PHRASE

STRUCTURE
GRAMMA
R
Presented By:
Muhammad
Malahim Laraib
Fatima
Amna
Tariq Fizza
Fatima Aila
 CONTENTS OF OUR
■ TOPIC
Phrase Structure Grammar
■
History Of Phrase Structure
Grammar
■
Types Of Phrases
■
Noun Phrase
■
Verb Phrase
■
Adverb Phrase
■
Adjective Phrase
■
Prepositional Phrase
■
Grammar With Phrases.
 INTRODUCTIO
TO
N
PHRASE
STRUCTUR
E
PHRASE STRUCTURE GRAMMAR: (PSG) is a formal
linguistic framework that describes the syntactic structure of
GRAMMA
sentence by dividing them into hierarchically organized
phrases. PSG originates from the structuralist approach to
R
linguists, where the focus was on the principle that sentences
can be analyzed as hierarchies or phrases. The development
of PSG has a significantly shaped the study of Syntax,
particularly through the works of Noam Chomsky.
 HISTORY OF
PHRASE
STRUCTURE
1: STRUCTURALIST INFLUENCE: GRAMMAR The idea of decomposing sentences
into phrases originated in the early 20th century. Structuralist linguists emphasized
analyzing sentences as layers of grammatical units, forming the foundation for PSG.
Leon and Bloomfield's work introduced early constituency concepts by describing
language in terms of immediate constituents.(ICS)

EXAMPLE: In the sentence " The cat sleeps" , the immediate constiuents are "The
cat" (a noun phrase, NP) and " sleeps" ( a verb phrase, VP).

CITATION: Bloomfield, L (1993).

Language Holt.
2: CHOMSKY'S CONTRIBUTION AND
PHRASE STRUCTURE GRAMMAR
Noam Chomsky's work in the 1950s marked a turning point in the
study of syntax. He introduced PSG as part of his transformational-
generative grammar framework.

I. Syntactic Structures (1957) : Chomsky’s Syntactic

Structures introduced the first formal model of PSG, describing
sentence structure through hierarchical phrase structure rules (PS
Rules.)
Example : For the sentence “The cat chased the mouse”:
• S → NP VP
• NP → Det N →The cat
•VP → V NP →chased the mouse.
Chomsky demonstrated that a finite set of rules could generate infinite
sentences, thus formalizing language's generative aspect.
• Citation : Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. Mouton.
II. The Standard Theory (1965)
In Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, Chomsky refined PSG into a broader
transformational- generative framework. He introduced the distinction
between deep structure (generated by PS rules) and surface structure
(produced through transformations).
Example:
• Deep structure: John is reading a book.
• Surface structure: Is John reading a book?
• Citation: Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press.

III. Government and Binding Theory

(1981)
Chomsky's Government and Binding (GB) Theory redefined PSG through
modules like X-bar theory. In this model, all phrases (NP, VP, PP) adhered to a
universal head-complement structure.
Example (X-bar structure):
• NP → (Specifier) N (Complement) →The cat on the mat.
• Citation: Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on Government and Binding. Foris
publications.
 IV. Current Relevance and
Minimalism (1995–Present)
The Minimalist Program further simplified PSG by integrating it into the
minimalist framework. Chomsky introduced Merge, a binary operation
that forms hierarchical structures, effectively replacing earlier PS rules.

Example using Merge:

1. Merge (Det, N) → NP →The cat.
2. Citation: Chomsky, N. (1995). The Minimalist Program. MIT Press.

Criticisms and Alternatives

PSG has faced criticism for overemphasizing hierarchical structures and
ignoring linear word relations.
Alternatives like Dependency Grammar and Lexical-Functional Grammar focus on
syntactic dependencies rather than constituency.
 PHRASES AND IT'S TYPES
A Phrase is a syntactic unit that consist of one or more words, with a head word
determining the type and function of the phrase.

0
1
Noun Phrase: 0 Verb Phrase:
A verb Phrase is
A Noun Phrase is a phrase where
the head is a noun or pronoun. It 2 centered around a verb,
which serves as it's
typically functions as a subject ,
object or compliment in a head. It describes the
sentence. action or state of the
subject and may be
include objects,
compliment
modifiers
s and
 PHRASES AND IT'S TYPES

Adverb Adjectiv Preposition

Phrase
An Adverb Phrase has
ePhras al Phrase
an Adverb at it's e A Prepositional
An Adjective Phrase
head. It typically Phrase begins
has an Adjective at
modifies Verbs, with a Preposition
it's head. It
Adjectives and other at it's head, and
typically modifies a
Adverbs. includes a
noun or function as
compliment,
a compliment.
typically a Noun
Phrase.
 Noun Phrase

An NP is a group of words centered around a noun (N) that functions

as a single
syntactic unit.
Key Characteristics:
Includes at least one noun (N).
May include additional elements like determiners, adjectives, or
modifiers. Can function as a subject, object, or complement in a
sentence.
Example: Mary, students, you, the tall students, the students
from Seoul, the students who came from Seoul.
 STRUCTURE OF NOUN
PHRASE
Structure of an NP
Phrase Structure Rule (66):
NP → (Det) A N (PP/S)*

(Det): Optional determiner (e.g., the, a, my).

