Presented to:

Madam Amna Shahid

Presented by:

Ammara Ahsan

Ayesha Amjad

Najia Majid

Rashda Meraj

byAmmara AhsanAyesha Amjad

Najia MajidRashda Meraj

DEFINITIONA phrase is a group of words that doesnot have a subject or a verb.

For example:

Eating a peach

Under the teacher‟s desk

After seeing the Taj Mahal

To buy a new phone

General ApproachUniversal Grammar (UG) / Language Instinct

DataNative speakers‟ intuitions (acceptability judgments)

Resulting Theory of GrammarWords, phrases, categories for words and phrases (e.g. nouns, verbs, noun phrases, verb phrases)

(basic concepts any theory of grammar must have in order to capture the data)

1) Every word belongs to a lexical category

2) Lexical categories forms heads of phrases

3) How phrases are formed is governed by rules (= „phrase structure rules‟)

Rules that determine…

what goes into a phrase („constituents‟)

how the constituents are orderedConstituent: a word or group of words that

function as a unit and can make up largergrammatical units

The component that determines the propertiesof the constituent is the head, and theconstituent can be referred to as a phrase: e.g.noun phrase“noun phrases have a Det and a N”NP Det N

1. S NP VP

2. NP {Det N, Pro, PN}

3. VP V (NP) (PP) (Adv)

4. PP P NP

5. AP A (PP)

• NP (Det) N

• PP P NP

The boy (NP)

The

NDet

boy

the boy in the yard

NP

The

NDet

boy

PP

in

NPP

the

Det N

yard

In P

from a boy in a bubble P NP

Phrase structure rule for PPs:

PP P (NP)

PP PP

P P NP

in from Det N PP

a boy P NP

in Det N

a bubble

“Verb phrases have a V, (sometimes) an NP, and (sometimes) a PP”

VP -> V (NP) (PP)

sang

ate the cake

ate the cake hungrily

sang a song in the shower

fell into the pond slowly

Phrase structure rule for VPs:

VP V (NP) (PP) (Adv)

VP VP VP

V V NP V NP PP Adv

sang ate Det N sang Det N P NP badly

the cake a song in Det N

the shower

Thank You