Linguistics For Everyone - Chapter 7 - Syntax: Heads/phrases

Front 1

Syntax

Back 1

The system of rules and principles that describe how we organize words into phrases and phrases into larger units, the largest being the clause; also, the study of this system.

Front 2

Phrase

Back 2

Syntactic unit (NP or noun phrase, VP or verb phrase, etc) headed by a syntactic category (N or noun, V or verb, etc)

Front 3

Determiners

Back 3

Words which introduce nouns, signified by D. Category includes quantifiers, numerals, determiners (all of which are functional categories). Examples are: the, these, this, all, some, six as in 'six houses', 'all dogs', 'few people'.

Front 4

Which nouns don't need determiners?

Back 4

1. Generic nouns (as in 'Lions roar.)
2. Mass nouns (as in 'Lou makes lovely jewelry.')
3. Proper names (as in 'Mary walked in the door.')
(Note that some proper nouns DO take determiners: 'The New York Mets', 'The Chunnel')

Front 5

Phrase structure

Back 5

System of rules that organizes words into larger units or phrases.

Front 6

Head

Back 6

The word whose syntactic category determines the category of the phrase.

Front 7

Constituent

Back 7

Group of words that forms a larger syntactic unit. The constituents include the head. For the rule NP → (D) N, both D and N are constituents of NP.

Front 8

How to read a simple phrase structure rule

Back 8

NP → (D) N
"A noun phrase can contain a determiner (optional) and must contain a noun."
Note: The complete definition for a NP is NP → (D) (AP) N (AP)

Front 9

What are the forms of English verbs?

Back 9

English verbs have 5 forms:
1. infinitive
2. present tense
3. past tense
4. present participle
5. past participle

Front 10

What are the three syntactic groups into which English verbs can be divided?

Back 10

1. Auxiliary
2. Main
3. Modal

Front 11

Auxiliary verb

Back 11

A form of 'have', 'be' or 'do' that occurs in Aux, a syntactic position preceding V in a verb phrase.

Front 12

Main verb

Back 12

Verb that occurs under V and is the head of VP (verb phrase).

Front 13

Modal verb

Back 13

Class of verbs ('can/could', 'may/might' etc) that occur in Aux in a VP

Front 14

Characteristics of a Verb Phrase (VP)

Back 14

VPs can include as many as three other verbs (a modal, in the first position & as many as two auxiliary verbs).
Example: modal + have + be + main verb (might have been sleeping).

Front 15

Verb phrase rule

Back 15

VP → Aux V (XP)
Aux → modal, have, be
X → a phrase of any category (NP, AP, PP etc)

Front 16

Negation

Back 16

Causing a statement to have the oppositve meaning by inserting 'not' between Aux and V - i.e. auxiliary verbs and modals (Aux) typically occur before the negative adverb 'not'. Example: John is not playing a game of chess, John must not play a game of chess. Not possible: John played not a game of chess.

Front 17

Subject-auxiliary inversion (SAI)

Back 17

Movement of an auxiliary verb to sentence-initial position (i.e. preceding the subject) to form a question. Example: "Minerva is singing the aria." changes to "Is Minerva singing the aria?" by way of SAI.
Main verbs in English cannot undergo SAI.

Front 18

Tag question formation

Back 18

Syntactic rule that 'copies' the subject and an auxiliary or modal verb in sentence-final position. Example: Bert should leave, shouldn't he? Note: Only auxiliary verbs can appear in tag questions.

Front 19

Characteristics that distinguish auxiliary verbs from main verbs in English

Back 19

Only Aux verbs:
1. undergo Subject-Auxiliary Inversion (SAI)
2. occur to the left of not i.e. have/be/modal + not construction (Main verbs always occur to the R of not)
3. show up in tag questions.

Front 20

Pleonastic 'do'

Back 20

A 'dummy' or semantically empty, auxiliary verb.

Front 21

'Do' insertion

Back 21

Syntactic phenomenon involving insertion of pleonastic 'do' into empty Aux to form questions, tags, or negative sentences. This occurs in sentences without an auxiliary or modal verb, in contexts in which such an auxiliary or modal is needed to form a question or negate the sentence.

Front 22

Do insertion rule

Back 22

To perform subject-auxiliary inversion, negation and tag question formation, insert 'do' in Aux if Aux is otherwise empty.

Front 23

Adjective (ADJ)

Back 23

A word that describes a noun. Adjectives can themselves be modified by members of Deg, which stands for degree (so, too, very, rather, quite). Examples: the rather enormous hog, a very happy child.

Front 24

Adjective phrase (AP)

Back 24

AP → (Deg) A where Deg = very, so, rather etc.

Front 25

Prenominal position

Back 25

Lit = 'before a noun'. Refers to one possible position for an AP (adjective phrase). Example: six enormous hogs

Front 26

Postnominal position

Back 26

Lit = 'after a noun'. Refers to another possible position for an AP. Example: the options available, something wicked

Front 27

NP phrase structure rule

Back 27

NP → (D) (AP) N (AP) or "A noun phrase can contain a determiner, and an adjective phrase before or after the noun. It must contain a noun."

Front 28

Predicate position

Back 28

Another possible position for an adjective phrase (AP), immediately following linking verbs (remain, appear, become and be, and 'sense' verbs feel, taste, look, smell and sound).

Front 29

Linking verb

Back 29

A verb that links the subject of a sentence with a phrase that describes it, usually an advective phrase. Examples: The hog seemed enormous. The pork smelled very funny.

Front 30

What are the linking verbs?

Back 30

Remain, Appear
Become, Be
Feel, Taste
Look, Smell, Sound