What kind of Theory

do we need for English Syntax?

Are languages finite?

Could we list all the sentences of English?

Some sentences go on and on.

Some sentences go on and on and on.

Some sentences go on and on and on and on.

Some sentences go on and on and on and on and

on.

. . .

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An Impossible Hypothetical Language

Some sentences go on and on.

Sentences some go on and on and on.

Some sentences go on and on and on and on.

Sentences some go on and on and on and on andon.

*Sentences some go on and on.

*Some sentences go on and on and on.

*Sentences some go on and on and on and on.

*Some sentences go on and on and on and on andon.

. . .

3

The Distributional Basis of Parts of Speech

• That surprised me.

• I noticed the .

• They were interested in his .

• This is my favorite .

4

Grammar as a List of Patterns?

article noun verb

article noun verb article noun

articles: a, the

nouns: cat, dog

verbs: attacked, scratched

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Finite State Grammars 1

Infinite Set? No Problem!

Some sentences (will) go on and on [and on]∗.

Some sentences (will) go on [and on]+.

S → (D) N (Aux) V P [Conj P]+

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Finite State Grammars 2

Some sentences and/or paragraphs (or pages...)

(will) go on (and on (and on...)).

S → (D) N [Conj N]∗ (Aux) V P [Conj P]+

People (may) read newspapers (or books (or mag-

azines...))

S → (D) N [Conj N]∗ (Aux) V ((D) N [Conj

N]∗)

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Finite State Grammars 3

The teachers (would) talk about physics (and math

(and beer...)).

S → (D) N [Conj N]∗ (Aux) V P (D) N [Conj

N]∗

People (may) write books about physics (or math

(or beer...)).

S → (D) N [Conj N]∗ (Aux) V (D) N [Conj N]∗

P (D) N [Conj N]∗

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Finite State Grammars 4

Good grammars make predictions (way) beyond

the obeserved data.

S → (D) N [Conj N]∗ (Aux) V (D) N [Conj N]∗ P

(D) N [Conj N]∗

These teachers wrote the books and the articles

about physics and math and history.

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Finite State Grammars 5

The best personal accounts of an event.

The best personal accounts of an event may go

on and on and...

S → (D) A* N [Conj N]∗ (P (D) N) (Aux) V P

[Conj P]+

The teachers (would) talk about the best personal

accounts of an event.

S → (D) N [Conj N]∗ (Aux) V P (D) A* N [Conj

N]∗ (P (D) N)

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Finite State Grammars 6

Generalizations should be hiearchically organized.

A Noun Phrase can be subject of a sentence, or

its object, or the object of a preposition.

The grammar should tell us all the ways to realize

a NP just once.

Finite State Grammars fail to do this.

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Structural Ambiguity: Why we need (at least)

CFGs

• I saw the astronomer with a telescope.

• We enjoyed the movie with Cher.

• The room contained noisy children and animals.

• People with children who use drugs should be

locked up.

• I forgot how good beer tastes.

Other Ambiguity: Lexical Ambiguity

• They could build a better pen.

• Their class was bothersome.

• I don’t like their band.

• I want the best dresser in the world.

• That phone bothers me.

Other Ambiguity

• [a:(y)lbi’li:v@nyu:] (Country Western Lyric)

• I read it every day.

• Some student invited each professor.

• She likes Jones more than Sandy.

• Some student talked to every teacher.

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Complex Ambiguity

• I saw that gas can explode.

• Visiting relatives can be boring.

• Flying planes can be dangerous.

• This animal has four legs and flies.

• I saw her duck.

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Constituency: Constituent Structure

I forgot [how [[good beer] tastes]].

I forgot [[how good] [beer tastes]].

I saw [that [gas [can explode]]].

I [saw [that [gas can]] explode].

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Tests for Constituency

How do we know which elements get grouped to-

gether?

That is, how do we know which elements are

grouped together to form a constituent?

There are various tests, none perfect...

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Substitution

• The little boy fed the cat. → He fed her.

• Black cats detest green peas. → They detest

them.

Movement 1

• I fed the cats. → The cats, I fed .

(The dogs, I didn’t.)

• I fed the cats with long, fluffy tails. →The cats with long, fluffy tails, I fed .

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Movement 2

• I fed the cats with long, fluffy tails. →*The cats, I fed with long, fluffy tails.

• It walked away with a confident air. →*With a, it walked away confident air.

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Movement 3

• Ali Baba returned home wiser than before. →*Wiser than, Ali Baba returned from his travels

before.

• They arrived at the concert hall more quickly than

they had expected. →*More quickly than they, they arrived at the con-

cert hall than had expected.

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Questions and sentence fragments

• What do you like? The cats./Cats with long,

fluffy tails./The cats with long, fluffy tails.

• Prepositional phrase: How did the cat stroll across

the porch? With a confident air./

• Where did Ali Baba go? On a long journey./To

New York.

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• *What did you feed long, fluffy tails?

The cats with.

• *How did the cat stroll across the porch con-

fident air? With a.

• *How did Ali Baba return from his travels be-

fore? Wiser than.

• *How did they arrive at the concert hall had

expected? More quickly than they.

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It-Cleft Focus

• PP: The cat strolled across the porch with a con-

fident air. → It was with a confident air that the

cat strolled across the porch .

• AP: Ali Baba returned from his travels wiser than

before. → It was wiser than before that Ali Baba

returned from his travels .

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• Ordinary cats detest the smell of citrus fruits. →*It is the smell of that ordinary cats detest

citrus fruits.

• The cat strolled across the porch with a confi-

dent air. → *It was with a confident that the cat

strolled across the porch air.

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• Ali Baba returned from his travels wiser than be-

fore. → *It was wiser than that Ali Baba returned

from his travels before.

• They arrived at the concert hall more quickly than

they had expected. → *It was quickly than they

had expected that they arrived at the concert hall

more .

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