Constituency tests, presented by dr. shadia yousef banjar.pptx

LANE 334 -EA: Syntax

2011 – Term 2

By:

Dr. Shadia Y. Banjar

http://SBANJAR.kau.edu.sa/

http://wwwdrshadiabanjar.blogspot.com

CONSTITUENCY TESTS

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Dr. Shadia Yousef Banjar

A constituent: is a syntactic unit that combines with other constituents according to a grammatical rule to produce a larger structure.

Constituents may be:

1. Words: e.g.

• snake ( )

• killed( )

2. Phrases : e.g. NP &

What is a constituent?

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2. Phrases : e.g. NP &

[ The snake] [ killed [ the rat ] ]3. Clauses: e.g. S1 &S

[S1 I know [S that the snake killed the rat] ]

4. Sentences e.g. S &

[SS She laughed]

[ [ S2 The snake killed the rat ] and [S[S33 it swallowed it] ] ]


• Words that go together form a

constituent (or a phrase).

We can use square brackets to mark

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We can use square brackets to mark

constituents:

[ The snake] [ killed [ the rat ] ]

•In order for a string to be confirmed as a constituent, it needs to pass one of the constituency tests.•If one of the tests applies to a string of words, they form a constituent.•If a test fails to apply to a string of words, it

Constituency tests

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•If a test fails to apply to a string of words, it doesn’t show that they do not form a constituent.


There are Three types of

constituency tests:

I. Movement Test

II. Substitution Test

III. Stand Alone Test

Constituency tests


III. Stand Alone Test

One test for a constituent is that, because it is a coherent unit, it

can move from one position to another in the sentence.

• To find out whether a string is a constituent or not, we can take

this string and move it to some other position in the sentence.

• If the resulting sentence is still grammatical, then the string is a

constituent.

• In English, strings cannot be moved at random, or anywhere in

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• In English, strings cannot be moved at random, or anywhere in

the sentence. Only specific types of movement are permitted so

let us look at some examples of possible movement in English:


Often we can move a constituent to the beginning (to

emphasize it, contrast it, etc):

I don’t like cheese cakes.

� Cheese cakes, I don’t like (but chocolate cakes I love!)

This cannot be done to items that are not constituents.

For example, like cheese above cannot be fronted:

* Like cheese, I don’t cakes.

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* Like cheese, I don’t cakes.

Constituents may be fronted as a unit in English:

Tasar is produced in a humid and dense belt of tropical

forest in India.

� In a humid and dense belt of tropical forest in India, tasar

is produced.


Salma selected a doughnut filled with strawberry cream

from the bakery.

� From the bakery, Salma selected a doughnut filled with

strawberry cream.

This student will answer all questions immediately.

� Immediately, the student will answer all questions.

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� Immediately, the student will answer all questions.

� All questions, the student will answer immediately.


A constituent with a patient role undergoes movement

from the object position to the subject position so active

voice will be changed into passive voice:

a. Wild silk moths in countries like India and Japan also

produce it.

• It is also produced by wild silk moth in countries like

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• It is also produced by wild silk moth in countries like

India and Japan.

b. People cultivate several species.

• Several species are cultivated.

* Several are cultivated species.


Passivisation operates as:

c. These trucks produce filthy fumes.

• [Filthy fumes] are produced by trucks.

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•Since we can move the unit filthy fumes to a

different part of the sentence, filthy fumes is a

constituent.


a. She liked Arabic coffee (normal sentence)• Arabic coffee she liked. (clefted sentence)•* [Arabic ] coffee she liked (ungrammatical sentence)

NOTE: This doesn’t work with VPs (Verb Phrases):

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NOTE: This doesn’t work with VPs (Verb Phrases):• * [like Arabic Coffee ] she did.

b. The girls should have taken a taxi .the girls should have taken a taxi.a taxi the girls should have taken.

• * should have taken the girls a taxi.


The operations of fronting a constituent like ‘ from silk worms’

and surrounding it by ( ) are part of a

process known as CLEFTING. If we represent the string from

silk worms by , we could summarise the process as following:

CLAUSE It is X that CLAUSECLAUSE It is X that CLAUSE

[with X] [without X]

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So:c. Most of the silk we see in Britain comes from silk worms.

• from silkworms most of the silk we see in Britain

comes.


