Help with ambiguous syntax tree [closed]
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I have to do syntax trees for the two interpretations of this ambiguous sentence:
"The poor child's story is sad"
According to what I was told, one interpretation refers to the child and the other to the story but the problem is that I really can't see how to do these trees.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
ambiguity syntax
edited May 17 at 14:27
Mitch
53.2k16105222
asked May 17 at 13:41
LokiRagnarokLokiRagnarok
61
closed as off-topic by John Lawler, Chappo, JJJ, jimm101, Chenmunka May 25 at 10:05
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic." – John Lawler, Chappo, JJJ, jimm101, Chenmunka
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
|
show 1 more comment
I have to do syntax trees for the two interpretations of this ambiguous sentence:
"The poor child's story is sad"
According to what I was told, one interpretation refers to the child and the other to the story but the problem is that I really can't see how to do these trees.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
ambiguity syntax
edited May 17 at 14:27
Mitch
53.2k16105222
asked May 17 at 13:41
LokiRagnarokLokiRagnarok
61
closed as off-topic by John Lawler, Chappo, JJJ, jimm101, Chenmunka May 25 at 10:05
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic." – John Lawler, Chappo, JJJ, jimm101, Chenmunka
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
If you don't get a good answer here I'd suggest you try the linguists' stack exchange.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 13:57
@SConroy doing parse trees is off topic on Linguistics.SE. Dispelling ambiguity might be on-topic here.
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:24
@Mitch. Ah, ok. Thanks for info.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 14:25
As a parse tree, 'is sad' can only be a VP (or predicate), and the NP 'the poor child's story' is the subject. So parse-wise there is only one parse. Semantically however... whether the story is sad or ... no I don't see how anything is ambiguous here. The story is sad. It says nothing about whether the child is happy or sad. You'd expect the child to also be a bit sad, but maybe the child is an optimist?
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:26
1
The ambiguity could be whether it is the child that is poor or the child's story. It seems unlikely that anyone would describe a poor story as sad, but if it's just an exercise...
– Minty
May 17 at 16:49
|
show 1 more comment
I have to do syntax trees for the two interpretations of this ambiguous sentence:
"The poor child's story is sad"
According to what I was told, one interpretation refers to the child and the other to the story but the problem is that I really can't see how to do these trees.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
ambiguity syntax
edited May 17 at 14:27
Mitch
53.2k16105222
asked May 17 at 13:41
LokiRagnarokLokiRagnarok
61
I have to do syntax trees for the two interpretations of this ambiguous sentence:
"The poor child's story is sad"
According to what I was told, one interpretation refers to the child and the other to the story but the problem is that I really can't see how to do these trees.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
ambiguity syntax
ambiguity syntax
edited May 17 at 14:27
Mitch
53.2k16105222
asked May 17 at 13:41
LokiRagnarokLokiRagnarok
61
edited May 17 at 14:27
Mitch
53.2k16105222
asked May 17 at 13:41
LokiRagnarokLokiRagnarok
61
edited May 17 at 14:27
Mitch
53.2k16105222
edited May 17 at 14:27
Mitch
53.2k16105222
edited May 17 at 14:27
Mitch
53.2k16105222
53.2k16105222
asked May 17 at 13:41
LokiRagnarokLokiRagnarok
61
asked May 17 at 13:41
LokiRagnarokLokiRagnarok
61
asked May 17 at 13:41
LokiRagnarokLokiRagnarok
61
61
closed as off-topic by John Lawler, Chappo, JJJ, jimm101, Chenmunka May 25 at 10:05
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic." – John Lawler, Chappo, JJJ, jimm101, Chenmunka
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
closed as off-topic by John Lawler, Chappo, JJJ, jimm101, Chenmunka May 25 at 10:05
This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:
- "Please include the research you’ve done, or consider if your question suits our English Language Learners site better. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic." – John Lawler, Chappo, JJJ, jimm101, Chenmunka
If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
If you don't get a good answer here I'd suggest you try the linguists' stack exchange.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 13:57
@SConroy doing parse trees is off topic on Linguistics.SE. Dispelling ambiguity might be on-topic here.
