Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd
Upload
66 views

Syntax

This document provides an introduction to syntax and the study of sentence structure. It discusses syntax as a cognitive science that uses the scientific method. Descriptive rules are emphasized over prescriptive rules. Generative rules are proposed as hypotheses to describe sentence structure. The goal is to develop explanatorily adequate grammars that account for both observed data and speakers' competence. The innate nature of language is proposed, with Universal Grammar consisting of the basic building blocks that all languages utilize.

Uploaded by

Daniel Koh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
66 views

Syntax

This document provides an introduction to syntax and the study of sentence structure. It discusses syntax as a cognitive science that uses the scientific method. Descriptive rules are emphasized over prescriptive rules. Generative rules are proposed as hypotheses to describe sentence structure. The goal is to develop explanatorily adequate grammars that account for both observed data and speakers' competence. The innate nature of language is proposed, with Universal Grammar consisting of the basic building blocks that all languages utilize.

Uploaded by

Daniel Koh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 43

Syntax

Andrew Carnie

The web page for this textbook

http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/carnie

Topic 1: Syntax: some background

Whatissyntax?
Syntaxasa(cognitive)science
Rules
prescriptivismvs.descriptivism
EvaluatingGrammars
Languageasaninstinct

Q. What is Syntax??

The scientific study of sentence


structure

Perspective: The psychological (or


cognitive) organization of sentence
structure in the mind.

Q. What is a sentence??

A hierarchically organized structure of


words that maps sound to meaning and
vice versa.
sounds sentences meaning

Scientific Method
Study of syntax is a science.
Uses the scientific method

Observe some data


Make some generalizations
Develop a hypothesis
Test against more data

Scientific method
1)Johnloveshimself

Anaphor:Anounthat
refersbacktoa
previouslymentioned
noun:selfnouns.

2)Marylovesherself
3)JohnandMarylovethemselves
Generalization:TheformoftheXselfseemstobe
dependentuponthegender/numberofthenounthey
referto.
Hypothesis:Anaphors(Xself)agreewiththenoun
theyrefertoinnumberandgender.
4)Theboyloveshimself/*herself/*themselves

Rules: A kind of hypothesis

In this class, we will encode our hypotheses


about sentence structure using rules.

A group of rules are called a Grammar.


Grammar is a scary word. But it doesnt mean
what you think it does. A grammar in the
linguistic sense is a cognitive structure. It is
the part of the mind that generates and
understands language.

Prescriptive vs. Descriptive


Rules
We are always told to never split
infinitives.
Who(m) did you give the book to?
Hopefully, well never learn the rules of
grammar!

Prescriptive vs. Descriptive


Prescriptive rules prescribe how we
should speak
Descriptive rules describe how we
actually speak.

Whichismorescientific?

Prescriptive Rules

These are made up by so called


language mavens

These are made up by so called language mavens! Who are


they to tell you how to speak?!?
Prescriptive rules are often based on the rules of Latin or
logic. Who says Latin is so great? Why should language be
logical?
Descriptiverulesarethewaytogo!

Descriptive Rules
The rules we will use are said to
generate the sentences of the
languages we are looking at. They
actually build the sentences we
produce. They are sentence building
rules.
The kind of grammar we are looking at
is called generative grammar (=group of

rules that generate the sentences of a language)

Sources of Data

Corpora of Spoken & Written Language


Collections of recorded real world speech
Telephone recordings (LDC)
Newspapers, Books, Magazines
Folk tales etc recorded in the field.

Sources of Data

*Wheredoyouwonderifhelives?
Howdoyouknowthisisungrammatical?
Haveyoueverheardthissentenceuttered?
Willthefactthatthissentenceis
ungrammaticalappearinanycorpus?

Everyday,youproducegrammatical
sentencesthathaveneverbeenuttered
before.

Sources of Data

Corporaarenotsufficient.Theydont
containnegativeinformation(suchaswhat
sentencesareungrammatical),andtheycan
nevercontainallthesentencesofa
language.

Weneedtoaccessourmental

knowledge(alsocalledcompetence)
aboutsentences.

Sources of Data
Aspecialexperimentaltechniquefor
tappingoursyntacticknowledge.
Thistechniqueiscalledtheacceptability
judgement.
Inthepsychologyliterature,thisis
sometimesalsocalledmagnitudeestimation

Acceptability Judgements
Unfortunately, sometimes acceptability
judgements are called intuitions.
The term intuition has a negative
connotation: makes us think of fortune
tellers and psychics.
However, acceptability judgements are
both experimentally valid and
statistically sound.

Acceptability Judgements

We will apply acceptability judgements


in this class non-statistically. For the
most part this will give us the right
results. Statistical proof of judgements
is possible, but we wont bother.

Performance vs. Competence


Performance refers to what we do
Competence refers to what we know
about the language
Our scientific concern: Both
Our focus in this course: Competence

Evaluating Grammars

Observationally Adequate Grammar: A


grammar that accounts for all the observed
(corpus/performance) data.
Descriptively Adequate: Accounts for
observations and acceptability judgements
(competence). And generalizations
Explanatorily Adequate: Accounts for
observations, acceptability, AND accounts for
language acquisition.
weaspiretoExplanatorilyAdequateGrammars.

Observationally Adequate Grammar:


A grammar that accounts for all the
observed corpus data.

