胡壯麟語(yǔ)言學(xué)課件Chapter-4-gram

ChapterFour

FromWordtoText1Theuseoflanguage,likegames,hasitsownrules.Toplaythegameswell,youshouldknowtherules.Words,wordgroupsandphrases,andclausescannotoccuratrandom,theyhavetofollowcertainrulesofordering.SYNTAXisthestudyoftherulesgoverningthewaysdifferentconstituentsarecombinedtoformsentencesinalanguage,orthestudyoftheinterrelationshipsbetweenelementsinsentencestructures.2Syntacticrelationscanbeanalysedintothreekinds:positionalrelationsrelationsofsubstitutabilityrelationsofco-occurrence1.Syntacticrelations

syntacticrelations31.1PositionalRelation

Forlanguagetofulfillitscommunicativefunction,itmusthaveawaytomarkthegrammaticalrolesofthevariousphrasesthatcanoccurinaclause.

Theboykickedtheball

NP1NP2Subject Object4Positionalrelation,orWORDORDER,referstothesequentialarrangementofwordsinalanguage.Ifthewordsinasentencefailtooccurinafixedorderrequiredbytheconventionofalanguage,onetendstoproduceanutteranceeitherungrammaticalornonsensicalatall.Forexample,5Theboykickedtheball*Boytheballkickedthe*TheballkickedtheboyTheteachersawthestudentsThestudentssawtheteacher6PositionalrelationsareamanifestationofoneaspectofSYNTAGMATICRELATIONSobservedbyF.deSaussure.TheyarealsocalledHORIZONTALRELATIONSorsimplyCHAINRELATIONS.Wordorderisamongthethreebasicways(wordorder,geneticandarealclassifications)toclassifylanguagesintheworld:SVO,VSO,SOV,OVS,OSV,andVOS.EnglishbelongstoSVOtype,thoughthisdoesnotmeanthatSVOistheonlypossiblewordorder.71.2RelationofSubstitutability

TheRELATIONOFSUBSTITUTABILITYreferstoclassesorsetsofwordssubstitutableforeachothergrammaticallyinsentenceswiththesamestructure.The

______smiles.

manboygirl8Italsoreferstogroupsofmorethanonewordwhichmaybejointlysubstitutablegrammaticallyforasinglewordofaparticularset.

9ThisiswhatSaussurecalledASSOCIATIVErelations,orinHjemslev'sterm,PARADIGMATICrelations.Tomakeitmoreunderstandable,theyarecalledVERTICALrelationsorCHOICErelations.101.3RelationofCo-occurrence

Itmeansthatwordsofdifferentsetsofclausesmaypermit,orrequire,theoccurrenceofawordofanothersetorclasstoformasentenceoraparticularpartofasentence.Forinstance,anominalphrasecanbeprecededbyadeterminerandadjective(s)andfollowedbyaverbalphrase.11Relationsofco-occurrencepartlybelongtosyntagmaticrelations,partlytoparadigmaticrelations.122.Grammaticalconstructionanditsconstituents

2.1GrammaticalConstruction

GRAMMATICALCONSTRUCTIONorCONSTRUCTcanbeusedtorefertoanysyntacticconstructwhichisassignedoneormoreconventionalfunctionsinalanguage,togetherwithwhateverislinguisticallyconventionalizedaboutitscontributiontothemeaningorusetheconstructcontains.13Onthelevelofsyntax,wedistinguishforanyconstructioninalanguageitsexternalanditsinternalproperties.Theexternalsyntaxofaconstructionreferstothepropertiesoftheconstructionasawhole,thatistosay,anythingspeakersknowabouttheconstructionthatisrelevanttothelargersyntacticcontextsinwhichitiswelcome.Forinstance,thedifferenttermssuchasclausaltype,phrasaltypeareassignedtothepropertiesoftheconstructionsrespectively.14Subject

+Verb

+Object(clausaltype)Mary(subject)ate(verb)anapple(object).Determiner

+Noun(phrasaltype)

this(determiner)edition(noun)

Theinternalsyntaxofaconstructionisreallyadescriptionoftheconstruction’s“make-up”,withthetermssuchas“subject,predicate,object,determiner,noun”.15Inthecontextofdiscourse/textanalysis,constructionreferstoatokenofaconstructionaltype.ThesentenceThegirlisgigglingisrecognisedas“Subject+Predicate”type,butitisrealizedinastringThe+girl+is+giggling.

