English 310 F11

ENGL 310 F11 Class 3-3

Mon. 9/23/11

Textbook: complicated! “Trust in me…”

Structure reminder: chunking

Substitution and move tests = chunks: NP, VP, PP, etc. – just a few

        (explain determiners)

        Helping verbs: We will eat the pizza

BFLG #1: Infinite utterances, finite kinds of utterances

        So few kinds, fit on 3x5 card

        Look at handout list, what parens mean, types of phrases

Practice: basic NP VP, then with PP (pizza) We ate the pizza, with anchovies

        Compound N: Illudium below

Conjunc’s: NP, S

        Verb counting rule of thumb

        Subord conj’s: We will eat the pizza when you arrive

So much for textbook sentences: real sentences more complicated…

“that” phrases: I know that you ate my pizza

“that” phrases w/o “that”

Deletions (commands)

Big sentence

More complicated…

        Complement options

        -ing phrases, etc.

Next time: practice trees

Reading: Phrase Structure Rules Handout + Chapter 5, 194-196

Exercises (to review in class): Handout of Sentences to “Tree” (#1); pg. 200, #5

Syntax

Handouts:

Syntax Practice Sentences #1 (for next time)

Phrase Structure Rules (from last time: sorry!)

HW Key

Syntax (rules for combining words into sentences)

        We’ve gone from sounds to words, and now to sentences

        And what’s it all about, once again? Hierarchical structure

[Hierarchical structure

        Listen and repeat: 1-8-1-2-1-9-8-4-2-0-0-1-1-7-7-6

                Easy, right? (ha, ha)

        Try this: 1812-1984-2001-1776

        (Mentioned in Social Psych: human thinking: we categorize)

        Further: we put things into hierarchical structures

        Phonetically: sound stream > segments > features (voiced stop, etc.)

        Today: put syllables into the pattern

                Sound stream > syllables > segments > features

        I’ll leave you to think about wider implications of hierarchical structure

                Bodies > organs > cells > molecules > atoms > subatomic particles

(> basic physical forces and fields)

                How deep does it go?

                Is it just a characteristic of human thought?

                        Or does it really exist in the universe (or both)?]