A: Optional adjectives or modifiers (e.g., tall, smart).
N: Obligatory noun (e.g., students, man).
(PP/S): Optional prepositional phrase or modifying clause (e.g., from Seoul, who
came from Seoul).

Key Observation:
Noun (N) is the only obligatory element, so even a single noun (e.g., Mary,
students) can form a valid NP.
Verb Phrase
Presented by:
Amna Tariq
 Verb Phrase
A Verb Phrase (VP) is a syntactic structure with a verb as
the head.

It may include other elements like:

• Noun Phrase (NP) (e.g., an object)
• Prepositional Phrase (PP)
• Subordinate Clause (S)

Example:
Simple VP: Snored, ran, sang.
Complex VP: Loved music, walked the dog through the park.
 Rules for VP Formation
Rules for VP:

VP → V (NP) (PP/S)

■ V: Obligatory main verb.

■ (NP): Optional Noun Phrase.

■ (PP/S): Optional Prepositional Phrase or Subordinate

Clause.

Grammatical vs. Ungrammatical

Examples:
Grammatical: Leave the meeting on time.
 VP IN SENTENCE
STRUCTURE
Rule for Sentence:
S → NP VP

A sentence consists of a subject (NP) and a pr edicate

(VP).

Examples:

Correct: The monkey wants to leave the

meeting. Incorrect: The monkey eager to

 Auxiliary Verbs in
VP
Auxiliary Verbs:
Auxiliary verbs include can, must, will, to etc. These are marked
as [AUX +].

Rule for VP with Auxiliaries:

VP → V[AUX +] VP

Examples:
Auxiliary + VP:
• Can run
• Will feel happy
• To study English Syntax
 Modification of
VP
Modifiers in VP:
Verb Phrases can include modifiers such as adverbs or prepositional
phrases.

Rule:
VP → VP Adv/PP

Examples:
• Adverbial Modification:
John read the book loudly.

• Prepositional Modification:
The teacher met his students in the class.
 Tree Diagram
TheRepresentation
teacher met his students in the class.

Structure:
S
├── NP (The teacher)
└── VP
├── V (met)
├── NP (his students)
└── PP (in the class)

NP: Subject (The teacher)

VP: Predicate (met his students in the class)

PP: Prepositional modifier (in the class)

 ADVERB PHRASE
An adverb phrase (AdvP) is a group of words that functions as an adverb in
a sentence, modifying a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Rule For An Adverb Phrase:

AdvP→( AdvP)Adv

Structure of an Adverb Phrase

An adverb phrase follows this basic structure:
An adverb phrase consist of an (Adverb phrase) and Adverb.

Examples:
1: He Behaved Very........
2: He Treated Her Very.......
Phrases other than Adverb Phrase cannot appear here, like An NP (The
Student) or AP (Happy) cannot occur in these syntactic positions.
 ADJECTIVE
PHRASE
An adjective phrase (AdjP) is a group of words that has an adjective as its
head and functions to modify a noun or pronoun.
Rule For An Adjective Phrase
AP→A(PP/VP/S)

Structure For An Adjective Phrase:

An Adjective Phrase follows this basic structure
An Adjective Phrase consist of a determiner and an optional(PP/VP/S)

EXAMPLES:
John Feels Happy.
In this sentence the Adjective " Happy" modifies the noun " John"
 PREPOSITIONAL
A prepositionalPHRASE
phrase (PP) is a group of words that begins with a
preposition (the head) and includes its object (a noun or pronoun) along with
any modifiers of that object.

Rule for Prepositional

Phrase (PP) PP → P (Head) +
NP (Complement) Examples
Using Rules:
Grammatical Examples
■ He sat on the chair.

◂ Head (on) +
Complement (the chair).

Ungrammatical Examples
■
He sat on.
 GRAMMAR WITH
PHRASES
We just saw that the grammar with just lexical categories is not adequate for
capturing the basic properties of the language.The PS rules explained before say
that a sentence is the commbination of NP and VP.

An NP can be made up of a Det,any number of As,an obligatory N since it is a

noun phrase
structure rule and any number of PPs, and so on.