All and only the sentences in the data


Allow only sentences that have been seen
Exclude any sentences that have not been seen

A problem: Any corpus both over and


undergenerates
A solution: Competence-based observational
adequacy

Descriptively Adequate: Accounts for


all observed data and all acceptability
judgements (competence).
Account for grammaticality intuitions
Capture descriptive generalizations

Explanatorily Adequate: Explain


why things are the way they are
Identify the Laws of Nature at work
Heavenly Bodies

Tyco: Described motions of planets with


unprecedented accuracy (Observation)
Kepler: Determined that all planets have
elliptical orbits (Descriptive Generalization)
Newton: Deduced the elliptical orbits of the
planets from the laws of motion and
gravitation (Explanation)

Chomsky's Conception of an
Explanatorily Adequate Grammar
The Laws of Grammar: Universal
Grammar
What's being explained by the laws: the
miracle of language acquisition

Learning vs. Acquisition


Learning involves conscious gaining of
knowledge
Acquisition involves subconscious
gaining of knowledge

Chemistryislearned.Languagesare
acquired.

How do we acquire languages?


Obviously this question is too big to
answer here, but
Are we instructed by our parents?
Do we mimic our parents?

NOPE!
1) Languageisinfinite:Weproducesentencesweve
neverheardbefore
2) Weknowthingsaboutourlanguagethatwevenever
beenexposedto.

Language as an instinct
Despitewhattheymaythink,parentsdontteach
theirchildrentospeak!
Theycorrectcontentnotform:
(fromMarcusetal.1992)
Adult:WhereisthatbigpieceofpaperIgaveyouyesterday?
Child: Remember?Iwritedonit.
Adult:Ohthatsright,dontyouhaveanypaperdownhere,
buddy?

Language as an instinct
(fromPinker1994,281attributedtoMartinBraine)
Child:Wantotheronespoon,Daddy
Adult:Youmean,youwanttheotherspoon.
Child:Yes,Iwantotheronespoon,pleaseDaddy.
Adult:Canyousaytheotherspoon?
Child:Otheronespoon
Adult:Sayother
Child:other
Adult:spoon
Child:Spoon.
Adult:otherspoon
Child:otherspoon.Nowgivemeotheronespoon.

Language as unconscious knowledge


You know things about your language that
youve never been taught:
Who(m) did you think
Shawn hit ?
Who(m) did you think that Shawn hit?
Who
did you think
hit Bill
*WhodidyouthinkthathitBill

Language as unconscious knowledge:


Things you don't know you know

Who married his mother?


which person x married x's mother? (who married
his own mother? Oedipus reading)
which person x married y's mother? (who married
HIS, say Bill's, mother? who is Bill's father or
stepfather? Stepfather reading)

Who did his mother marry?


* which person x did x's mother marry? (no Oedipus
reading)
which person x did y's mother marry? (stepfather
reading okay)

A shocking proposal!
Noam Chomsky

Theabilityofhumanstouselanguageisinnate(an
instinct).Weareprewiredtouselanguage!

Huh? languages differ?!?


How can language be an instinct if
languages differ?
Proposal: Languages differ primarily in
terms of what words are used, and in a
set number of parameters
These things are learned but the rest (the
basic architecture of the grammar) is
innate.

Refining Innateness
A particular language is not innate (it is
acquired), but the basic tools that any
given language uses are built in.
Well be looking at these tools. Both
within languages, and crosslinguistically
to see what is universal (innate) and
what varies among languages.

Task of a child acquiring English

Match up a sentence that they hear with


a situation in the context around them.

Thecatspiedthekissingfishes=
1

To make the proof lets turn this into an


algebraic operation. Well number sentences,
and well number situations, and look for the
rule that matches them up.

What are basic building blocks?

Example: Inferring a curve from an infinite set


of points
A grammar defines an infinite set of sentences
The logical problem: From a finite set of data,
a child must infer an infinite set of sentences
Solution: we need a set of laws for making
grammars: Universal Grammar

The content of this class


In this class, we will be looking at the
innate principles that govern sentence
structure (Called Universal Grammar)
And we will be looking at the different
ways in which languages implement
these innate principles.

Universal Grammar (UG)


The building blocks that all languages
use to construct the sentences of their
languages.
All languages use the same basic
hardwired tools. It is the particular
implementation of these tools that
varies between languages.

Universal Grammar (UG)

Other evidence for UG


Human Specificity of Language
Distinct area of the brain
Crosslinguistic similarities in language
acquisition (despite cultural differences)
Lack of overt instruction
Language Universals

Summary
Syntax: A Science, uses Scientific
method, studies sentence structure
Prescriptive/Descriptive Rules
Generative Rules as Hypotheses

Summary
Performance/Competence
Evaluating Grammars:

Observationally Adequate
Descriptively Adequate
Explanatorily Adequate

Learning vs. Acquisition


Innateness of Language
Universal Grammar: innate, hardwired
building blocks of syntax.

Summary about Syntax


Syntax is the scientific study of
sentence structure
Syntax is a branch of psychology
[linguistics is a branch of psychology]
We study competence=knowledge
Competence is implicit knowledge

Evidence
Corpora
Speech
Grammaticality judgments

Discussion Topics
What things that we know are learned?
What things are acquired?
Language is an instinct. How is this an
argument against prescriptive rules?
There are some good reasons to keep
prescriptive rules. What are they?

You might also like