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Unitvb: Celyn R. Alano Baels 1102

The document discusses several key concepts in linguistics: 1) The head of a clause or phrase determines its category. The head of a clause is a verb, while the head of a verb phrase is the main verb. 2) Syntactic ambiguity occurs when a single sentence or phrase has more than one possible meaning. Context is often needed to determine the intended meaning. 3) Transformational analysis is a method for analyzing certain types of utterances by referring to their underlying structures. It qualifies the transformational theory for a specific purpose. 4) Principles and parameters theory describes a language's syntax according to general principles and specific parameters (switches) that are either on or off for that

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37 views6 pages

Unitvb: Celyn R. Alano Baels 1102

The document discusses several key concepts in linguistics: 1) The head of a clause or phrase determines its category. The head of a clause is a verb, while the head of a verb phrase is the main verb. 2) Syntactic ambiguity occurs when a single sentence or phrase has more than one possible meaning. Context is often needed to determine the intended meaning. 3) Transformational analysis is a method for analyzing certain types of utterances by referring to their underlying structures. It qualifies the transformational theory for a specific purpose. 4) Principles and parameters theory describes a language's syntax according to general principles and specific parameters (switches) that are either on or off for that

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Celyn Alano
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Unit V B

CELYN R. ALANO
BAELS 1102
What Heads the Sentence
• The head determines the category of the phrase,
though not the function. The head of a clause is a verb
phrase, and the head of a verb phrase is a verb -- thus it
follows that the head word of a clause is a verb. In your
B example, the main clause is the entire sentence,
which has the verb phrase "will vote against
government plans to privatize hospitals" as its head.
The head of this verb phrase is the finite verb "will".
The other verbs in the sentence, "vote" and "privatize",
are heads of embedded subordinate clauses, not the
main clause (the sentence).
Structural Ambiguities
• In English grammar, syntactic ambiguity is the
presence of two or more possible meanings within
a single sentence or sequence of words. Also called
structural ambiguity or grammatical ambiguity.
Compare with lexical ambiguity (the presence of
two or more possible meanings within a single
word).
• The intended meaning of a syntactically ambiguous
sentence can often (but not always) be determined
by context.
Transformational Analysis
• TRANSFORMATIONAL ANALYSIS as presented here
is strictly a method for dealing with particular types
of utterances. It is applicable only where reference
can be made to underlying structures. In effect, it is
a qualified application of the trans- formational
theory, adapted to meet a specific purpose.
The Structure Dependency Rules
• TRANSFORMATIONAL ANALYSIS as presented here
is strictly a method for dealing with particular types
of utterances. It is applicable only where reference
can be made to underlying structures. In effect, it is
a qualified application of the trans- formational
theory, adapted to meet a specific purpose.
UG Principles and Parameters
• Principles and parameters is a framework within generative
linguistics in which the syntax of a natural language is described in
accordance with general principles (i.e. abstract rules or
grammars) and specific parameters (i.e. markers, switches) that
for particular languages are either turned on or off. For example,
the position of heads in phrases is determined by a parameter.
Whether a language is head-initial or head-final is regarded as a
parameter which is either on or off for particular languages (i.e.
English is head-initial, whereas Japanese is head-final). Principles
and parameters was largely formulated by the linguists Noam
Chomsky and Howard Lasnik. Many linguists have worked within
this framework, and for a period of time it was considered the
dominant form of mainstream generative linguistics

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