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Heavy NP Shift
Heavy NP shift is an operation that involves re-ordering (shifting (syntax), shifting) a "heavy" noun phrase (NP) to a position to the right of its canonical position under certain circumstances. The heaviness of the NP is determined by its grammatical complexity; whether or not shifting occurs can impact the grammaticality of the sentence. Ross (1967) is thought to have been the first to systematically investigate the properties of heavy NP shift. Although the term heavy NP shift derives from the theoretical framework of transformational grammar, which describes the process in terms of movement of the NP, linguists working in other frameworks also use this term. And in approaches to syntax where NP is analyzed as a determiner phrase (DP), heavy NP shift is called heavy DP shift. Factors contributing to the heaviness of an NP Early observations of weight or heaviness have been credited to a rhythmical feel that unconsciously takes shape in languages, that is, the tendency of grow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shifting (syntax)
In syntax, shifting occurs when two or more constituent (linguistics), constituents appearing on the same side of their common head (linguistics), head exchange positions in a sense to obtain non-canonical order. The most widely acknowledged type of shifting is heavy NP shift, but shifting involving a heavy NP is just one manifestation of the shifting mechanism. Shifting occurs in most if not all European languages, and it may in fact be possible in all natural languages including sign language, sign languages. Shifting is not inversion (linguistics), inversion, and inversion is not shifting, but the two mechanisms are similar insofar as they are both present in languages like English that have relatively strict word order. The theoretical analysis of shifting varies in part depending on the theory of sentence structure that one adopts. If one assumes relatively flat structures, shifting does not result in a discontinuity (linguistics), discontinuity. Shifting is often motivated by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noun Phrase
A noun phrase – or NP or nominal (phrase) – is a phrase that usually has a noun or pronoun as its head, and has the same grammatical functions as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently occurring phrase type. Noun phrases often function as verb subjects and objects, as predicative expressions, and as complements of prepositions. One NP can be embedded inside another NP; for instance, ''some of his constituents'' has as a constituent the shorter NP ''his constituents''. In some theories of grammar, noun phrases with determiners are analyzed as having the determiner as the head of the phrase, see for instance Chomsky (1995) and Hudson (1990) . Identification Some examples of noun phrases are underlined in the sentences below. The head noun appears in bold. ::This election-year's politics are annoying for many people. ::Almost every sentence contains at least one noun phrase. ::Current economic weakness may be a re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transformational Grammar
In linguistics, transformational grammar (TG) or transformational-generative grammar (TGG) was the earliest model of grammar proposed within the research tradition of generative grammar. Like current generative theories, it treated grammar as a system of formal rules that generate all and only grammatical sentences of a given language. What was distinctive about transformational grammar was that it posited transformation rules that mapped a sentence's deep structure to its pronounced form. For example, in many variants of transformational grammar, the English active voice sentence "Emma saw Daisy" and its passive counterpart "Daisy was seen by Emma" share a common deep structure generated by phrase structure rules, differing only in that the latter's structure is modified by a passivization transformation rule. Basic mechanisms Transformational grammar was a species of generative grammar and shared many of its goals and postulations, including the notion of linguistics as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NP Uncle
NP may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''NP'' (novel), by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto Organizations * Nashua-Plainfield Community School District, Iowa, United States * National Party (other), various political parties * Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore * Nigeria Police Force * Northern Pacific Railway (AAR reporting mark NP) * November Project, free, open-to-the-public exercise group Places * NP postcode area, Newport, Wales, UK * Nepal (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code NP) ** .np, the country code top level domain (ccTLD) for Nepal Science, technology and mathematics Biology and medicine * Nucleoside phosphorylase, an enzyme * Nurse practitioner * Kallikrein 8, an enzyme * Neptunium, symbol Np, a chemical element * Nosocomial pneumonia * Natriuretic peptide Mathematics and computer science * NP (complexity), Nondeterministic Polynomial, a computational complexity class ** NP-complete, a class of decision problems ** NP-hard, a class of problems in computa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generative Syntax
Generative grammar is a research tradition in linguistics that aims to explain the cognitive basis of language by formulating and testing explicit models of humans' subconscious grammatical knowledge. Generative linguists, or generativists (), tend to share certain working assumptions such as the competence–performance distinction and the notion that some domain-specific aspects of grammar are partly innate in humans. These assumptions are rejected in non-generative approaches such as usage-based models of language. Generative linguistics includes work in core areas such as syntax, semantics, phonology, psycholinguistics, and language acquisition, with additional extensions to topics including biolinguistics and music cognition. Generative grammar began in the late 1950s with the work of Noam Chomsky, having roots in earlier approaches such as structural linguistics. The earliest version of Chomsky's model was called Transformational grammar, with subsequent iterati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
