Analytical Perspectives

in English Grammar
Lexical and Phrasal Categories

Dr Rickey Lu
Dept of English and Communication, PolyU
Review- Studying Syntax Example sentence – Boys swim.

• Constituents
1. Constituents • [Boys] [swim]
• (What are the parts?)
• Function
2. Categories • [Boys] = Subject, [Swim] = Predicate
• (What kinds of parts are
they?) • Category
• Subjects = Noun Phrases (NP)
3. Functions • [Boys] is a NP
• (What do the parts do?) • Predicates = Verb Phrases (VP)
• [Swim] is a VP
• Remember this phrase?
• *Ten very wontons - doesn’t work
• ‘fresh’ has a function related to ‘wontons’
• ‘very’ has a function related to ‘fresh’
• If we move ‘fresh’ away from phrase C,
‘very’ is left with no function

Why can’t ‘very’ modify ‘wontons’?

The answer lies in the category of the word
Words have a restricted range of potential functions
Words are also restricted in how they can combine together into phrases
• What can you see about the range, combination and positioning for the word
‘ideas’ and ‘wontons’?

Ten ideas Ten wontons

Ten fresh ideas Ten fresh wontons
*Ten extremely ideas *Ten very wontons
*Ten very
*Ten extremely
*Ten wonton very
*Ten ideas extremely

• ‘Ideas’ has the same distribution as ‘wontons’

• These two words:

• Occupy the same range of functions
• Combine with the same types of elements
• Occupy the same positions
Categories
• Lexical categories
• Single words
• wontons, ideas

• Lexical categories are similar to parts of speech

• Noun (N) is an example of a lexical category

• But we also have phrasal categories

• E.g. Noun phrase (NP)
• Ten very fresh wontons

• Phrases also have same distributions, range of functions, and occupy the same
positions
Describing lexical categories (Nouns as an
example)
• Proper nouns • Mass nouns
• Names with an initial capital • Normally no plural form
• December
• Normally cannot combine with an
indefinite article, numeral
• Common nouns • Followed by ‘some’
• Can combine with the definite article ‘the’ • research, furniture
• The book
• The man

• Count nouns • Some nouns are both mass and count

• Can combine with indefinite article ‘a/an’ • Eggs
• Can combine with numerals (one, two, etc.)
• Some eggs, eggs, two eggs
• Can be morphologically marked for plural
• The books
• Man/men

• Definition of a noun:
• Person, place, or thing
• But what about words like: December, argument?
Describing lexical categories (Nouns as an
example)

• Instead, a better and more systematic way to define categories might be

by their distribution
• I.e. Possible syntactic positions and functions
Phrasal Categories - Noun Phrases as an
example

• Ten very fresh wontons

• Head of this entire phrase?

• ‘wontons’ is the head, and an N, so this whole phrase must be a NP

• Again, the category of the head word (in this example, N) determines category of the whole phrase

• Other words have a function in respect of the head noun

• E.g. ‘very fresh’ functions as the modifier of ‘wonton’
Phrasal Categories - Noun Phrases as an
example
• The head N also:
• Determines number (singular, plural)
• Gender

• Ten very fresh wontons

• they
• A very fresh wonton
• it
• A very talented actress
• her, she
Phrasal Categories - Noun Phrases as an
example
• The man devouring the plums is grinning
broadly.
• The comedy actress John met in the foyer
seemed excited.
• The head noun determines what the entire
NP refers to.

• Constituents that modify the head noun

are usually optional
• The man is grinning broadly.
• The actress seemed excited.
Phrasal Categories

• Single word Noun Phrases (NP)

• Adjective Phrases (AP)
• Adverbial Phrases (AdvP)
• Prepositional Phrases (PP)
• Coordinate Phrases
• S(sentence) = NP(subject) + VP(predicate)
• [Ten very fresh wontons] are satisfying.
• [Ten wontons] are satisfying.
• [Wontons] are satisfying.

