High School

Use the constituency tests to break up each of the following sentences into its syntactic constituents. You don't need to worry about lexical expressions (i.e., individual words). Rather, just determine which phrasal expressions are constituents in each sentence. If the results you get from different constituency tests are inconsistent, use your best judgment in deciding whether something is a constituent or not.

a. Sandy shot the soldier.

b. Leslie said it rained.

c. The girl persuaded Polly to come along.

d. Sally mailed a card to Polly.

e. Polly saw Bob with Sally.

f. Sally put the book on the desk in her study.

Answer :

Final answer:

The student's question involves breaking down given sentences into their syntactic constituents, allowing us to understand the sentences' structure. Examples provided breakdown each sentence into phrases which stand as constituents or building blocks of each sentence.

Explanation:

The student's question requires the understanding of syntactic constituents, which are the parts or building blocks of a sentence and are essential in defining a sentence's structure or syntax. A constituent in a sentence can be a word, a phrase, or a clause. Breaking down the sentences as per the constituency tests:

  • a. Sandy shot the soldier: ['Sandy', 'shot the soldier']
  • b. Leslie said it rained: ['Leslie', 'said it rained']
  • c. The girl persuaded Polly to come along: ['The girl', 'persuaded Polly to come along']
  • d. Sally mailed a card to Polly: ['Sally', 'mailed a card to Polly']
  • e. Polly saw Bob with Sally: ['Polly', 'saw Bob with Sally']
  • f. Sally put the book on the desk in her study: ['Sally', 'put the book on the desk', 'in her study']

These broken down phrases demonstrate the syntax, or the rules that govern the structure of sentences in a given language.

Learn more about Syntactic Constituents here:

https://brainly.com/question/35907536

#SPJ11

Final answer:

Constituency tests can be used to break up each sentence into meaningful units or constituents. Types of constituents include Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases, and Prepositional Phrases. Different tests may yield different outcomes, requiring use of judgement

Explanation:

Using constituency tests, we can break up each sentence into its syntactic constituents as follows:

  • a. [Sandy] [shot the soldier].
  • b. [Leslie] [said it rained].
  • c. [The girl] [persuaded Polly] [to come along].
  • d. [Sally] [mailed a card] [to Polly].
  • e. [Polly] [saw Bob] [with Sally].
  • f. [Sally] [put the book] [on the desk] [in her study].

Each sentence can be divided into individual constituents which are meaningful units in themselves. These constituents types include Noun Phrases (NP), which typically serve as subject or object in sentence (e.g., 'Sally', 'a card'), Verb Phrases (VP), which express actions or states (e.g., 'shot the soldier', 'said it rained'), and other Phrases like Prepositional Phrases (PP), which usually provide more information about time, place, or manner (e.g., 'on the desk', 'with Sally').

It's important to note that different constituency tests may yield different results, as they are based on transformational operations in the mind of speaker. If the results are inconsistent, one will need to use judgement to decide which constituents are most analytically useful or theoretically justifiable.

Learn more about Syntax here:

https://brainly.com/question/31605310

#SPJ11