10 Constituents 2015.doc

7/26/2019 10 Constituents 2015.doc

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Grammar I Graciela Palacio

LV/UB 2012(revised 2015)

LESSON 10

CONSTITUENTS

A constituent is a syntactic unit. Consider the folloin! sentence ta"en from #ae!eman $Guer%n &1'''()

Louise sa the !irl ith the *inoculars.

+he sentence is am*i!uous, i.e. it has to inter-retations. ither hat Louise sa as the

!irl ith the *inoculars or Louise sa the !irl and Louise used *inoculars to that -ur-ose.

+his sentence illustrates a case of structural ambiguity. +he to inter-retations of the

sentence can *e related to to different structures. In the first inter-retation the strin! the girl

with the binocularsis one syntactic unit, i.e. one constituent)


In the second inter-retation the strin!s the girl and with the binoculars are to different

constituents)


+he folloin! sentence illustrates another case of structural am*i!uity)

3ohn "e-t the car in the !ara!e.

In one inter-retation keepis a three4-lace 5er*, ta"in! three ar!uments &John, the car, and in

the garage( and to com-lements &the carand in the garage(. +he translation of the sentence

ould *eJuan guardaba el auto en el garage. In this inter-retation, the caris one constituent

and in the garageis another one)


In the other inter-retation, the car in the garageforms one constituent &the car that is/as in

the !ara!e(. 6u--ose 3ohn had to cars. #e sold one and he "e-t the other. If someone as"s

hich car he "e-t, he mi!ht !et as an anser that 3ohn "e-t the one that is in the !ara!e. +he

translation of the sentence ould *e Se qued con el auto que est en el garage.


CONSTITUENCTESTS

+he structure of sentences can *e disco5ered *y the folloin! constituency tests)

1. Constituents can *e re-laced *y one ord, e.!.)

Louise met the !irl ith the *inoculars.

!er.

Pa!e 1 of 7/Lesson 10


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did.


S!e

2. Constituents can *e 8uestioned *y one ord, e.!.)

"!#did Louise meet9

T!e girl $it! t!e bi%#culars.

:. If ord order is altered, the elements that form a constituent mo5e to!ether, e.!.)

6he said she ould meet the !irl ith the *inoculars and meet t!e girl $it! t!e

bi%#cularsshe did.

;. Constituents can *e the hi!hli!hted elements in em-hatic sentences, e.!.)

It as t!e girl $it! t!e bi%#cularsthat Louise met. &cleft sentence(

It as L#uisethat met the !irl ith the *inoculars. &cleft sentence(


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In e5eryday life you -erform different &u%cti#%s.


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o if you loo" at the tree you ill notice that this +P is made u- of to elements, the >

&determiner( Heand a + &+4*ar( &will he eat the sweet(. Eor -eda!o!ical reasons, e ill

i!nore the mo5ement of the su*=ect heout of the VP.

and the -redicate is a +. > &determiner( and+ &+4*ar( are cate!ories.

Sy%tactic a%alysis #& t!e T)

6u*=ect &>( Predicate &+(

#e ill eat the seet.

o if you !o *ac" to the tree you ill notice that the head of the +P is + &tense(. +he

-osition is occu-ied *y the modal au?iliary will. Willis the element that carries the tense, the

finite element. otice that in e5ery sentence there can only *e one finite element *ecause

there is only one +ense head.

6o if e no concentrate on the analysis of will eat the sweet, e can say that willfunctions

as the head of the +P, and that eat the sweetis its com-lement, a 5er* -hrase &VP()

6u*=ect &>( Predicate &+(

#e ill eat the seet.

#ead &+( Com-lement &VP(

otice that willis the head of the +P, not the head of +.


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Less#% 10 -ctivity /.&to *e discussed in class(

Com-are the different elements that can occu-y the head +ense in the folloin! sentences)

1. #e ill li"e her.

2. #e does li"e her.:. #e li"es her.

Less#% 10 -ctivity &to *e handed in as -ssig%me%t 10(

Analyse the folloin! sentence inte!ratin! the information that e ha5e seen so far. >o the

semantic analysis of the main -redicator, the syntactic re-resentation of the sentence as a CP,

and the syntactic analysis of the +P.

1. +he ti!er in that ca!e must *e dan!erous.

,EE,ENCES.

#ae!eman, L. $ 3. Guer%n &1'''(English Grammar: a generatie perspectie! Blac"ell.

Pa!e 7 of 7/Lesson 10

Documents

10 Constituents 2015.doc