Linguistics Exam #2- Chapter 5

Branches

a line in a tree or tree diagram that descends from a node

Hierarchical Ordering of Constituents

more to the organization of a sentence than the linear order of its words.

Substitution

when a pro-form (pronoun or pro-verb) can substitute for a particular string of words in a sentence that a string of words is a constituent

Structural Ambiguity

when a sentence has more than one possible interpretation and its ambiguity arises because of the linear string of words has two possible constituent structures

Coordination

generally, only constituents of the same kind can be conjoined by a coordinator like 'and' and 'or' (can offer evidence of constituency.

Underlying Structure

the abstract structure of a sentence before any syntactic operations has applied (sometimes called deep structure)

Nodes

the name given to a point in a tree diagram (or tree) from which at least one branch descends

Yes/No Question

Will Suze earn a fair wage? Was last year's winner of the Tour de France leading the pack on Tuesday?

Matrix Clause

a clause in which another clause is embedded, as in the *the film* that he rented *had been widely panned*

Oblique or Processor

a noun phrase whose grammatical relation in a clause is other than subject, direct object, or indirect object; usually marks semantic categories such as location or time and in English is usually expressed as the object of a preposition

Information Question

a question in which information is sought, the questioned constituent is represented by a wh-word (who, whom, why, when, where, which, what, how)

Phrase-Structure Expansion Rules

a rule that describes the composition of constituents in underlying structure; also called rewrite rule or phrase-structure rule ex: s--NP VP (states that the sentence is made up of a noun phrase and a verb phrase in that order NP-- n (noun phrase consists of Noun) NP-- Det N (noun phrase consists of determiner + noun)

Movement

a string of words can be moved in a syntactic operation functions as a unit and is a constitiuent

Constituents

a syntactic unit that functions as part of a larger unit within a sentence; typical constituent types are verb phrase, noun phrase, prepositional phrase, and clause

Subordinator

a word that links clauses to one another in a non-coordinate role, thus marking the boundary between an embedded clause and its matrix clause ex: I think *that* he fell. She wondered *whether* he won.

Clause

contains a verb and, at a minimum, any other expressions required by the verb as part of its structural characteristics

Direct Object

defined as a noun phrase that is immediately dominated by the verb phrase

Subject

defined as the np that is immediately dominated by the sentence

Transitive and Intransitive

intransitive- verb in a sentence lacking a direct object transitive- verb that take a direct object

indirect object

one of two grammatical relations known as objects, the other being a direct object. In English, usually appear before the direct object ex: He gave--the clerk--a rose.

Syntax

part of grammar that governs the organization of words in phrases and sentences, the sentences speakers utter to make statements, ask questions, and their relationships to one another both structurally and functionally.

Surface Structure

the constituent structure of a sentence after all applicable syntactic operations (sometimes called transformations) have applied

Head (of a phrase)

the pivotal, central element, and heads may have specifiers and complements

Grammatical Relation

the syntactic role that a noun phrase plays in its clause as with subject and direct object

Relative Clause

the term used of a clause embedded within and NP to form structures. ex: the dean defended (the prof *who flunked me*) (the jewels *that jake stole*) were fakes Sara saw a new film by (the french director *that kendrick raves about*)

Linear Ordering of Constituents

the words of every sentence occur as an ordered sequence ex: Harry liked Peeves

Auxiliary Verbs

verbs like will or was, and can be moved in front of a subject NP to form a question. distinguished from main verbs