• Syntactically, a NP is a head plus its modifiers

• Distributions:
• A NP can consist of just the head noun
• A NP can consist of just a Proper noun (and do not take modification)
• A NP can consist of just a pronoun
• *The they are paddling away.
• They are paddling away.

• More complex NP’s will be discussed in a future lecture

Adjectives and Adverbs
• Ten very fresh wontons

• ‘Fresh’ is an adjective (in this case)

• Morphological characteristics:
• Adjectives can be seen by affixation such as –able,-al,-ate, -y
• Gradable adjectives –er/-est

• ‘Very’ is an adverb

• Again, we need to consider the syntactical distributions of these two

categories
Adjective Phrases - Distributions
• Adjective phrase (AP)
• Very fresh, extremely clever, too modest
• Adjective is the head of the AP
• Adjective phrases can be one single unmodified head adjective (e.g. ‘fresh’)

• Constituents that can appear in AP’s along with the head A:

• General adverbs (Adv)
• Potentially, oddly, immediately
• Usually formed with the ‘-ly’ morpheme

• Degree adverbs (DEG)

• quite, too, slightly, more, less
• used to modify adjectives
Adverb Phrases - Distributions

• AdvP can consist of just one general adverb

• quickly

• AdvP can consist of general adverbs modified

by degree adverbs
• Very quickly
Typical Distributions of AP and AdvP
AP can also consist of an
AdvP and head A!
Prepositional Phrases - Distributions
• Definition for preposition?
• Short words that express relations, often locational relations in time or
space
• To, at, from, by, up, down, during, like, until, of

• Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream

• ‘Beside a stream’ is a prepositional phrase (PP)
• The head is ‘beside’, a preposition (P)
• What phrase is ‘a stream’?
• A noun phrase (NP)
Prepositional Phrases - Distributions

• PP’s can consist of a P complemented by a NP

• Beside a stream
• To Steven

• PP’s can consist of just a P

• There, here *triangles denote unfinished branches in the tree

• Words with affix ‘a-’

• Aside, aboard
• Words with affix ‘-wards’
• Upwards, downwards
Worksheet 4
• Question 1

• Identify the phrasal category of each phrase.

• *Hint: Identify the head and then the head’s lexical category to determine the
phrasal category
• The solemn salesman
• Very Strange
• NP • AP

• The solemn salesman at the car dealership • Extremely Hungry

• NP • AP

• Sarah • Hungry people

• NP
• NP (Name)
• Skillfully dodged
• Played basketball • VP
• VP
• Skillfully
• The play • AdvP
• NP
• On the table
• PP
• He
• NP (Pro)
• Toward the northern lights
Coordinate Phrases - Distributions
• Michael and Steven liked the dinner.
• Which word is the head of the subject NP?

• Both are the head

• Coordinated by ‘and’
• Other coordinates are ‘but’ and ‘or’

• Question test
• Who liked the dinner?

• Replacement test
• They liked the dinner.
 Coordinate Phrases
• Constituents of any category only co-ordinate with constituents of the same category.

• Which of the below are coordinate phrases?

1. Max and quickly
2. the acrobats and quite incomprehensible
3. the actress that John met in the foyer and the acrobats
4. in the foundations and under the rafters
5. obviously intelligent and to Newcastle
6. moderately cheap and extremely nasty
7. rather and inconsistent

This rule holds for phrasal categories[40a], lexical categories[40b], and sentences (S can only co-ordinate with S)
Worksheet 4
• Question 2

• Draw the tree structures of the following phrases. Label the categories
(phrasal and lexical) where appropriate.
• Very strange

• Sarah
• Extremely hungry

• At the carpark
• Extremely secretly rotten
Analytical Perspectives
in English Grammar
The Verb Phrase

Dr Rickey Lu
Dept of English and Communication, PolyU
Review

• Some functions we’ve learned about:

• subject, predicate, complement, modifier

• Some syntax categories we’ve begun to learn about:

• Lexical: N, V, P, Adv, A
• Phrasal: Simple NP, AdvP, AP, PP, Coordinate Phrases
 Identify the predicate VPs below.

• Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream.

• Predicate VP = sunbathed beside a stream

• The ducks are paddling away.

• Predicate VP = are paddling away

• Ducks paddle.
• Predicate VP = paddle

• This lesson’s goal: Understanding the possible structures of the VP

Verbs

Discuss: How can we tell that a word is a verb?

Verbs

• Types of verbs in English

• Lexical
• Run, eat, seem, recycle, study
• Open Class

• Auxiliary
• Have, do, can, will, need
• Closed Class
• Some verbs function only as lexical verbs
• e.g. run, eat, think
• Children and dogs ran from side to side.
• He barely ate and slept that night.
• He turned on the lights.
• I looked at that one again.

• Some verbs function only as auxiliary verbs

• e.g. the modals can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must
• People thought he might have been joking.
• He would probably like it softer.

• Some verbs can function as both auxiliary and lexical verbs

• e.g. be, have, and do
• He was wearing a dark ski mask.
• His dad was at school.
• Michael does arithmetic quite fast.
• Stephanie does understand the rules.
Identify whether the Vs are lexical or
auxiliary

• Eat • Toss
• Lexical • Lexical

• Will • Can
• Auxiliary • Auxiliary

• Slap • Goad
• Lexical
• Lexical
• Be
• Auxiliary/lexical • Might
• Auxiliary
The VP
• A VP must contain a lexical verb

• A VP may contain auxiliary verbs

• Michael studied English.

• Steve should have majored in finance.
• Rickey was preparing his lecture.
• Some VPs contain only lexical verbs
• Michael studied English.

• Lexical verbs have distinctive morphological features

• -s, -ing, -ed, -en
Properties of Lexical Verbs
• Steve hates bad traffic.
• VP?
• hates bad traffic

• What is the constituent relationship between ‘hates’ and ‘bad traffic’? (are they
modifiers or complements?)
• *Steve bad traffic
• *Steve hates

• In this VP, the V (head) requires the NP (complement relationship)

• The lexical verb ‘hates’ must take a NP

Properties of Lexical Verbs

• Old Sam sunbathed.

• VP?
• sunbathed
• Does the V ‘sunbathed’ require a NP complement?

• The lexical verb ‘sunbathe’ does not need and cannot take an NP

Lexical verbs can be categorized by what elements must appear with

them within the VP (i.e. what complements them)
• Some V’s can function as a VP by itself
• E.g. Old Sam [sunbathed].

• Old Sam [sunbathed [beside a stream]].

• In this sentence, ‘beside a stream’ (PP) is a modifier, not a
complement

• Syntax Rule: in English, all VP’s can be modified by a PP

• Steve hates bad traffic [in the morning].
Categorization of lexical verbs

Transitivity is a property of verbs that relates to whether a verb can take

objects, how many objects, and what types of object.

In syntax, the transitivity of the lexical V affects the hierarchical structure of

the constituents
i.e. We need to consider:
“Must the V have complements, and if so, how many/what are the
functions of the complements?”
Transitive Verbs

• Definition: verbs that require one single NP complement

• The complement NP functions as the direct object (DO) of the V

• Steve hates bad traffic.

• ‘bad traffic’ is the NP complement to the V ‘hates’
• [trans] is what we call a feature

1. Subcategorizes the V
2. Specifies the following (sister) NP
3. When we see this label, we know the sister
NP of the V[trans] is the DO (direct object)

*Note that this is not conventionally used in tree

diagramming – but useful for students to
conceptualize these relationships
 Intransitive Verbs
• Does not require any constituents as a sister in the VP
• i.e. Does not need and does not have complements
• Sleep, die, laugh

• Intransitive verbs are a complete VP

Note on Transitivity
• Some Vs can be both transitive and intransitive.

• Intransitive
• Simon spoke.
• Money helped.

