Syntax (study of phrases, clauses & sentences)

1. PS Rules

1.1. PS rules and making diagrams allow us to see interrelationships

1.2. <SENTENCE> S → NP - VP <NOUN PHRASE> NP → (Det) - (AP) - N - (PP) <VERB PHRASE> VP → V - (NP, AP) - (PP) <ADJECTIVE PHRASE> AP → (Intensifier) - Adj <PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE> PP → Prep - NP

2. Left-to-Right Ordering

2.1. The red car (O), Red the car (X)

2.2. The left-to-right sequence of items within a phrase is governed by principles that are codified in phrase structure (PS) rules.

3. Transformations

3.1. An operation that moves a lexical or phrasal category

3.2. 10a. Tiny Abner has concealed the document. 10b. Tiny Abner has concealed Mary. 10c. *Tiny Abner has concealed. (No direct object) 10d. *Tiny Abner has concealed the document Mary.

3.2.1. wh-movement

3.2.2. Inflection movement (I-movement) (move the tensed verb to the left of the subject NP)

3.2.3. 10a. Tiny Abner has concealed the document

3.2.4. 11a. What has Tiny Abner concealed?

3.2.5. 12a. Has Tiny Abner concealed the document?

3.2.6. → All three contains one and only one direct object

4. Categories

4.1. The biggest house (O), Theest big house (X)

4.2. Categories are theoretical constructs, part of the unobservable theory of syntax.

4.3. Words being classified into categories - makes it easy to explain

4.4. lexical categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) phrasal categories (noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases)

5. Hierarchical Structure

5.1. 'the American history teacher': structural ambiguity