ENG502 LESSON-23 SYNTAX II FINAL TERM HANDOUTS-VUHELPERS24

ENG502 LESSON-23 SYNTAX II FINAL TERM HANDOUTS-VUHELPERS24

 ENG502 LESSON-23

Topic: Surface Structure (129)

Q1: What is a surface structure in transformational and generative grammar?

A1: Surface structure refers to the outward form of a sentence, derived from deep structure through a series of transformations.

Q2: How are deep and surface structures related?

A2: Deep structure represents meaning, while surface structure is the actual sentence. They are related by transformations.

Q3: How does the final stage of syntactic representation relate to phonology?

A3: The final syntactic representation becomes an input for the phonological component, influencing the articulation and hearing of sentences.

Topic: Deep Structure (130)

Q1: Define deep structure.

A1: Deep structure is an abstract level of structural organization representing basic components shared by sentences with different surface structures.

Q2: How does deep structure relate to the distinction between superficially different sentences?

A2: Deep structure highlights the shared components between sentences with distinct surface structures.

Topic: Structural Ambiguity (131)

Q1: Provide an example of structural ambiguity.

A1: The sentence "Annie bumped into a man with an umbrella" has two different underlying interpretations expressed in the same surface structure.

Q2: How can phrases be structurally ambiguous?

A2: Phrases like "small boys and girls" can have multiple interpretations, such as "small boys and (small) girls" or "small boys and (all) girls."

Topic: Symbols Used in Syntactic Description (132)

Q1: What symbols are commonly used as abbreviations for syntactic categories?

A1: Symbols such as S (sentence), NP (noun phrase), N (noun), Art (article), V (verb), VP (verb phrase), PP (prepositional phrase), and more are used.

Q2: How is the arrow symbol (→) typically used in syntactic rules?

A2: The arrow indicates rewriting or transformation, such as NP → Art N.

Topic: Labelled Tree Diagrams (133)

Q1: How are syntactic structures visually represented using tree diagrams?

A1: Tree diagrams use symbols like Art, N, and NP to label parts of the tree, capturing the hierarchical organization of phrases and sentences.

Q2: How is a sentence divided in a labeled tree diagram?

A2: A sentence (S) is divided into constituents (NP and VP), and further divisions occur within these constituents.