• Transitive
• The stewards all spoke French.
• As Australia’s forward coach, Evens did great work when he helped Alan Jones.
• Besides the transitive/intransitive dichotomy,
• Some scholars also find it useful to further categorize the
transitive attributes of lexical Vs
Categorization of lexical verbs

1. Transitive
2. Intransitive
3. Prepositional
4. Ditransitive
5. Intensive
6. Complex transitive
Prepositional Verbs
• Vs that are complemented by only
a prepositional phrase (PP)
• e.g. refer, listen
• *Shelley referred.
• *Shelley referred the last meeting.
• Shelley referred to the last meeting.

• Usually prepositional verbs require

one particular preposition as head
of the PP complement
• Very difficult for learners!
Categorization of lexical verbs

1. Transitive
2. Intransitive
3. Prepositional
4. Ditransitive
5. Intensive
6. Complex transitive
Ditransitive Verbs This tree structure has 3 branches
extending from the predicate VP, why?
• Require two NPs as complements
• e.g. give, send, buy
• Jerry gave Sam some money.

• One NP (Sam) functions as indirect object

• Recipient of the action

• One NP (some money) functions as the direct

object

• How can we tell which is the DO and which is the

IO?
• The indirect object of a ditransitive verb can also be a
PP that begins with ‘to’ or ‘for’ (Reformulation Test):
• Jerry gave [some money] [to Sam].
• *Jerry gave [Sam][to some money].
Categorization of lexical verbs

1. Transitive
2. Intransitive
3. Prepositional
4. Ditransitive
5. Intensive
6. Complex transitive
Intensive Verbs
• Require a single complement
• But, this single complement can be a NP, AP, or PP
• e.g. be (the copula)
• Jerry is very nice.
• Jerry was a teacher.
• Jerry and Donald were in the classroom.

• Note: Intensive verbs are the only verbs that can be

complemented by just an AP

• The complement functions as a subject-predicative

• Jerry was a teacher.
• NP [a teacher] is a predicative (attributing a property to things or people in
other expressions)

• Contrast with:
• Jerry saw his old teacher.
• The NP [his old teacher] is a direct object

• Steve turned bright red. (intensive V - Subject-predicative)

• Steve turned the steering wheel. (trans V - Direct object)
Categorization of lexical verbs

1. Transitive
2. Intransitive
3. Prepositional
4. Ditransitive
5. Intensive
6. Complex transitive
Complex Transitive Verbs

Compare: Describing
what?

The second complement in a

complex transitive verb is an object-
predicative.

Object-predicative gives a property Describing

to the DO what?
Complex Transitive Verbs
• Two complements for this V
• Direct object (NP) and an object-predicative (AP, NP, or PP)

• Jack finds his own jokes very funny.

• [[finds] [his own jokes] [very funny(AP)]]

• They made John their boss.

• [[made][John][her boss(NP)]]

• Shelly found him in good health.

• [[found][him][in good health(PP)]]
Dealing with Ambiguity
• Max found Bill a likeable colleague.
• Ambiguous! We can sort this out with tree structures.

• Found [ditrans]
• ‘Bill’ is the indirect object, ‘a likeable colleague’ is the direct object

• Found [complex]
• ‘Bill’ is the direct object, ‘a likeable colleague’ is the object-predicative
Task
1. Identify whether the lexical Vs below are transitive, intransitive or can be both.

2. If transitive, identify the transitive attributes of the lexical V (try to brainstorm

grammatical and ungrammatical sentence examples to test for transitivity)

A. Slam
B. Seem
C. Made
D. Decide
E. Stare
F. Grant
A. Slam D. Decide
• Intrans/trans • Intrans/trans
• The door slammed. • The judge decided.
• The news slammed Carrie Lam. • The jury decided the verdict.

E. Stare
B. Seem • Prepositional
• Intensive • Amy stared at the handsome man.
• The driver seemed grumpy.

F. Grant
• Ditrans
C. Made • Joe granted the award to the student.
• Complex trans/trans
• The card made Steve angry.
• Steve made the card.