck and the same kind
  of canopy that Virginia bought are the same kind
  of constituent

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NP ? NP CP (relative clause)
S NP VP N
V NP I
wanted NP Conj
NP a green truck and
NP CP
the same kind of
canopy Comp C
that
Virginia bought
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Coordination and constituency
Virginia wants dinner. Virginia wants Dave to
start cooking. Virginia wants dinner and Dave
to start cooking.   Conclusion Dave to start
cooking is not an NP NPdinner CPDave to
start cooking
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Summary of coordination test

• Only like categories can be conjoined.
• Coordination test reveals information about
• whether a grouping of words is a constituent
• what kind of constituent it is

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Substitution test for constituency

• Do you know Virginia?
• No, I havent met her yet.
• Only constituents can be substituted for with
  shorter expressions.
• Words that substitute pro-forms.

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NP substitute with pronoun
A Old Betsy here just wont start any more and
my wife says to get her out of here. B Why
dont you donate her? A My wife?

• her is a pronoun (or anaphoric pronoun, or
  anaphor) that substitutes for the NP Old Betsy.
  The antecedent of her is Old Betsy.
• pronominal substitution normally involves third
  person pronouns
• pronouns are one type of pro-form

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Pronominal paradigms
subject object possessor
1sg I me my
2sg you you your
3sg he, she, it him, her, it his, her, its
1pl we us our
2pl you (guys) you (guys) your (you guyss)
3pl they them their
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PP substitute with there
Last night I dreamed I was in the HUB, but I was
the only one there. Did you check on the
memory stick for your file? Yes, and it wasnt
there.
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Adjective Phrase substitute with so

• Virginia is anxious for Dave to cook dinner and
  so am I.
• The students are tired of waiting for the
  projector to work. So are the TAs.

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Sentence (/CP) substitute with it, that, so

• p and ph are in complementary distribution in
  English. Can you believe it? (Can you believe
  that p and ph are in complementary
  distribution in English?)
•  
• p and ph are in complementary distribution in
  English. I understand that.
•  
• Are p and ph in complementary distribution in
  English? Yes, I think so.

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Verb Phrases and the substitution test
Verb phrases substitute with as, so, and so, do
so   Joyce has studied Arabic, as has
Julia. Joyce has studied Arabic, and so has
Julia. Joyce has studied Arabic. So has
Julia. Joyce has studied Arabic, and Julia has
done so as well. If pro-forms substitute for
constituents, then studied Arabic in has studied
Arabic must be a constituent.
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Verb Phrases and the substitution test

• What is leftover after VP substitution?
• Joyce is studying Arabic, and so is Julia.
• Joyce will study Arabic, and so will Julia.
• S ? NP (Aux) VP (textbook S ? NP Aux VP)
• Aux ? have, be, will, can/could, may/might,
  will/would, shall/should
• Joyce Auxis VPstudying Arabic,
• and VPso Auxis Julia.

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so substitutes for VP
if so substitutes for entire VP Joyce Auxhas
VPstudied Arabic, and VPso Auxhas
Julia. if so substitutes for part of VP Joyce
has studied Arabic, and so has Stephen
Khmer. (Joyce has studied Arabic, and Stephen
Khmer.)
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Some properties of Aux
Aux ? have, be, will, can/could, may/might,
will/would, shall/should 1. Negation follows Aux

• positive negative negative
  (contracted form)
• has studied has not studied hasnt studied
• is studying is not studying isnt studying
• will study will not study wont study
• studies studies not studiesnt

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Some properties of Aux

• 2. In yes/no questions, only Aux is moved to
  the beginning of the sentence

Is Joyce studying Arabic? Has Joyce studied
Arabic? Will Joyce study Arabic? result of
moving Aux and V to beginning of sentence
Will study Joyce Arabic?
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VP substitution test again

