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    Introduction To Syntax: Sapientia University English Syntax Course Fall 2017

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    Celina Ignát
    This document provides an introduction to syntax, which is the study of the structure of language. It discusses some key concepts in syntax including constituency, hierarchical structure, parts of speech, and ambiguity. It also touches on Universal Grammar and Noam Chomsky's theory that the human ability to acquire language is innate rather than learned, since children are able to learn the complex rules of their native language quickly based on limited exposure. The document aims to explain some of the basic concepts and analytical tools used in the study of syntax.

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    Introduction To Syntax: Sapientia University English Syntax Course Fall 2017

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    Celina Ignát
    36 views42 pages
    This document provides an introduction to syntax, which is the study of the structure of language. It discusses some key concepts in syntax including constituency, hierarchical structure, parts of speech, and ambiguity. It also touches on Universal Grammar and Noam Chomsky's theory that the human ability to acquire language is innate rather than learned, since children are able to learn the complex rules of their native language quickly based on limited exposure. The document aims to explain some of the basic concepts and analytical tools used in the study of syntax.

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    This document provides an introduction to syntax, which is the study of the structure of language. It discusses some key concepts in syntax including constituency, hierarchical structure, parts of speech, and ambiguity. It also touches on Universal Grammar and Noam Chomsky's theory that the human ability to acquire language is innate rather than learned, since children are able to learn the complex rules of their native language quickly based on limited exposure. The document aims to explain some of the basic concepts and analytical tools used in the study of syntax.

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    36 views42 pages

    Introduction To Syntax: Sapientia University English Syntax Course Fall 2017

    Uploaded by

    Celina Ignát
    This document provides an introduction to syntax, which is the study of the structure of language. It discusses some key concepts in syntax including constituency, hierarchical structure, parts of speech, and ambiguity. It also touches on Universal Grammar and Noam Chomsky's theory that the human ability to acquire language is innate rather than learned, since children are able to learn the complex rules of their native language quickly based on limited exposure. The document aims to explain some of the basic concepts and analytical tools used in the study of syntax.

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    Introduction to Syntax

    Sapientia University
    English Syntax Course
    Fall 2017
    What is Syntax?

     study of structure of language


     the way words are arranged together, and
    the relationship between them
     goal: to relate surface form (what we
    perceive when someone says something) to
    semantics (what that utterance means)
    What is Syntax Not?

     phonology: study of sound systems and


    how sounds combine
     morphology: study of how words are
    formed from smaller parts (morphemes)
     semantics: study of meaning of language
    Simplified View of Linguistics

    Phonology  /waddyasai/

    Morphology /waddyasai/  what did you say


    say
    Syntax what did you say  subj obj

    say you what


    Semantics subj obj
     P[ x. say(you, x) ]
    you what
    What do children know?

     when acquiring language children learn


    the following from the language
    surrounding them:
    ◦ Word order (SVO, SOV, etc.)
    ◦ N-Adj or Adj-N

     How do kids master this so quickly?


    Universal Grammar?

     children hear the surrounding language


     detect patterns and match them with already
    stored structures
     switch on those that match; switch off those that
    don’t (subconsciously)
     kids seem to develop, instead of learning a
    language.
    What do native speakers know?

     grammaticality
     implied interpretations
     ambiguity
     synonymy
    Ambiguous?
     I scratched the dog with a stick

    I love linguistics!!!
    I’m a stick

    I’m a dog (I
    think!)
    Do I mean this?
     I scratched (the dog with a stick)

    Nice doggie!
    Or do I mean this?
     I scratched (the dog) with a stick.

    scratch

    scratch
    The two meanings are a result of:

    HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE
    Sentences are more than just ordered sequences of words.
    They have internal hierarchical structure as well.

    scratched the dog with a stick scratched the dog with a stick

    dog has stick I have stick


    Unavoidable Ambiguity

     Why can’t we convey these internal hierarchical


    structures and avoid ambiguity?