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:24
@Mitch. Ah, ok. Thanks for info.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 14:25
As a parse tree, 'is sad' can only be a VP (or predicate), and the NP 'the poor child's story' is the subject. So parse-wise there is only one parse. Semantically however... whether the story is sad or ... no I don't see how anything is ambiguous here. The story is sad. It says nothing about whether the child is happy or sad. You'd expect the child to also be a bit sad, but maybe the child is an optimist?
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:26
1
The ambiguity could be whether it is the child that is poor or the child's story. It seems unlikely that anyone would describe a poor story as sad, but if it's just an exercise...
– Minty
May 17 at 16:49
|
show 1 more comment
If you don't get a good answer here I'd suggest you try the linguists' stack exchange.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 13:57
@SConroy doing parse trees is off topic on Linguistics.SE. Dispelling ambiguity might be on-topic here.
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:24
@Mitch. Ah, ok. Thanks for info.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 14:25
As a parse tree, 'is sad' can only be a VP (or predicate), and the NP 'the poor child's story' is the subject. So parse-wise there is only one parse. Semantically however... whether the story is sad or ... no I don't see how anything is ambiguous here. The story is sad. It says nothing about whether the child is happy or sad. You'd expect the child to also be a bit sad, but maybe the child is an optimist?
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:26
1
The ambiguity could be whether it is the child that is poor or the child's story. It seems unlikely that anyone would describe a poor story as sad, but if it's just an exercise...
– Minty
May 17 at 16:49
If you don't get a good answer here I'd suggest you try the linguists' stack exchange.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 13:57
If you don't get a good answer here I'd suggest you try the linguists' stack exchange.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 13:57
@SConroy doing parse trees is off topic on Linguistics.SE. Dispelling ambiguity might be on-topic here.
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:24
@SConroy doing parse trees is off topic on Linguistics.SE. Dispelling ambiguity might be on-topic here.
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:24
@Mitch. Ah, ok. Thanks for info.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 14:25
@Mitch. Ah, ok. Thanks for info.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 14:25
As a parse tree, 'is sad' can only be a VP (or predicate), and the NP 'the poor child's story' is the subject. So parse-wise there is only one parse. Semantically however... whether the story is sad or ... no I don't see how anything is ambiguous here. The story is sad. It says nothing about whether the child is happy or sad. You'd expect the child to also be a bit sad, but maybe the child is an optimist?
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:26
As a parse tree, 'is sad' can only be a VP (or predicate), and the NP 'the poor child's story' is the subject. So parse-wise there is only one parse. Semantically however... whether the story is sad or ... no I don't see how anything is ambiguous here. The story is sad. It says nothing about whether the child is happy or sad. You'd expect the child to also be a bit sad, but maybe the child is an optimist?
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:26
1
1
The ambiguity could be whether it is the child that is poor or the child's story. It seems unlikely that anyone would describe a poor story as sad, but if it's just an exercise...
– Minty
May 17 at 16:49
The ambiguity could be whether it is the child that is poor or the child's story. It seems unlikely that anyone would describe a poor story as sad, but if it's just an exercise...
– Minty
May 17 at 16:49
|
show 1 more comment
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
I can't really tell you how to draw your graphs, because there are many different drawing and labeling conventions. A minimalist graph looks quite different from a classical transformationalist graph, and neither will look at all like a dependency or a traditionalist Reed-Kellogg graph.
What I can do is point out the major components of the sentence, which you can adapt to your specific needs.
The basic Subject/Predicate structure of your sentence is not ambiguous: the Subject is realized by the determinate noun phrase The poor child's story and the Predicate is realized by the verb phrase is sad. The VP consists of a copula realized as the verb is and its complement realized as the adjective sad.
