Chapter 4 Syntax-I课件.pptVIP

Syntax Department of Foreign Languages 2011-3 Outline 1. Categories(范畴) 2. Word-level categories 3. Phrase structure rules(短语结构规则) 4. Phrase element (构成词组的元素) What is syntax? Syntax---a branch of linguistics that studies how words are combined to form sentences and the rules that govern the formation of sentences. Transformational syntax (转换生成句法) 1.Categories(范畴) Category refers to a group of linguistic items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a particular language such as a sentence, a noun phrase or a verb.同一种有相同语法功能，语义特征的语言项目归为一类,称之为范畴 。 The most central categories to the syntactic study are the word-level categories (traditionally, parts of speech) 2.Word-level categories Major lexical categories（主要词类）: N, V, Adj, Prep. Minor Lexical categories（次要词类）: Det, Deg, Qual, Auxi, Conj. Det — Determiner (限定词) Deg — Degree word（程度词） Qual—Qualifier(修饰词) Aux—Auxiliary (助动词) Con — Conjunction (连接词) The Criteria on Which Categories are Determined (P44) Meaning Inflection Distribution Note: the most reliable criterion of determining a word’s category is its distribution Meaning The meanings associated with nouns and verbs can be elaborated in various ways. 根据词的意义来定义，如用形容词定义名词，女性用漂亮（形容词）定义 pretty girl dilemma and friendship (abstract word) love and hate (v. n) be aware of and know about (the same meaning, different word categories) Inflection Example: boy and desk (take the plural affix -s) work and help (take the past tense affix -ed) quiet and clever (take comparative affix -er) Exceptions: some words do not take inflections: moisture, fog(无复数), frequent, intelligent（无比较和最高级） Distribution(分布性) Distribution (What type of elements can co-occur with a certain word)词的搭配使用 Nouns can typically appear with a determiner: (eg. the girl and a card) Verbs with an auxiliary (e.g. should stay and will go) Adjectives with a degree word (e.g. very cool and too bright) Note: The most reliable criterion of determining a word’s category is its distributio