For each of the following sentences, indicate whether it has a complete hierarchical structure according to the revised lexicon and grammar (yes/no).
-A cute lion escaped from the zoo yesterday.
-An cute lion escaped from the zoo yesterday.
-A gray eagle flew away quickly.
-An gray eagle flew away quickly.
Suppose we would like to modify the lexicon and grammar so that the ungrammatical
sentences above do not have complete tree structures. Could we do this by only splitting each of the syntactic categories Determiner and Noun into two subcategories and revising the phrase structure rules that refer to Determiner and Noun? (explain why or why not)
What do YOU think?
I do not know
To determine whether each sentence has a complete hierarchical structure according to the revised lexicon and grammar, we need to analyze the sentence structure. In English, a sentence typically follows a hierarchical structure, where words are grouped into phrases and phrases are organized into larger constituents.
1. "A cute lion escaped from the zoo yesterday."
- Yes, this sentence has a complete hierarchical structure. It follows the pattern: Determiner (A) + Adjective (cute) + Noun (lion) + Verb (escaped) + Prepositional Phrase (from the zoo) + Adverb (yesterday).
2. "An cute lion escaped from the zoo yesterday."
- No, this sentence does not have a complete hierarchical structure. It deviates from proper English grammar as it should be "A cute lion" instead of "An cute lion." The use of "An" before "cute" is incorrect, and this error disrupts the hierarchical structure.
3. "A gray eagle flew away quickly."
- Yes, this sentence has a complete hierarchical structure. It follows the pattern: Determiner (A) + Adjective (gray) + Noun (eagle) + Verb (flew) + Adverb (away quickly).
4. "An gray eagle flew away quickly."
- No, this sentence does not have a complete hierarchical structure. Similar to the second sentence, it is grammatically incorrect. It should be "A gray eagle" instead of "An gray eagle," as the use of "An" before "gray" is incorrect and disrupts the hierarchical structure.
Regarding modifying the lexicon and grammar to avoid ungrammatical sentences, splitting the syntactic categories Determiner and Noun into two subcategories alone would not be sufficient. While the addition of subcategories might allow for more specific distinctions, it would not address the issue of incorrect determiner usage in sentences like the second and fourth examples.
To fix the problem, it would require revising both the lexicon and grammar rules. The lexicon should be updated to include the correct determiners for each situation. Additionally, the phrase structure rules that refer to Determiner and Noun should be revised to ensure that only appropriate combinations are allowed. This comprehensive revision would help avoid ungrammatical sentences and maintain the complete hierarchical structure.