Descriptive approach: an approach to grammar that is based on a description of the structures actually used in a language, not what should be used, in contrast to the prescriptive approach.
Structural analysis:
the investigation of the distribution of grammatical forms in a language
The method involves the use of “test-frames” that can be sentences with empty slots in them.
The ____________________ makes a lot of noise.
I heard a _______________ yesterday.
car, child, donkey, dog, radio because all these forms fit in the same test-frame, they are likely to be examples of the same grammatical category
for these forms, we require different test-frames
____________________ makes a lot of noise.
I heard _______________ yesterday.
It, the big dog, an old car, the professor with the Scottish accent, Cathy, someone, the dog, a car.
In the older, Latin-influenced, analysis of pronouns, they were described as "words used in place of nouns".
More accurately, pronouns are words used in place of noun phrases (not just nouns).
Constituent analysis:
a grammatical analysis of how small constituents (or components) go together to form larger constituents in sentences.
An old man brought a shotgun to the wedding
At the word level, we have 9 constituents.
An old man, a shotgun, the wedding = Noun phrases (NP)
to the wedding = Prepositional phrase (PP)
brought a shotgun = Verb phrase (VP)