     LINEAR ORDER
    ◦ human verbal communication is limited by linear
    production
    consequently
    ◦ sentences are organized linearly
    Two kinds of ambiguity:
     She called her boyfriend from Australia.
    ◦ STRUCTURAL AMBIGUITY

     We went down to the bank yesterday


    ◦ LEXICAL AMBIGUITY
    Two principles of sentence
    organization
     1. LINEAR ORDER
    ◦ not only a limitation, we anguageactually make use
    of the linearity of the l

     In English, limited morphology forces us to use


    word order to distinguish subject from object.
    ◦ Tom chased Jerry.
    ◦ Jerry chased Tom.
    Two principles of sentence
    organization

     2. HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE
    ◦ this structure is ‘invisible’ upon first glance
    however
    ◦ there are tests we can perform to discover the
    hierarchical structure of sentences.
    Constituency
    CONSTITUENT
    a group of words in a sentence that behave syntactically
    and semantically as a unit
    dog has stick I have stick

    scratched the dog with a stick scratched the dog with a stick
    How to determine constituency
     Semantic intuitions
    ◦ sometimes, we just know that certain strings of
    words go together as a unit

     Constituency Tests (more reliable)


    ◦ tests that can be applied to string of words in a
    given sentence to determine if the string is a
    constituent or not
    Structure in Strings
     Some words: the a small nice big very boy girl sees likes
     Some good sentences:
    ◦ the boy likes a girl
    ◦ the small girl likes the big girl
    ◦ a very small nice boy sees a very nice boy
     Some bad sentences:
    ◦ *the boy the girl
    ◦ *small boy likes nice girl
     Can we find subsequences of words (constituents) which
    in some way behave alike?
    More Structure in Strings
     Some words: the a small nice big very boy girl sees
    likes
     Some good sentences:
    ◦ ((the) boy) likes ((a) girl)
    ◦ ((the) (small) girl) likes ((the) (big) girl)
    ◦ ((a) ((very) small) (nice) boy) sees ((a) ((very)
    nice) girl)
     Some bad sentences:
    ◦ *((the) boy) ((the) girl)
    ◦ *((small) boy) likes ((the) (nice) girl)
    From Substrings to Trees
     (((the) boy) likes ((a) girl))

    likes
    boy girl
    the a
    Node Labels?
     ( ((the) boy) likes ((a) girl) ))
     Choose constituents so each one has one non-bracketed
    word: the head
     Group words by distribution of constituents they head
    (part-of-speech, POS):
    ◦ Noun (N), verb (V), adjective (Adj), adverb (Adv),
    determiner (Det)
     Category of constituent: XP, where X is POS
    ◦ NP, S, AdjP, AdvP, DetP
    Node Labels

     (((the/Det) boy/N) likes/V ((a/Det) girl/N))

    NP likes NP

    DetP boy DetP girl

    the a
    Types of Nodes

     (((the/Det) boy/N) likes/V ((a/Det) girl/N))

    S
    nonterminal
    symbols Phrase-structure
    = constituents NP likes NP tree

    DetP boy DetP girl

    the a
    terminal symbols = words
    Determining Part-of-Speech

    A blue seat/a child seat: noun or adjective?


    – Syntax:
    • a blue seat a child seat
    • a very blue seat *a very child seat
    • this seat is blue *this seat is child
    – Morphology:
    • bluer *childer

    – blue and child are not the same POS


    – blue is Adj, child is Noun
    Determining
    Part-of-Speech (2)

    preposition or particle?
     A he threw out the garbage
     B he threw the garbage out the door

     A he threw the garbage out


     B *he threw the garbage the door out

     The two out are not same POS; A is particle, B is Preposition


    Constituency (Review)

     e.g., Noun phrases (NPs)


     A red dog on a blue tree
     A blue dog on a red tree
     Some big dogs and some little dogs
     A dog
     Big dogs, little dogs, red dogs, blue dogs, yellow
    dogs, green dogs, black dogs, and white dogs
     How do we know these form a
    constituent?
    Constituency (II)
    • They can all appear before a verb:
    – Some big dogs and some little dogs are going
    around in cars…
    – Big dogs, little dogs, red dogs, blue dogs, yellow
    dogs, green
    – dogs, black dogs, and white dogs are all at a dog
    party!
    – I do not
    • But individual words can’t always appear before
    verbs:
    – *little are going…
    – *blue are…
    – *and are
    • Must be able to state generalizations like:
    – Noun phrases occur before verbs
    Constituency (III)
     Preposing and postposing:
    ◦ Under a tree there is a yellow dog.
    ◦ A yellow dog is under a tree.

