Editing Phrase structure grammar

{{Linguistics|Grammar}}{{Short description|Type of grammar based on constituent entities}}

The term '''phrase structure grammar''' was originally introduced by [[Noam Chomsky]] as the term for [[grammar]] studied previously by [[Emil Post]] and [[Axel Thue]] ([[Post canonical system]]s). Some authors, however, reserve the term for more restricted grammars in the [[Chomsky hierarchy]]: [[context-sensitive grammar]]s or [[context-free grammar]]s. In a broader sense, phrase structure grammars are also known as ''constituency grammars''. The defining character of phrase structure grammars is thus their adherence to the constituency relation, as opposed to the dependency relation of [[dependency grammar]]s.

== History ==
In 1956, Chomsky wrote, "A phrase-structure grammar is defined by a finite vocabulary (alphabet) V<sub>p</sub>, and a finite set Σ of initial strings in V<sub>p</sub>, and a finite set F of rules of the form: X → Y, where X and Y are strings in V<sub>p</sub>."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chomsky |first=Noam |date=1956 |title=Three models for the description of language |url=https://chomsky.info/wp-content/uploads/195609-.pdf |journal=[[IRE Transactions on Information Theory]] |page=117|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503111934/https://chomsky.info/wp-content/uploads/195609-.pdf |archive-date=2023-05-03 }}</ref>

==Constituency relation==
In [[linguistics]], phrase structure grammars are all those grammars that are based on the constituency relation, as opposed to the dependency relation associated with dependency grammars; hence, phrase structure grammars are also known as constituency grammars.<ref>Matthews (1981:71ff.) provides an insightful discussion of the distinction between constituency- and dependency-based grammars. See also Allerton (1979:238f.), McCawley (1988:13), Mel'cuk (1988:12-14), Borsley (1991:30f.), Sag and Wasow (1999:421f.), van Valin (2001:86ff.).</ref>  Any of several related theories for the [[parsing of natural language]] qualify as constituency grammars, and most of them have been developed from Chomsky's work, including

* [[Government and binding theory]]
* [[Generalized phrase structure grammar]]
* [[Head-driven phrase structure grammar]]
* [[Lexical functional grammar]]
* The [[minimalist program]]
* [[Nanosyntax]]

Further grammar frameworks and formalisms also qualify as constituency-based, although they may not think of themselves as having spawned from Chomsky's work, e.g.

* [[Arc pair grammar]], and
* [[Categorial grammar]].

==See also==
*[[Catena (linguistics)|Catena]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
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*Allerton, D. 1979. Essentials of grammatical theory. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
*Borsley, R. 1991. [https://books.google.com/books?id=sUtpAwAAQBAJ&q=%22Phrase+structure+grammar%22as Syntactic theory: A unified approach]. London: Edward Arnold.
*Chomsky, Noam 1957. [[Syntactic Structures|Syntactic structures]]. The Hague/Paris: Mouton.
*Matthews, P. Syntax. 1981. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521297097}}.
*McCawley, T. 1988. The syntactic phenomena of English, Vol. 1. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
*Mel'cuk, I. 1988. [https://books.google.com/books?id=diq29vrjAa4C&q=%22phrase+structure+grammar%22 Dependency syntax: Theory and practice]. Albany: SUNY Press.
*[[Ivan Sag|Sag, I.]] and T. Wasow. 1999. Syntactic theory: A formal introduction. Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.
*Tesnière, Lucien 1959. Éleménts de syntaxe structurale. Paris: Klincksieck.
*van Valin, R. 2001. An introduction to syntax. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
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[[Category:Generative syntax]]
[[Category:Syntax]]
[[Category:Noam Chomsky]]
[[Category:Natural language processing]]