With the structural possibilities, let us assume that we have the

following lexical entries:
a. Det: a, an, this, that, any, some, which, his, her, no, etc.
b. A: handsome, tall, fat, large, dirty, big, yellow, etc.
c. N: book, ball, hat, friend, dog, cat, man, woman, John, etc.
d. V: kicked, chased, sang, met, believed, thinks, imagines, assumes
etc.
Inserting these elements in the appropriate pre-terminal nodes (the
places with dots)
 GRAMMAR WITH
PHRASES
We are able to generate various sentences take the following as
example:
a. This handsome man chased a dog.
b. A man kicked that ball.
c. That tall woman chased a cat.
d. His friend kicked a ball.

There are several ways to generate an infinite number of

sentences with this kind of grammar.
As we have seen before, one simple way is to repeat a
category
(e.g., adjective) infinitely.
There are also other ways of generating an infinite
number of Grammatical sentences.
 RECURSIVE APPLICATION
There is no limit to this kind of recursive application of PS rules: it proves that
this kind of grammar can generate an infinite number of grammatical
sentences.
For example:
Looking at the two PS rules
a. S → NP VP
b. VP → V S
There is no limit to this kind of recursive
application of PS rules prove
that this kind of grammar can generate an
infinite number of grammatical sentences.
One structure which can be also recursive involves
sentences involving auxiliary verbs.
An auxiliary verb forms a larger VP after combining
 SENTENCE WITH AUXILARIES
One structure which can be also recursive involves
sentences involving auxiliary verbs.
An auxiliary verb forms a larger VP after combining
with a VP:
For example:
They will study English Syntax.
But due to the limited number of auxiliary
verbs and restrictions on their co-occurence .
The maximum number of auxiliaries in a
single English clause is 3.
So we can have a recursive structure like
following:
 HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE
Another important property that PS rules help us understand how the different
parts of that sentence (like words and phrases) branch off and connect to
each other, creating a hierarchical structure. It is important because some
sentences can be confusing because they can have multiple meanings. This
hierarchical structure helps us see how the words are grouped differently,
which leads to the different interpretations.
Let's look at the examples:
"The little boy hit the child with a toy."
This sentence is ambiguous. Did the boy hit the child using a toy, or was the
child holding a toy when they were hit?
The hierarchical structure shows us how the phrase "with a toy" can be
connected
differently to the sentence, leading to these two possible meanings.
 PS RULE OF
CONJUCTION
PHRASAL
PS rule of phrasal conjunction:
We have noted that English allows two alike
categories to
be coordinated. This can be written as a PS rule, for
phrasal conjunction, where XP is any phrase in the
grammar.
XP → XP+ Conj XP The ‘coordination’ rule says
two
identical XP categories can be coordinated and form
the same category XP. Applying this PS rule, we
will then allow.
 PHRASAL VERB
PREPOSITIONAL
CONSTRUCTION VERB AND
CONSTRUCTION
The PS rules further allow us to represent the difference between phrasal verb
(e.g, call off) constructions and prepositional verb constructions (e.g. rely on) .
Consider a representative pair of contrasting examples:
EXAMPLE:
(112) a. John suddenly got off the bus.
b. John suddenly put off the customers.
By altering the position of off , we can
determine that off in (112a) is a
preposition whereas off in (112b) is a
particle:

(113) a. *John suddenly got the bus off.

b. John suddenly put the customers off.
This in turn means that off in (112a) is a preposition,
forming a PP with the following NP, whereas off in
(112b) is a particle that forms no constituent with the
 ADDITION TO PP
This in turnFORMATION
means that in addition to the PP formation rule, the grammar needs to
introduce the following VP rules:
a. VP → V Part NP
b. VP → V NP Part
c. VP → V PP
Equipped with these rules, we then represent the differences of these
grammatical sentences:
 CONCLUSION
We concluded from above topics that A noun phrase is a group of words
centered around a noun and its modifiers, such as determiners, adjectives, or
other nouns, and it functions as a subject, object, or complement in a
sentence (e.g., The red car).
An adjective phrase is built around an adjective, often with modifiers or
complements, and it describes or qualifies a noun or acts as a complement
(e.g., very happy, proud of her achievements).
A verb phrase includes a main verb and any auxiliaries, objects, or modifiers,
forming the predicate of a sentence and expressing actions or states (e.g., is
running, rites stories). An adverb phrase centers on an adverb, potentially
with modifiers, and modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, providing
details about manner, time, or place (e.g., very quickly, far from the city).
Lastly, a prepositional phrase consists of a preposition and its object
(usually a noun phrase), acting as an adjective or adverb to describe
relationships in space, time, or cause (e.g., on the table, under the tree).
Each phrase type plays a specific role in enhancing sentence structure and