Phrases
Yoda-speak
Yoda's language is created by moving groups of words. But we cannot move just any group of words. The words we can move must constitute a 'phrase': a group of words which go together.
(i) [Powerful] you have become . [The dark side] I sense in you.
NB We can't say [Have become powerful you] have _ , or [Side] I sense in you the dark _
(ii) [Mourn them] do not . [Miss them] do not . Attachment leads to Jealousy.
(iv) If once you start down the dark path, [forever] will it dominate your destiny , [consume you] it will , as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice
(v) No. Not yet. One thing remains. Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, [a Jedi] you will be . And [confront him] you will .
Phrases
So far we have looked at words and morphemes. Now we are going to combine these into units called 'phrases'
A phrase is a group of words which behaves like a single single unit. The phrase tends to takes its name from the word which expresses the meaning of the phrase, e.g.
(i) Jack saw [a fascinating TV programme] -> Phrase is about a programme, programme is a noun, therefore it is a NOUN PHRASE
(ii) Rufus likes drinking beer [in his local pub] -> Phrase is about a location, the location is expressed by the preposition, therefore this is a PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE.
Phrases are also sometimes referred to as constituents
Tests for Phrasehood
The groups of words which form a phrase may for a syntactic, semantic, or phonological unit
Syntactic tests for phrasehood
First three are most reliable.
Replacement test
A phrase can be replaced with 'placeholder' expression (e.g. a pronoun)
(a) [Elliot ${NOUN~PHRASE}$] loved [the cute green alien ${NOUN~PHRASE}$] -> [He] loved [it]
(b) Elliot [hugged the cute green alien ${VERB~PHRASE}$] and Gertie [did so ${VERB~PHRASE}$] too (and [so did $_{VERB~PHRASE}$] Gertie)
Question test
A phrase can be questioned
(a) Who did Elliot love? [ The cute green alien $_{NOUN PHRASE}$]
(b) Where did Elliot find ET? [ In the toolshed $_{PREPOSITIONAL~PHRASE}$ ]
(c) What is Elliot doing? [Hugging the cute green alien $_{VERB~PHRASE}$]
Standalone test
When questioned, the phrase can stand alone as an answer (see above)
Coordination test
Phrases may be coordinated, i.e. they may be produced in a series linked by a coordinator (and, but, or) e.g.
(a) [Elliot and Gertie ${NOUN~PHRASE}$] loved [the cute green alien and the soft brown Teddy ${NOUN~PHRASE}$]
(b) Elliot [hugged the cute green alien and cuddled the soft brown Teddy $_{VERB~PHRASE}$]
Movement test
Phrases may, under circumstances move. If we attempt to move a group of words which is not a phrase, the sentence sound ungrammatical. Yoda (above) speak provides plenty of examples of the movement test, e.g.
(a) [Mourn them] do not _ . (Movement of Verb Phrase)
(b) [Consume you] it will _ . (Movement of Verb Phrase)
(c) [The dark side] I sense _ in you. (Movement of Noun Phrase)
(d) [Forever] it will dominate your destiny _ (Movement of Adverb Phrase. NB phrases can be single words. We can turn this into a multi-word phrase: For the rest of time....)
Omission test
Some phrases may be omitted. If a group of words may be omitted, it is likely to be a phrase, e.g. The man (in the moon) came down (too soon) (omission of prepositional phrase, and adverb phrase).
This test is probably the weakest test, as not all phrases may be omitted.
Filler test
Fillers are words which we use to 'fill in' pauses. We tend to use them to 'cover up' disfluences. A classic example is 'like'. In general, fillers cannot be inserted within phrases, e.g.
Elliot, like, loved the cute green alien (like inserted between phrases - sounds okay)
? Elliot loved the, like, cute green alien (like inserted within the Noun Phrase - sounds odd.)
To remember these tests learn the following acronym: Really Quick Snakes Can Make Orangutans Flee
Semantic tests for phrasehood
The phrase is about a single thing. That thing is expressed by the 'head' of the phrase.
I stepped in [a large heap of dung]
They played a game of basketball [in the park]
He is [good at playing chess]
Jack can run [really quickly]
For the above sentences (a) what is the phrase about? (b) identify the head of the phrase? (c) what kind of phrase is it?
Phonological tests for phrasehood
The sentence sounds odd if we insert a pause within a phrase, e.g.
? Elliot loved the, PAUSE, cute green alien
What to do about the verb?
According to the coordination test, replacement test, and the movement test, the verb is part of a bigger phrase consistent of the verb and following Noun Phrases, e.g.
Patrick [loved the fish but hated the chips $_{VERB~PHRASE}$]
Mary [loved the mousse ${VERB~PHRASE}$], and Shania [did so ${VERB~PHRASE}$] too.
[Mourn them ${VERB~PHRASE}$] do not . [Miss them ${VERB~PHRASE}$] do not . Attachment leads to Jealousy.
Notice that auxiliary verbs (and negative particles) are not part of the Noun Phrase ([Mourn them ${VP}$] do not, [Eaten them ${VP}$] she has _ ).
But the Noun Phrases which come after the verb are also phrases. Therefore we have phrases inside phrases!
Patrick [ loved [ the fish ${NOUN~PHRASE}$] ${VERB~PHRASE}$ ]
This hierarchical structure (phrases-inside-phrases) is often expressed using syntactic trees (see lecture example)
BE WARNED THAT DIFFERENT RESEARCH FIELDS USE THE TERM "VERB PHRASE" DIFFERENTLY
Many clinicians and speech and language scientists use the term "Verb Phrase" to refer to the Verb and all associated words, e.g. Mary is greedily eating the food. This is also the definition which David Crystal uses. However, we will be using the definition preferred by linguists: the main verb and following Noun Phrases. This is because this unit meets the tests for phrasehood described above.
Teaching an autistic child about sentence structure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1Vqlk_ZsHg
The big cat was crying because he was hungry
What was he doing?
Why was he crying?
Was he a little cat or a big cat?
The red dog was running because a cat was chasing him?
What was he doing?
Why was he running?
Was he a blue dog or a red dog?
5 minute exercise
Try to learn the following artificial language
Gugo bikavit lamnok = 'The cat chased the dog'
Lopo bikavit tunglish = 'The cat ate the food'
Lopo gugo lamnok = 'The dog likes the food'
What does the following sentence mean?
Bikavit gugo tunglish
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