User:Gert: Difference between revisions
Line 52: | Line 52: | ||
We went to Wales. | |||
I wrote to her. | |||
The plane has landed. | |||
We have enough time. | |||
We | I met Steven. | ||
He watches TV. | |||
Lilly put the books on the table. | |||
Many of his friends consider Joe somewhat arrogant. | |||
We need to talk to Lilly about her behavior. | |||
We gave Lilly a call. | |||
Someone pushed Lilly into the flowers. | |||
=== Establishing the head of a phrase === | === Establishing the head of a phrase === |
Revision as of 11:30, 8 April 2017
Syntax 1 Wiki
Parts of Speech
Semantic analysis of sentences into predicates and arguments
Note: Many of the sentences in this section are taken from or based on examples in Hornby, A.S. (1975) Guide to Patterns and Usage in English. Second Edition. Cornelsen & Oxford University Press.
We went to Wales.
I wrote to her.
The plane has landed.
We have enough time.
I met Steven.
He watches TV.
Lilly put the books on the table.
Many of his friends consider Joe somewhat arrogant.
We need to talk to Lilly about her behavior.
We gave Lilly a call.
Someone pushed Lilly into the flowers.
Establishing the head of a phrase
Establish what phrase the words below form and identify the head of the phrase!
Valence
2. Kim needs new shoes. 3. Kim talked to the student. 4. Kim sent the student to Robin. 5. Kim lent Robin a bicycle. 6. Kim told Robin that the student likes her. 7. Kim suggested to Robin that the student likes her. 8. Kim wants [to eat an apple.] 9. Kim believes Robin to like the student. 10. Kim seems to like the student. 11. Kim is intelligent. 12. Kim found the movie interesting. 13. Kim talked to Robin about the student. 14. Kim saw Robin talk to the student. 15. The student amuses Kim. 16. Kim came out of the room.
Words
Verb | SUBJ | COMPS |
---|---|---|
snore | <NP> | <> |
own | <NP> | <NP> |
put | <NP> | <NP,NP> |
Verb SUBJ COMPS
snore <NP> <> own <NP> <NP> put <NP> <NP,PP>
When you look up the word scissors in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary, you are given the following information about it:
Phonology | scissors |
Part of speech | noun |
Number | plural |
Content | a tool for cutting paper ... |
The following representation shows how we will structure the information in a word in this course:
3. It is the task of English syntax to explain in a precise and principled fash.ion which strings of words native speakers of English accept as well formed English and which not.
4. This task would be easy to accomplish, if one could simply list all the English strings. But, unfortunately, one cannot do that, since there are infinitely many well formed English strings:
a. Mary is tired. Mary is very tired. Mary is very, very tired. Mary is very, very, very tired. . . .
b. Mary went to the store. Mary went to the store but Jill stayed home. Mary went to the store but Jill stayed home and Sue had the flu. . . .
5. So, it is impossible to list all and only the well formed strings of English words. But what is possible, is to find a property that all and only the strings of English have in common: they and only they are grammatical according to the Grammar of English! All other strings are ungrammat.ical according to the Grammar of English.
6. So, we need to concern ourselves with the Grammar of English. This is what this course is all about!