Sentence structure and phrase structure

aim How do we define sentences and clauses? What are subjects and predicates? What is a phrase? What types of phrases are there in Turkish? What are phrase structure rules? How are the following types of phrases organised? NP PP AP ADVP and adverbials VP

Sentences and clauses

In traditional grammar, Sentence is the complete expression of one thought. BUT Kaya parçası = one thought, not a sentence Dün seninle sinemaya gitmek için geldim = one sentence, two thoughts THEN Consider sentences in terms of clauses. Clauses are the syntactic units that have a subject and a predicate. Sentence= one or more clauses due to their recursive properties. Seni görmeye geldim = sentence with two clauses

Immediate constituents of clauses: subjects and predicates [Ahmet] [sessizce uyudu] [semra] [açık havada dolaştı] [sarı saçlı kız] [okulu bitirdi]

Substitution test for consistency kim ne yaptı? Constituent B is the subject of the sentence Constituent C is the predicate of the sentence Predication: the relationship between the subject and the predicate All sentences consist of a subject and a predicate A predicate is what remains in a sentence after the subject is excluded. Subjects and predicates are also sisters like complements and heads.

subjects A simple subject is usually a NP Subjects in Turkish are usually the initial NP in a sentence with a tensed verb. Ünlü şarkıcı deniz kenarındaki lokantada balık yedi Dün satın aldığım kitap çok pahalıydı Pronouns are also NPs Ben, siz, o, onlar, bu, şu, etc

The pro-drop parameter (the subj pronoun can be dropped, or not) Turkish can have null subjects (pro-drop language) languages such as English and French dont allow null subjects (non- pro drop languages) Küçük bebek sincabı gördü - NP O sincabı gördü - Pronoun Sincabı gördü – null subject Different discourse functions: Introduce a new person into the conversation Shows the baby has been mentioned previously Provides the topic continuity

It is strange to use overt subjects when the speaker continues to talk about the same entity Murat eve geldi, #Murat yemek pişirdi, # o yemek yedi, # O kitap okudu Null subjects are also considered to be NPs. Even if the subject is empty, the sentence still has a subject-predicate constituent structure. The null subject is represented with pro (an empty pronpun)

Subject-verb agreement in sentences Turkish verbs have agreement suffixes: number and person. Number can be singular or plural Person can be first, second and third person. Ben çok çalışırım (first person singular) Siz çok çalışırsınız (second person plural)

predicates Typically constituents that follow subjects in sentences. Express the action carried by the subject (arkadaşım yüzdü) Provide description of the subject (Ahmet yakışıklı bir subaydır) Show what happened to the subject (adam yere düştü) Express a psychological state experienced by the subject (Ahmet sevindi) Almost universally predicates contain verbs, they may contain other constiuents such as direct/indirect objects and adverbs.

Phrases and phrase structure rules

Phrases are the constituents which function as subjects, objects, etc in a sentence. A phrase may consist of one or more constituents with a syntactic significance. There are different types of phrases in languages such as NP, VP, ADJP, ADVP, PP The category of the head determines the category of the phrase. NP – head N VP – head V

Simple subjects are usually NPs and predicates are VPs since predicates have verbs as their central element.

Phrase structure rule Phrases are rule-governed constituents. Phrase structure rules are intended to model mental representations of possible phrases in a language. S -> NP VP Human beings store a limited number of rules to produce infinite number of phrases and sentences.

Head parameter Head directionality: the direction of the head differs from one language to another. Turkish is a head final language while English is head initial. Dün satın aldığım kitap – NP- head kitap The book that I bought yesterday – NP- head book Kitap okumak – VP- head okumak Read the book – VP- head read Makas ile – PP – head ile With scissors – PP- head with

Noun phrases (NPs)

NPs mostly function as subjects and objects in sentences A NP can consist of a single word, a noun or a pronoun or more than one word. The head of a NP is almost always inflected for case, ie. Nominative, accusative, genitive, possessive, etc. Ünlü şarkıcı deniz kenarındaki lokantada balık yedi İki akıllı kız marul salatası yediler Dün satın aldığım kitap çok pahalıydı Further examples: Filler, ev, boya, etc- common Ns İstanbul, Mersin, Aslı, etc- proper Ns Kırmızı kitap, en başarılı sanatçı, etc – modified by ADJP Gelen adam, yeni aldığım kitap- consisting of Rel. Cl. Demir kapı, deri koltuk, etc – attributive Ns Ben, sen, o, bu, şu, etc - pronouns

Pronouns can also stand for NPs Benim kitabım, Canın kalemi, Onların evleri, bir ev, iki kardeş, bütün yollar, etc The above NPs consist of determiners. Determiners are function words, whose functions are to determine the referential and quantificational properties of nouns. Quantificational determiners: bazı, birkaç, her, bütün, etc Referential determiners: bu, şu, o, bunlar, benim, senin, etc.

Turkish does not have a definite article but an indefinite article «bir», which is also a determiner Bir has two different meanings: 1. shows the number, 2. functions as a determiner Bir güzel genç kız, iki güzel genç kız, etc Güzel bir genç kız, ?güzel iki genç kız A quantificational determiner and the indefinite article cannot occur in the same NP. 3. * benim her akıllı bir öğrencim

To sum up, a NP in Turkish may consist of the following types of constituents: The head (obligatory by definition) One or more adjective phrases An attributive noun One or more relative clauses One or more determiners The phrase structure rule of NP in Turkish: NP > (referential det.) (rel.cl) (quantificational det.) (adj) (indefinite article) (noun) Noun [Det Ali’nin [RL dün yıkattığım] [ADJP güzel] [Head halısı]

İyi bir konser salonu bulduk * iyi bir konser bulduk salonu Phrases are determined according to their function and position in a sentence.

Postpositional phrases

Adpositions are word classes that express a relationship between two entities such as place, time, location etc. Prepositions = adposition + NP (like in English) Postposition = NP + adposition (like in Turkish) Some Turkish postpositions such as ile can become clitics (Nerminle) Postpositions have complements that complete them: NP+gibi : bütün arkadaşları gibi * gibi çalışıyor Postpositions, like verbs, assign case to their complements (Table, pp 198-199)

PP > NP P PP > (Adv) NP P

Adjective phrases

It is difficult to draw a line between adjectives and nouns in Turkish (as adjs takes case and plural endings as nouns) Kız (N)- kızlar, genç (ADJ)-gençler, kıza, gence, etc *daha kız, en kız (Ns not allowed in comparative, superlatives) Daha genç, en genç (table, pp 201) Kırmızı kitap (attributive adjective) Kitap kırmızıdır (predicative adjective) Adjectives as a head at final Çok güzel, en kolay, yakın

Adjs with NP complements [gitmeye gönüllü] *[gönüllü] Ahmet [annesine çok düşkün] * Ahmet [düşkün] Some ADJPs require PP complements [ADJP [PP Cana karşı] duyarlı] [ADJP [PP seninle] mutlu] ADJP > (NP/PP) (Degree ADV) adj.