• (again) pro-forms which can substitute for VP

Joyce Auxhas VPstudied Arabic, VPas
Auxhas Julia. Joyce Auxhas VPstudied
Arabic, VPand so Auxhas Julia. Joyce
Auxhas VPstudied Arabic. VPSo Auxhas
Julia. Joyce Auxhas VPstudied Arabic, and
Julia Auxhas VPdone so as well.
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Aux has structure
The do so pro-form again. What can it substitute
for?
Julia Auxhas VPstudied Arabic, and Joyce
Auxhas VPdone so too. Julia Auxhas been
VPstudying Arabic, and Joyce Auxhas been
VPdoing so too. Julia Auxmust have been
VPstudying Arabic, and Joyce Auxmust have
been VPdoing so too.
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Aux-less sentences

• Do-support Aux ? do

Has Aux Lacks Aux
declarative Julia is studying. Julia studies.
Inserted Aux
negative Julia isnt studying. Julia doesnt study.
yes/no question Is Julia studying? Does Julia study?
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Caveat on do Aux vs. V
do in do the homework is V
declarative Stephen did the homework.
negative Stephen didnt do the homework.
yes/no question Did Stephen do the homework?
pro-form He did do so.
V
Aux
pro-form
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Summary of substitution test

• Pro-forms can substitute for other constituents
• Substitution reveals information about
  constituency
• There is a VP constituent.
• There is an Aux constituent.
• Properties of Aux, do as Aux

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Movement test

• Only single constituents can be moved.
• promise, V __ NP NP (a ditransitive verb)
• S
• NP
  VP
• V
  NP NP
• 
  
• 
  N Det N
• Dave promised Virginia
  a latte.
• A latte, Dave promised Virginia.
• Virginia, Dave promised a latte.
• Virginia a latte, Dave promised.

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Aux and movement test

• In questions, Aux is moved to the beginning of
  the sentence.
• Aux ? Modal have be
• Aux ? do
• Modal ? will, can/could, may/might, will/would,
  shall/should, must

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Modal vs. non-modal Aux

• 1. Non-modal Aux require special form of verb

BE -ing form (gerund) progressive
construction is going present progressive was
going past progressive will be going future
progressive
HAVE -ed form (past participle) perfect
construction has gone present perfect had
gone past perfect will have gone future
perfect
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Modal vs. non-modal Aux
2. Non-modals have 3.sg.present, infinitive,
gerund, and past participle forms has,
to have, having, had is, to be, being,
been   Modals lack these forms shoulds, to
should, shoulding, shoulded musts, to must,
musting, musted
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• In questions, the leftmost constituent of Aux is
  moved to the beginning of the sentence.

Joyce AuxModwill have studied for it by
then. WillMod Joyce have studied for it by
then? Joyce AuxModwill have been studying
for it. WillMod Joyce have been studying for
it? Will haveAux Joyce been studying for it?
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More on Aux movement in questions

• In questions, the leftmost constituent of Aux is
  moved to the beginning of the sentence.
• What about
• The person who is studying Arabic has left the
  room.
• Is the person who studying Arabic has left the
  room?
• Has the person who is studying Arabic left the
  room?
• How to predict which Aux?
• The person who is studying Arabic has left the
  room.
• 1
  2

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The (subject) NP constituent

• In questions, the leftmost constituent of the Aux
  which follows the (subject/leftmost/highest) NP
  is moved to the beginning of the sentence.
• The person who is studying ArabicNP hasAux
  left the roomVP
• Movement delimits subject NP constituent

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Summary

• Tests for constituency
• Structural ambiguity structure determines
  meaning
• Coordination test only constituents of same
  category can be conjoined
• Substitution test pro-forms can substitute for
  constituents
• Movement test only constituents can be moved
• Using these tests to identify more constituents
• VP, Aux, Subject NP

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• The Seattle Times, 4-27-06
• Gentner et al. (2006) Recursive syntactic
  pattern learning by songbirds. Nature
  4401204-1207.

Question is this evidence that starlings have
recursive grammar?