• A set of rules generating the possible phrases and sentences in a language.

• To an analysis of the syntax of a language, we try to adhere to the “all & only” criterion

–> when we analysis must account for all the grammatically correct phrases & sentences & only those grammatically correct phrases & sentence

–A generative grammar: describes a language in terms of a set of logical rules formulated

=> An effective rule such as “a prepositional phrase in Eng consists of a preposition followed by a noun phrase”, we can imagine an extremely large number of Eng phrases that could be produced using this rule

• Surface structure: is the outward form of a sentence

•  Deep structure (or underlying structure): is an abstract level of a structure in which all elements that influence structure explanation are represented

• When a sentence has more than one meaning due to the way words are arranged in that sentence callled is structural ambiguity.

Ex: Two distinct deep structure

“Annie had an umbrella and she bumped into a man with it”

“Annie bumped into a man and the man happened to be carrying an umbrella”

• Surface structure

“Annie bumped into a man with an umbrella”

• Syntactic analysis:  an analysis that focuses on understanding the logical meaning of sentences or of parts of sentences.

In syntactic analysis, we use some conventional abbreviations for the parts of speech

Ex: N (noun), Art (Article), Adj (adjective), V (Verb), NP (noun phrase), VP (verb phrase), PN ( proper noun), Pro (pronoun)

• The process of analyzing natural language with formal grammar

Syntactic analysis involves two tasks:

• break down a sentence into its parts, such as noun phrases (NP), verb phrases (VP), and other grammatical components 

•  then examine how these parts fit together to create meaning 

Noun Phrase (NP):

• such as the dog consists of or rewrites as (->) an article (the) and a noun (dog) => this simple formal is the underlying structure of millions of different Eng phrases.

NP -> Art N

• However, we also can include another constituent (Adj) in the rule -> the big dog

Phrase structure rules: a set of syntactic rules states that a particular structure type of a phrase will consist of one or more constituents in a specific order.

-> The structure of a phrase of a specific type consists of one or more constituents in a particular order 

• First role: a sentence (S) rewrites as a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP)

• Second role: a noun phrase rewrites as either an article plus an optional adjective plus a noun, a pronoun, or a proper noun

• NP -> ( Art (Adj) N, Pro, PN)

• Third role: a verb phrase rewrites as a verb plus a noun phrase 

• VP -> V NP

Lexical rules: rules for using words when components ( such as PN) are formed by phrase structure rules 

Tree diagram: a diagram with branches shows the hierarchy of the structure 

• Surface structure changes of a single deep structure illustrate the generative power of phrase structure principles.

• We try to develop better ways of analyzing the syntactic structure of complex sentences, but we inevitably need a larger analytic framework.

1. Syntax originally meant "arrangement" or "ordering" in Greek. This reflects its core function in language: to specify the rules governing the arrangement of words in a sentence to create meaningful expressions. 

2.  The Problem with the Rule "A prepositional phrase rewrites as a preposition followed by a noun." 

3. (a) These are designed for small boys and girls. - interpreted in two ways: either the items are designed for both small boys and girls together, or they are designed for small boys and also for small girls. 

(b) The parents of the bride and groom were waiting outside. -interpreted as either the parents of both the bride and groom were waiting, or there were two sets of parents (one for the bride and one for the groom) waiting. 

(c) How come a bed has four legs, but only one foot? - This sentence is not structurally ambiguous, but it plays on the homonym "foot" (a body part) and "foot" (a unit of measurement). 

d) We met an English history teacher. - interpreted as either we met a teacher who teaches English history, or we met a teacher who is English and teaches history. 

e) Flying planes can be dangerous. - interpreted as either flying planes is dangerous, or planes that are flying can be dangerous. 

(f) The students complained to everyone that they couldn't understand. -interpreted as either the students complained to everyone about their own inability to understand something, or they complained to everyone about something else that they couldn't understand. 

4. In the sentence "We saw a lovely rainbow yesterday," lovely is an adjective. It modifies the noun "rainbow." 

5. In the sentence "George saw a small dog in the park near the fountain and it followed him when he left the park," there are six noun phrases:

1. George

2. a small dog

3. the park

4. the fountain

5. him

6. the park

6.  In the sentence "None of the people in the building supported the proposed rent increase," the VP is supported the proposed rent increase.  

7. a lady (Art Adj N)

the little girl (Art Adj N)

her (Pro)

Annie (PN)

the widow (Art N)

8. The rule N → {girl, dog, boy} is a lexical rule. Lexical rules specify the words that can belong to a particular part of speech, in this case, nouns. 

9. Phrase structure rules represent deep structure. Deep structure is the underlying, abstract representation of a sentence that captures its semantic meaning, independent of its surface form. Surface structure is the actual form of the sentence as it appears in spoken or written language 

10.