INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

SYNTAX

Phrase Structure Rules, and how phrases are constructed

By
1. Fauzan Muktasid
(20160111024001)
2. Nicollas Gary Lamag
(20160111024039)
3. Mochammad Indravianto
(20160111024002)

ENGLISH TEACHING PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
CENDERAWASIH UNIVERSITY
2017
Phrase structure rules for NP
1. Angry birds formula: NP A+N
C
NP
V
C
V
A N
angry bird

2. The blue book on the table formula: NP Det + A + N + PP

S C
V
C
NP V
PP

Det AP N P NP
The book on

Adj Det N
the table
blue

3. Fearless knights formula: NP A+N

NP C
V
C
A N V
Fearless knights

4. Great imagination formula: NP A+N

NP C
V
C
A N V
Great imagination

5. My lovely niece from Serui formula: NP Det + A + N + PP

C
S
V
C
V
NP PP v

Det AP N P NP
My niece from

Adj N
Serui
lovely
 6. Blue ocean formula: NP A+N
NP C
V
C
A N V
Blue ocean

7. Those fantastic clouds in the sky formula: NP Det + A + N + PP

C
S V
C
V
NP PP

Det AP N P NP
Those clouds in

Adj Det N
the sky
fantastic

Thus, why we should learn about phrase structure rules? How it is so important?
Learning new languages for some people, it can be such a disaster. Imagine how
many phrases that should be memorized, with the capacity of human brain? It is a miracle if
you could memorize all of them, in one sitting. Another case with people who already know
that language (the native speaker). They had something in their brain, that we called it
unconscious knowledge, that growth with them. but, it is also difficult for the native speaker to
explain, how they do that? All of the confusions, makes a Linguist created “rules” that can
explain this unconscious or implicit knowledge. So perhaps, non-native speaker can be easier
to learn that language. No matter, how many phrases or sentences that you memorized, but
instead of that, you’ll learn about how phrases or sentences of the language are constructed to
become limitless form. We don’t have to memorize all of the phrases or sentences, we just have
to know the rules of how its constructed to become a phrase. So, we can create our own phrases
or sentence in our brain, and over the time, it becomes unconscious knowledge. BRAVO!!
About VP

1. VP V (VP consists of V)
C
GarryVwent out
2. VP C V + NP (VP that consists of V followed a NP)
C
V
I’m driving
V a car
C
3. VP CV V + NP + PP (VP that consists of V followed by a NP and PP)
VC
I’m driving
V a car in the beach
C
V

13. VP V (NP) (PP)

C
AV Verb phrases need not contain an NP object or PP, it is optional. It may include a
C
verb alone,
V and it is grammatically correct, as in the example bellow;

1. The man danced

2. I slept

So, we can choose whether if we want to put a verb that followed by NP and
followed by PP or the VP that consists of just a V.

14. VP V (PP)
C
V this formula can create a grammatical VP.
Yes,
C
V in the garden
1. I slept
V PP
2. I Walking by the ocean
V PP
3. Monkeys swung from the trees
V PP