phrase structure
Quick Summary
Phrase structure refers to the arrangement of words within a sentence. It's a fundamental concept in grammar, particularly in transformational-generative grammar, which views grammar as a system of rules that generate sentences.12
Key components include:
* Phrase-structure grammar: A system of rules that defines grammatical sentences and assigns them a structural description.2
* Noun phrase (NP): A phrase consisting of a noun and its modifiers.3
* Verb phrase (VP): A phrase typically containing a verb and its objects or complements.2
These structures are organized hierarchically, forming the basis for understanding how sentences are constructed and interpreted.2
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
linguisticsChomsky’s grammar…three sections, or components: the phrase-structure component, the transformational component, and the morphophonemic component. Each of these components consisted of a set of rules operating upon a certain “input” to yield a certain “output.” The notion of phrase structure may be dealt with independently of its incorporation in the larger…
Read More…three sections, or components: the phrase-structure component, the transformational component, and the morphophonemic component. Each of these components consisted of a set of rules operating upon a certain “input” to yield a certain “output.” The notion of phrase structure may be dealt with independently of its incorporation in the larger…
Read More
linguisticsChomsky’s grammar…of the constituent structure, or phrase structure, of the sentence, and it is assigned by the rules that generate the sentence.
Read More…of the constituent structure, or phrase structure, of the sentence, and it is assigned by the rules that generate the sentence.
Read More