The ambiguities arise in your parse of the Subject:
What's the function of the possessive? Is it a determinative, as in John's hat, or a modifier, as in men's clothing? That is, is this story one about or told by a particular child, or a story intended for children-in-general?
What does poor modify? Is this a story about or told by a particular poor child, or one intended for poor children; or is it a badly told story for children-in-general, contrasted with one or more well-told stories?
By the same token, which noun phrase does The determine -- the one headed by child, or the one headed by story?
Each of these choices will give you a different structure for the noun phrase, which you can represent according to whatever conventions you are called upon to use.
answered May 17 at 16:15
StoneyBStoneyB
65.4k3115217
+1 for the list of different graphs. I like the distinction between childrens stories and children's stories (aimed at v written by) that one modern apostrophe convention gives.
– Edwin Ashworth
May 17 at 16:28
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
I can't really tell you how to draw your graphs, because there are many different drawing and labeling conventions. A minimalist graph looks quite different from a classical transformationalist graph, and neither will look at all like a dependency or a traditionalist Reed-Kellogg graph.
What I can do is point out the major components of the sentence, which you can adapt to your specific needs.
The basic Subject/Predicate structure of your sentence is not ambiguous: the Subject is realized by the determinate noun phrase The poor child's story and the Predicate is realized by the verb phrase is sad. The VP consists of a copula realized as the verb is and its complement realized as the adjective sad.
The ambiguities arise in your parse of the Subject:
What's the function of the possessive? Is it a determinative, as in John's hat, or a modifier, as in men's clothing? That is, is this story one about or told by a particular child, or a story intended for children-in-general?
What does poor modify? Is this a story about or told by a particular poor child, or one intended for poor children; or is it a badly told story for children-in-general, contrasted with one or more well-told stories?
By the same token, which noun phrase does The determine -- the one headed by child, or the one headed by story?
Each of these choices will give you a different structure for the noun phrase, which you can represent according to whatever conventions you are called upon to use.
answered May 17 at 16:15
StoneyBStoneyB
65.4k3115217
+1 for the list of different graphs. I like the distinction between childrens stories and children's stories (aimed at v written by) that one modern apostrophe convention gives.
– Edwin Ashworth
May 17 at 16:28
add a comment |
I can't really tell you how to draw your graphs, because there are many different drawing and labeling conventions. A minimalist graph looks quite different from a classical transformationalist graph, and neither will look at all like a dependency or a traditionalist Reed-Kellogg graph.
What I can do is point out the major components of the sentence, which you can adapt to your specific needs.
The basic Subject/Predicate structure of your sentence is not ambiguous: the Subject is realized by the determinate noun phrase The poor child's story and the Predicate is realized by the verb phrase is sad. The VP consists of a copula realized as the verb is and its complement realized as the adjective sad.
The ambiguities arise in your parse of the Subject:
What's the function of the possessive? Is it a determinative, as in John's hat, or a modifier, as in men's clothing? That is, is this story one about or told by a particular child, or a story intended for children-in-general?
What does poor modify? Is this a story about or told by a particular poor child, or one intended for poor children; or is it a badly told story for children-in-general, contrasted with one or more well-told stories?
By the same token, which noun phrase does The determine -- the one headed by child, or the one headed by story?
Each of these choices will give you a different structure for the noun phrase, which you can represent according to whatever conventions you are called upon to use.
answered May 17 at 16:15
StoneyBStoneyB
65.4k3115217
+1 for the list of different graphs. I like the distinction between childrens stories and children's stories (aimed at v written by) that one modern apostrophe convention gives.
– Edwin Ashworth
May 17 at 16:28
add a comment |
I can't really tell you how to draw your graphs, because there are many different drawing and labeling conventions. A minimalist graph looks quite different from a classical transformationalist graph, and neither will look at all like a dependency or a traditionalist Reed-Kellogg graph.
What I can do is point out the major components of the sentence, which you can adapt to your specific needs.
