Constituent Structure Trees

Presented by
Syed Sheheryar Amer(MF19592)
Introduction to constituent structure trees

• The verb phrase VP is divided into
two branches; the transitive verb
wrote and its object, the NP the
book with the blue cover.
• The phrase the book with the
blue cover is a complete
constituent.
• The VP here is divided into the smaller
VP bought that book and the adjunct PP
with her first wages.
• The adjunct is an optional constituent,
which is not a part of the verb’s
argument.
• The smaller VP consists of the transitive
verb bought and its object that book.
Analysing VPs using the do so test

• The do so test works by replacing the VP with something that stands for it, like do so.
• We can replace the VP in both the previously used examples as follows:
• I thought that Mel [VP wrote that book with the blue cover].
No! Kim [VP did so].
• I thought that Mel [VP bought that book with her first wages]
No! Kim [VP did so].
• The do so test should also be applicable to the smaller VP as well, so;
• I thought that Mel [VP bought that book] (with some of her inheritance).
No! Kim [VP did so] with her fi rst wages.
• However, that book is not a complete constituent in the first sentence and this can be shown
through the do so test as well.
• I thought that Mel wrote that book with the blue cover.
• No! *Kim did so with the blue cover
Different examples
• Let’s look at a different set of examples, which contain words from the same word class and
in the same order but they have different structure.
My brother wrote down his address
My brother applied for this job
D N V P D N
• We can see if the phrases down his address and for this job are constituents, by using the
cleft test.
• *It was down his address that my brother wrote.
• It was [for this job] that my brother applied.
• We know that down does not form a constituent with his address, instead his address is a
constituent on its own. We can show this using cleft test again.
• It was [his address] that my brother wrote down (not his phone number).
• Also, we can show that the construction the job is also a separate constituent, but it is NP
that is nested inside a PP.
• It was [this job] that my brother applied for.
Constituent structure trees
Summary
• Constituency Tests • Indicating constituent structures
• Pronoun replacement test • Square brackets
• Sentence fragment test • Tree diagrams
• Echo question test
• Cleft test
• Do so test for VP status