文档介绍：Chapter Four
Syntax
上外精品课程-《现代语言学》
Outline
4. 1 Definition
4. 2 Word-level categories
4. 3 Phrase categories
4. 4 Phrase structure rule
4. 5 Sentences (The S rule)
4. 6 Transformations
4. 7 Task
上外精品课程-《现代语言学》
Definition
It’s a kind of micro linguistics that studies how words bined to form sentences and the rules that govern the formation of sentences. (Transformational syntax to be introduced in the book.)
Word-level categories
Category refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language. Traditionally, category is termed as “parts of speech”.
上外精品课程-《现代语言学》
Major lexical categories and minor lexical categories:
Examples of some lexical categories
Major lexical categories
Examples
Noun (N)
Verb (V)
Adjective (A)
Preposition (P)
book, boy, love, sheep
run, read, play
happy, tall, clear
about, over, on
Minor lexical categories
Examples
Determiner (Det)
Degree word (Deg)
Qualifier (Qual)
Auxiliary (Aux)
Conjunction (Con)
the, a, this, those
quite, very, more, so
often, always, seldom, almost
must, should, can, might
and, but, or
上外精品课程-《现代语言学》
Tree criteria
To Determine a word’s category, three criteria are usually played.
Word category often bear some relationship with its meaning.
Words of different categories take different inflections.
Distribution means a certain type of elements can co-occur with a certain word.
Meaning: John, pen, book, pretty lady, left quietly
Inflection: plural affixes, tenses, degrees
Distribution: the girl, a card, should stay, will help
上外精品课程-《现代语言学》
Phrase categories
Definition: A word or group of words written or spoken as a unit and separated by pauses or other junctures.
Types:
Noun phrase Eg: (NP): the pretty girl
Verb phrase (VP): often dream
Adjective phrase (AP): very pessimistic
Prepositional phrase (PP): in the house
Adverbial phrase (ADVP) : very quickly (Wen, p. 118)
Phrases that are formed of more than one word u