The basic Subject/Predicate structure of your sentence is not ambiguous: the Subject is realized by the determinate noun phrase The poor child's story and the Predicate is realized by the verb phrase is sad. The VP consists of a copula realized as the verb is and its complement realized as the adjective sad.
The ambiguities arise in your parse of the Subject:
What's the function of the possessive? Is it a determinative, as in John's hat, or a modifier, as in men's clothing? That is, is this story one about or told by a particular child, or a story intended for children-in-general?
What does poor modify? Is this a story about or told by a particular poor child, or one intended for poor children; or is it a badly told story for children-in-general, contrasted with one or more well-told stories?
By the same token, which noun phrase does The determine -- the one headed by child, or the one headed by story?
Each of these choices will give you a different structure for the noun phrase, which you can represent according to whatever conventions you are called upon to use.
answered May 17 at 16:15
StoneyBStoneyB
65.4k3115217
I can't really tell you how to draw your graphs, because there are many different drawing and labeling conventions. A minimalist graph looks quite different from a classical transformationalist graph, and neither will look at all like a dependency or a traditionalist Reed-Kellogg graph.
What I can do is point out the major components of the sentence, which you can adapt to your specific needs.
The basic Subject/Predicate structure of your sentence is not ambiguous: the Subject is realized by the determinate noun phrase The poor child's story and the Predicate is realized by the verb phrase is sad. The VP consists of a copula realized as the verb is and its complement realized as the adjective sad.
The ambiguities arise in your parse of the Subject:
What's the function of the possessive? Is it a determinative, as in John's hat, or a modifier, as in men's clothing? That is, is this story one about or told by a particular child, or a story intended for children-in-general?
What does poor modify? Is this a story about or told by a particular poor child, or one intended for poor children; or is it a badly told story for children-in-general, contrasted with one or more well-told stories?
By the same token, which noun phrase does The determine -- the one headed by child, or the one headed by story?
Each of these choices will give you a different structure for the noun phrase, which you can represent according to whatever conventions you are called upon to use.
answered May 17 at 16:15
StoneyBStoneyB
65.4k3115217
answered May 17 at 16:15
StoneyBStoneyB
65.4k3115217
answered May 17 at 16:15
StoneyBStoneyB
65.4k3115217
answered May 17 at 16:15
StoneyBStoneyB
65.4k3115217
65.4k3115217
+1 for the list of different graphs. I like the distinction between childrens stories and children's stories (aimed at v written by) that one modern apostrophe convention gives.
– Edwin Ashworth
May 17 at 16:28
add a comment |
+1 for the list of different graphs. I like the distinction between childrens stories and children's stories (aimed at v written by) that one modern apostrophe convention gives.
– Edwin Ashworth
May 17 at 16:28
+1 for the list of different graphs. I like the distinction between childrens stories and children's stories (aimed at v written by) that one modern apostrophe convention gives.
– Edwin Ashworth
May 17 at 16:28
+1 for the list of different graphs. I like the distinction between childrens stories and children's stories (aimed at v written by) that one modern apostrophe convention gives.
– Edwin Ashworth
May 17 at 16:28
add a comment |
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If you don't get a good answer here I'd suggest you try the linguists' stack exchange.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 13:57
@SConroy doing parse trees is off topic on Linguistics.SE. Dispelling ambiguity might be on-topic here.
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:24
@Mitch. Ah, ok. Thanks for info.
– S Conroy
May 17 at 14:25
As a parse tree, 'is sad' can only be a VP (or predicate), and the NP 'the poor child's story' is the subject. So parse-wise there is only one parse. Semantically however... whether the story is sad or ... no I don't see how anything is ambiguous here. The story is sad. It says nothing about whether the child is happy or sad. You'd expect the child to also be a bit sad, but maybe the child is an optimist?
– Mitch
May 17 at 14:26
1
The ambiguity could be whether it is the child that is poor or the child's story. It seems unlikely that anyone would describe a poor story as sad, but if it's just an exercise...
– Minty
May 17 at 16:49