What kind of Theory do we need for English Syntax? Are languages finite? Could we list all the sentences of English?

What kind of Theory do we need for English Syntax? Are languages finite? Could we list all the sentences of English?

Some sentences go on and on. Some sentences go on and on and on. Some sentences go on and on and on and on. Some sentences go on and on and on and on and on.... 2

An Impossible Hypothetical Language Some sentences go on and on. Sentences some go on and on and on. Some sentences go on and on and on and on. Sentences some go on and on and on and on and on. *Sentences some go on and on. *Some sentences go on and on and on. *Sentences some go on and on and on and on. *Some sentences go on and on and on and on and on.... 3

The Distributional Basis of Parts of Speech That surprised me. I noticed the. They were interested in his. This is my favorite. 4

Grammar as a List of Patterns? article noun verb article noun verb article noun articles: a, the nouns: cat, dog verbs: attacked, scratched 5

Finite State Grammars 1 Infinite Set? No Problem! Some sentences (will) go on and on [and on]. Some sentences (will) go on [and on] +. S (D) N (Aux) V P [Conj P] + 6

Finite State Grammars 2 Some sentences and/or paragraphs (or pages...) (will) go on (and on (and on...)). S (D) N [Conj N] (Aux) V P [Conj P] + People (may) read newspapers (or books (or magazines...)) S (D) N [Conj N] (Aux) V ((D) N [Conj N] ) 7

Finite State Grammars 3 The teachers (would) talk about physics (and math (and beer...)). S (D) N [Conj N] (Aux) V P (D) N [Conj N] People (may) write books about physics (or math (or beer...)). S (D) N [Conj N] (Aux) V (D) N [Conj N] P (D) N [Conj N] 8

Finite State Grammars 4 Good grammars make predictions (way) beyond the obeserved data. S (D) N [Conj N] (Aux) V (D) N [Conj N] P (D) N [Conj N] These teachers wrote the books and the articles about physics and math and history. 9

Finite State Grammars 5 The best personal accounts of an event. The best personal accounts of an event may go on and on and... S (D) A* N [Conj N] (P (D) N) (Aux) V P [Conj P] + The teachers (would) talk about the best personal accounts of an event. S (D) N [Conj N] (Aux) V P (D) A* N [Conj N] (P (D) N) 10

Finite State Grammars 6 Generalizations should be hiearchically organized. A Noun Phrase can be subject of a sentence, or its object, or the object of a preposition. The grammar should tell us all the ways to realize a NP just once. Finite State Grammars fail to do this. 11

Structural Ambiguity: CFGs Why we need (at least) I saw the astronomer with a telescope. We enjoyed the movie with Cher. The room contained noisy children and animals. People with children who use drugs should be locked up. I forgot how good beer tastes.

Other Ambiguity: Lexical Ambiguity They could build a better pen. Their class was bothersome. I don t like their band. I want the best dresser in the world. That phone bothers me.

Other Ambiguity [a:(y)lbi li:v@nyu:] (Country Western Lyric) I read it every day. Some student invited each professor. She likes Jones more than Sandy. Some student talked to every teacher. 14

Complex Ambiguity I saw that gas can explode. Visiting relatives can be boring. Flying planes can be dangerous. This animal has four legs and flies. I saw her duck. 15

Constituency: Constituent Structure I forgot [how [[good beer] tastes]]. I forgot [[how good] [beer tastes]]. I saw [that [gas [can explode]]]. I [saw [that [gas can]] explode]. 16

Tests for Constituency How do we know which elements get grouped together? That is, how do we know which elements are grouped together to form a constituent? There are various tests, none perfect... 17

Substitution The little boy fed the cat. He fed her. Black cats detest green peas. them. They detest

Movement 1 I fed the cats. The cats, I fed. (The dogs, I didn t.) I fed the cats with long, fluffy tails. The cats with long, fluffy tails, I fed. 19

Movement 2 I fed the cats with long, fluffy tails. *The cats, I fed with long, fluffy tails. It walked away with a confident air. *With a, it walked away confident air. 20

Movement 3 Ali Baba returned home wiser than before. *Wiser than, Ali Baba returned from his travels before. They arrived at the concert hall more quickly than they had expected. *More quickly than they, they arrived at the concert hall than had expected. 21

Questions and sentence fragments What do you like? The cats./cats with long, fluffy tails./the cats with long, fluffy tails. Prepositional phrase: How did the cat stroll across the porch? With a confident air./ Where did Ali Baba go? New York. On a long journey./to 22

*What did you feed The cats with. long, fluffy tails? con- *How did the cat stroll across the porch fident air? With a. *How did Ali Baba return from his travels fore? Wiser than. *How did they arrive at the concert hall expected? More quickly than they. be- had 23

It-Cleft Focus PP: The cat strolled across the porch with a confident air. It was with a confident air that the cat strolled across the porch. AP: Ali Baba returned from his travels wiser than before. It was wiser than before that Ali Baba returned from his travels. 24

Ordinary cats detest the smell of citrus fruits. *It is the smell of that ordinary cats detest citrus fruits. The cat strolled across the porch with a confident air. *It was with a confident that the cat strolled across the porch air. 25

Ali Baba returned from his travels wiser than before. *It was wiser than that Ali Baba returned from his travels before. They arrived at the concert hall more quickly than they had expected. *It was quickly than they had expected that they arrived at the concert hall more. 26