A constituent can be focused as a cleft surrounded by it is/was

….. that:

d.1. Jane gave this book to Bill on Saturday.

• on Saturday Jane gave this book to Bill.


• to Bill Jane gave this book to Bill on Saturday.


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this book Jane gave to Bill on Saturday.


Jane gave gave this book to Bill on Saturday.


• * Jane gave this book to Bill on Saturday.


A process closely related to clefting is that of pseudo-clefting.

A constituent may be focused as a pseudo-cleft using the

This is a test that works for VPs.

a. She liked Arabic coffee. (normal sentence)

• she like Arabic coffee. (pseudo-clefted sentence)

b. The girls should have taken a taxi.

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b. The girls should have taken a taxi.

• the girls should have taken a taxi.

c.1. Jane gave this book to Bill on Saturday.

• Jane give this book to Bill on Saturday.

c.2. Jane [gave [this book ]to Bill on Saturday].

• Jane gave to Bill on Saturday this book.

• This book Jane gave to Bill on Saturday.


Another type of constituency test is substitution.

• A particular string of words is a constituent if it can be

substituted/replaced by another string: such a string

could be a single word (e.g. pronoun), a series of

words, or even by nothing at all.

• This won’t really always work for identifying single-word

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• This won’t really always work for identifying single-word

constituents.

•Just as with movement, English permits only certain

types of substitution. We will now look at types of

substitution in English:


Only constituents can be replaced by pro-

forms.

pronouns she, he, it, they, us, her, that

pro-verbs do, be

pro-adverbs there, then, here

pro-adjectives such, so, thus


• [My older sister] admires [men who can eat a lot]

• admires

• *[She] admires [them can eat a lot]

• *[My older ] admires [ ]

The idea is that pronouns can only substitute for

(for NPs)


The idea is that pronouns can only substitute for

full constituents, not for parts of constituents.

•Tim waited [at the station]. (Normal sentence)

• Tim waited [there]. (there-substituted sentence)

• She knows an Italian student of English and I know a

Spanish [student of English].



(for VPs)

• He wrote a letter and she [wrote a letter], too.

• He wrote a letter and she [did so], too.


Spanish [one].

Under coordination constituents can often be substituted by a

pronoun or more generally ‘pro-form’, such as:

• he/she/it etc. for people

• there for locations

• do so/it/that etc. for some VPs and sentences

A. The girl admires her teacher and the children admire her

too.

B. David and his brother drove for hours and they got scared

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B. David and his brother drove for hours and they got scared

by the heavy fog.

C. Tom was waiting at the station and Sara was waiting there

too.

D. I love having my work done on time and Dalia does (so) too.

E. I think that the boys found the diamonds and the officer

thinks so too.


•Some words in a sentence are linked more closely together than

others.

•They form grammatical units within the sentence.

•These grammatical units (sentence, clause, phrase, words) are

the constituents of the sentence.

•There are various processes which can help to identify such

constituents.


constituents.

•For example , the string ‘at Harvard’ can be identified as a

constituent using some ‘constituency tests’:

a) George allegedly cheated at Harvard.

a. 1) The string ‘at Harvard’ can be replaced by one word (there):

George allegedly cheated at Harvard

there

a. 2) one can ask a question of the following form:

Where did George allegedly cheated?

The answer will be ‘at Harvard’. Where corresponds

to ‘at Harvard’.

a. 3) At and Harvard can be moved around together,

as the following sentences illustrate:

• George allegedly cheated at Harvard.


• George allegedly cheated at Harvard.

• at Harvard George allegedly cheated.

• allegedly George cheated at Harvard.

• allegedly at Harvard George cheated.

• George at Harvard allegedly cheated.

• George at Harvard cheated allegedly

• a. 4) ‘at Harvard’ can be the focus element X in a cleft

sentence:

• It was at Harvard that George allegedly cheated.

• These tests are used to determine the constituent-

hood of ‘At Harvard’:

• Their applicability may be summed up as follows:

• At + Harvard


• At + Harvard

A.Substituted by one word : Yes

B.Questioned by one word : Yes

C.Move together : Yes

D.Can be the focus element X in a cleft sentence : Yes


Education

Constituency tests, presented by dr. shadia yousef banjar.pptx