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Syntax
Phrasal Categories
In addition to Lexical Category,
there is another kind of syntactic
category: the phrasal category.
Recall that we can determine a
word’s category by finding
characteristics it shares with other
words.
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That is, we can find words which
behave the same, or have the
same distribution, as other words,
and these sets of words we group
into a category and give it a name,
such as noun or verb.
Then recall that words can combine
with other words to form
semantically coherent groupings, or
constituents.
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Larger chunks of words, called Phrases
also behave the same
A phrasal category is a set of
constituents which behave the same,
or share the same functions and
distribution.
Consider the following:
(1) The joggers ran through the park.
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One constituent of this sentence
consists of the words the joggers,
since it is a natural, semantically
coherent group of words that can
stand on its own.
If we put this in terms of the lexical
categories we have discussed, we
see that this constituent is formed
by the combination of a
determiner and a noun.
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Now consider each of the words
or groups of words that follow.
Note that each of them could be
substituted for the phrase the
joggers in sentence (1), and a
grammatical sentence would
result:
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a. Susan
b. students
c. you
d. many dogs
e. some children
f. a huge, loveable bear
g. my friend from Brazil
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Each of the examples could
likewise be shown to be a
constituent in this sentence if it
occurred in the place of the
joggers.
Note, however, that some have
different structures than the DET +
N constituent in the joggers.
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For example, (a) and (b) are
single Ns, (f) is composed of DET
+ ADJ + ADJ + N, and (g) is made
up of DET + N + PREP + N
Also note that other sets of words
that are constituents cannot be
substituted for the joggers, such
as in the tree or made a cake.
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What we have proven is that
constituents with different structures
can have the same functions
because they can be used in the
same position in a sentence.
This means that they belong to the
same category, and since some
constituents may involve combinations
of more than one word, these
categories are called phrasal
categories.
Syntax
What are those categories?
Noun Phrases
In the category we just discussed,
a noun alone or a noun plus other
words forms a noun phrase (NP).
Sometimes, a single word can
count as a NP all by itself, but not
always.
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For example, the word dog cannot
be substituted for the NP slot in:
(2) __________ ran through the
park.
Thus, in the sentence The dog ran
through the park, dog is a N, but
not a NP (whereas dogs and other
nouns in the plural, would count as
both if placed alone in the slot).
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So we observe from (1) and (2)
that proper nouns, pronouns, and
plural nouns can be used
individually as NPs, but some
types of singular Ns cannot be.
Syntax
Verb Phrases
Now consider the sentence:
(3) The mothers visited their
children.
visited their children is a
constituent
It is composed of V + NP.
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Note that this particular structure
does not share the same
properties of the structures
grouped into the category of NP
because we could not insert
visited their children in the slot
in (2).
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Other structures can be substituted for
visited their children, however.
For example:
a. snored
b. loved music
c. walked the dog through the park
d. believe that dogs are smart
e. wanted to leave
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f. will sleep soundly
g. can lift 100 pounds
h. are wearing sunglasses
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All of the structures behave the
same, and thus can be grouped
into another phrasal category,
namely that of verb phrase (VP).
Note that VPs can consist of a
single V or a V + other words.
For example, (c) is V + NP + PP
and (f) is AUX + V + ADV.
Syntax
Adjective Phrases
Another phrasal category is that of
adjective phrases (ADJPs), such as:
a. smart
b. very tall
c. as tall as his father
d. smarter than the average bear
e. certain to win
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Note that each of these could be
inserted into the syntactic frame:
(4). John is ________________ .
Again, they can be made up of a
wide range of structures, all of
which can serve to describe John.
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Adverbial phrases (ADVPs) are
often used to modify verbs and
adjectives and adverbs:
a. soundly
b. fiercely
c. as fluently as a native
d. almost certainly
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Thus, they often appear as
constituents of VPs and ADJPs,
as in:
a. speak French as fluently as a
native (VP)
b. fiercely loyal (ADJP)
c. sleep soundly (VP)
Syntax
Prepositional Phrases
Another phrasal syntactic category is
that of prepositional phrases (PPs).
PPs always consist of a preposition
plus an NP, as in the following:
a. from Brazil
b. with Howard and his dog
c. for nothing
d. to the Principal’s office
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A PP can be a constituent within a
wide range of phrases:
a. go to the movies (VP)
b. my friend from Brazil (NP)
c. angry with Howard and his dog
(ADJP)
d. separately from the others
(ADVP)
Syntax
Sentences
Sentences (S) also form a
phrasal syntactic category.
Sentences are, of course, often
used by themselves:
a. It is raining.
b. I like apple pie.
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The sentence:
(5). I like steak but Fred prefers
chicken.
actually contains two conjoined
Ss.
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In fact, any expression resulting from
the combination of two or more
smaller expressions by a conjunction
belongs to the same category as the
smaller ones do.
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Thus, in Howard and his dog, both
Howard and his dog are each separate
NPs.
But they also combine to make an NP
higher up in the hierarchical structure.