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Culture Documents
Language
Language
NP +VP
NP
art + (adj*) + N
VP
V + NP + (PP*)
PP
Prep + NP
adj
art
a, the
prep
on, under
adj
VP
N
V
saluted
NP
art adj
VP
aux V adj
Transformational Rules
Rules that transform deep structure into
surface structure
Apply to constituents not to individual
words
Involve movement, insertion, and deletion
of constituents
Conditions of occurrence: Transformations
will not apply under all conditions
Some Transformations
Particle-movement
John called up the woman.
John called the woman up.
T1 V + part + NP V + NP + part
Other Transformations
Passive:
Arlene played the tuba.
The Tuba was played by Arlene.
T2 NP1 + V + NP2 NP2 + be +V + en by
+ NP1
Wh- Question: Why is Arlene playing the tuba?
Negation: Arlene is not playing the tuba?
Compound: Arlene is playing the tuba and the drums.
Derivational Theory of
Complexity
If transformational grammar is how language is
actually done, then
Untransformed sentences > transformed sentences
Simpler transformations > complex transformations
Should see this both in acquisition and in adult
processing of sentences
But there are many exceptions to this prediction
Compound Sentences
The zoo has llamas and gnus is derived from The zoo has
llamas and the zoo has gnus.
Whence Transformational
Grammar?
Revolutionary approach to the study of language,
though the specifics have not stood up well. Revised
approaches include
Parameter Setting (Chomsky, 1981, 1986, 1995)
All possible linguistic variations are hard-wired, the
parameters that are set depend on exposure to language.