ENGLISH SYNTAX

Constituent Structure

I Nyoman Mudita (1801541172)

Ida Bagus Putu Widhy Wardhana (1801541174)

I Putu Rama Putra (1801541178)

(31) a. That dog is eating a big bone.

S

NP VP NP

Det N BE V Det A N
That dog is eating a big bone
Who is eating a big bone? That dog
What that dog is eating? A big bone

b. That old person is eating a big fish.

S

NP VP NP

Det A N BE V Det A N
That old person is eating a big fish
Who is eating a big fish? That old person ( as the subject )
What that old person is eating? A big fish ( as the object )
3A Give five examples of possible tree structures that could be generated
by each of the following simple grammars:

Answer:
(i) (A) NP»»»» Determiner + Noun = The table
(B) PP»»»» Preposition + NP = On the table
(C) = On the beautiful marmer table

(ii) S = A GIRL SINGS MARY’S SONG IN THE HOUSE

NP V NP PP
NP = A WHITE DOG IN THE KITCHEN
Det A N PP
PP = BEHIND THE HOUSE
P NP

3B (from Baker 1978:41) Find the smallest set of Phrase Structure rules
which will generate the following tree:
Answer:
That old man drove the car on the road very slowly
S

NP V NP PP AP

Det A N Det N P NP Det A

Det N
That old man drove the car on the road very slowly

3C Ngbaka (Congo; Roberts 1999, ex. 5.7)

Write a set of PS rules which will generate all of the grammatical noun phrases (#1–9) but none
of the ungrammatical ones (#10–18).
Answer:
No. CONGO ENGLISH
1. NP → N Det. NP → Det. N
toa kpo one house
2. NP → N Det. NP → Det. N
toa ke this house
3. NP → N Det. NP → Det. N
toa ge that house
4. NP → Det. NP → Det. A N
g˜ a folo kpo one big elephant
5. NP → Det. NP → Det. A N
folo ge t˜ u that black elephant
6. NP → Det. NP → Det. A N
bis˜ı gbogbo kpo one small lion
7. NP → Det. NP → Det. A N
gbogbo ge f˜ e that small lion
8. NP → Det. NP → Det. A A N
bis˜ı gbogbo ke f˜ e this small white lion
9. NP → Det. NP → Det. A A N
g˜ a folo kpo t˜ u one big black lion
10. Det. Det.
ke this
11. NP → N Det. Det. NP → Det. Det. N
toa ke kpo this one house
12. NP → N Det. Det. NP → Det. Det. N
toa kpo ge that one house
13. NP → Det. N NP → Det. N
ge toa that house
14. NP → Det. N NP → Det. N
kpo toa one house
15. NP →. Det. NP → Det. A N
folo kpo g˜ a one big elephant
16. NP →. Det. NP → Det. A N
t˜ u folo ge that black elephant
17. NP → Det. NP → Det. A N
gbogbo bis˜ı kpo one small lion
18. NP → A N Det. NP → Det. A N
f˜ e gbogbo ge that white lion