     But not:
    ◦ *Under, is a yellow dog a tree.
    ◦ *Under a is a yellow dog tree.

     Prepositional phrases notable for ambiguity in


    attachment
    What About Chomsky?
     at birth of formal language theory (computer science) and
    formal linguistics
     major contribution: syntax is cognitive reality
     humans are able to learn languages quickly, but not all
    languages  universal grammar is biological
     goal of syntactic study: find universal principles and
    language-specific parameters
     specific Chomskyan theories change regularly
     general ideas adopted by almost all contemporary syntactic
    theories (“principles-and-parameters-type theories”)
    Types of Linguistic Theories
     Prescriptive: “prescriptive linguistics” is an
    oxymoron
    ◦ Prescriptive grammar: how people ought to talk
     Descriptive: provide account of syntax of a language
    ◦ Descriptive grammar: how people do talk
    ◦ often appropriate for NLP engineering work
     Explanatory: provide principles-and-parameters
    style account of syntax of (preferably) several
    languages
    Chomsky's Conception of an
    Explanatorily Adequate Grammar

     the Laws of Grammar: Universal Grammar

     what's being explained by the laws: the


    miracle of language acquisition
    Learning vs. Acquisition

     Learning involves conscious gaining of


    knowledge
     Acquisition involves subconscious gaining of
    knowledge

    Chemistry is learned. Languages are


    acquired.
    How do we acquire languages?
     Obviously this question is too big to
    answer here, but …
     Are we instructed by our parents?
     Do we mimic our parents?

    NOPE!
    1) Language is infinite: We produce sentences we’ve
    never heard before
    2) We know things about our language that we’ve
    never been exposed to.
    Language as an instinct
    Despite what they may think, parents don’t teach
    their children to speak!

    They correct content not form:


    (from Marcus et al. 1992)
    Adult: Where is that big piece of paper I gave you
    yesterday?
    Child: Remember? I writed on it.
    Adult: Oh that’s right, don’t you have any paper
    down here, buddy?
    Language as an instinct
    (from Pinker 1994, 281)
    Child: Want other one spoon, Daddy
    Adult: You mean, you want the other spoon.
    Child: Yes, I want other one spoon, please Daddy.
    Adult: Can you say “the other spoon”?
    Child: Other … one … spoon
    Adult: Say “other”
    Child: other
    Adult: “spoon”
    Child: Spoon.
    Adult: “other … spoon”
    Child: other … spoon. Now give me other one
    spoon.
    A shocking proposal!

    Noam Chomsky

    The ability of humans to use language is innate (an


    instinct). We are prewired to use language!
    Huh? languages differ?!?

    How can language be an instinct if languages


    differ?
    Proposal: Languages differ primarily in terms
    of what words are used, and in a set
    number of “parameters”
    These things are learned but the rest (the
    basic architecture of the grammar) is
    innate.
    Refining Innateness

    A particular language is not innate (it is


    acquired), but the basic tools that any given
    language uses are built in.

    We’ll be looking at these tools. Both within


    languages, and crosslinguistically to see
    what is universal (innate) and what varies
    among languages.
    Task of a child acquiring English

     Match up a sentence that they hear with a


    situation in the context around them.

    The cat spied the kissing fishes = 1


    1

     To make the proof let’s turn this into an


    algebraic operation. We’ll number sentences,
    and we’ll number situations, and look for the
    rule that matches them up.
    What are basic building blocks?

     Example: Inferring a curve from an infinite set of


    points
     A grammar defines an infinite set of sentences
     The logical problem: From a finite set of data, a
    child must infer an infinite set of sentences
     Solution: we need a set of laws for making
    grammars: Universal Grammar
    Universal Grammar (UG)

     The building blocks that all languages use to


    construct the sentences of their languages.
     All languages use the same basic hardwired
    tools. It is the particular implementation of
    these tools that varies between languages.
    Universal Grammar (UG)

     Other evidence for UG


    ◦ human specificity of language
    ◦ distinct area of the brain
    ◦ crosslinguistic similarities in language acquisition
    (despite cultural differences)
    ◦ lack of overt instruction
    ◦ language universals

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