Itistheconstructioninthissensethatcanbeanalysedintoconstituents.162.2ImmediateConstituents

CONSTITUENTisatermusedinstructuralsentenceanalysisforeverylinguisticunit,whichisapartofalargerlinguisticunit.Severalconstituentstogetherformaconstruction:forexample,inthesentenceThegirlatetheapple,

S(A),thegirl(B),atetheapple(C),

eachpartisaconstituent.17Constituentscanbejoinedtogetherwithotherconstituentstoformlargerunits.Iftwoconstituents,inthecaseoftheexampleabove,B(thegirl)andC(atetheapple),arejoinedtoformahierarchicallyhigherconstituentA(“S”,hereasentence),thenBandCaresaidtobeimmediateconstituentsofA.18 A(Sentence)B CThegirlatetheapple19ThistreecontainsthreeNodes.Thetop-mostnode,A,isthemotherofthetwolowernodes,BandC.BandCaredaughtersofthesamemother,andsowerefertothemassisternodes.ThesimpletreeintheaboverepresentsaconstituentofcategoryAwhichiscomposedoftwoparts,oneofcategoryBandtheotherofcategoryC,occurringinthatorder.20TodismantleagrammaticalconstructioninthiswayiscalledIMMEDIATECONSTITUENTANALYSISorICanalysis.Theimmediateconstituentsthemselvescanbeconstructionsofspecifictypes,forinstance,thenominalphrase“Thegirl”

canbefurtheranalysedinto“The(Determiner)+girl(Noun)”.Thus,“Thegirl”istheconstructionofanominalphrase,whereas“The”

and“girl”areitsconstituents.21Whenatreediagramisusedtorepresenttheconstituentstructureofagrammaticalunit(e.g.aphraseorsentence),syntacticcategoriesareusedtolabelthenodes;themostcommonofthesearelistedinthefollowing:syntacticcategories22Word-levelPhrasalN=nounA=adjectiveV=verbP=prepositionDet=determinerAdv=adverbConj=conjunctionNP=nounphraseAP=adjectivephraseVP=verbphrasePP=prepositionphraseS=sentenceorclause23TreediagramSNPVPDetNVNP

DetNThegirlatetheappleThegirlatetheapple24BracketingIncontrasttotreediagram,BRACKETINGisnotsocommon,butitisaneconomicnotationinrepresentingtheconstituentstructureofagrammaticalunit.(((The)(girl))

((ate)

((the)

(apple))))[[[The][girl]]

[[ate]

[[the]

[apple]]]]252.3EndocentricandExocentricConstructionsThesyntacticconstructionsanalysedareoftwomaintypes:endocentricandexocentricconstructions,dependingontheirdistributionandtherelationbetweentheirconstituents.endocentric&exocentric26ENDOCENTRICconstructionisonewhosedistributionisfunctionallyequivalenttothatofoneormoreofitsconstituents,i.e.,awordoragroupofwords,whichservesasadefinableCENTREorHEAD.Usuallynounphrases,verbphrasesandadjectivephrasesbelongtoendocentrictypesbecausetheconstituentitemsaresubordinatetotheHead.

2728EXOCENTRICconstructionisjusttheoppositeofendocentricconstruction.Itreferstoagroupofsyntacticallyrelatedwordswherenoneofthewordsisfunctionallyequivalenttothegroupasawhole,thatis,thereisnodefinable“Centre”or“Head”insidethegroup.Exocentricconstructionusuallyincludesbasicsentence,prepositionalphrase,predicate(verb+object)construction,andconnective(be+complement)construction.29Theboy

smiled.(Neitherconstituentcansubstituteforthesentencestructureasawhole.)Hehidbehind

thedoor.(Neitherconstituentcanfunctionasanadverbial.)Hekicked

theball.(Neitherconstituentstandsfortheverb-objectsequence.)Johnseemed

angry.(Afterdivision,theconnectiveconstructionnolongerexists.)302.4CoordinationandSubordinationEndocentricconstructionsfallintotwomaintypes,dependingontherelationbetweenconstituents:Coordination31CoordinationCOORDINATIONisacommonsyntacticpatterninEnglishandotherlanguagesformedbygroupingtogethertwoormorecategoriesofthesametypewiththehelpofaconjunctionsuchasand,butandor.Thisphenomenonisknownascoordination.Thesetwoormorewordsorphrasesorclauseshaveequivalentsyntacticstatus,eachoftheseparateconstituentscanstandfortheoriginalconstructionfunctionally.32CoordinationofNPs:[NPthelady]or[NPthetiger]CoordinationofVPs:[VPgotothelibrary]and[VPreadabook]CoordinationofPPs:

[PPdownthestairs]and[PPoutthedoor]CoordinationofAPs:

[APquiteexpensive]and[APverybeautiful]CoordinationofSs:[SJohnlovesMary]and[SMarylovesJohntoo].33Suchastructureisusuallyconsideredtobedoublyheaded,sincebothoftheconjoinedelementsfunctionasheadsofthelargerunit.Thatis,inacoordinatesentence,two(ormore)Sconstituentsoccurasdaughtersandco-headsofahigherS.coordination34Onepropertycoordinationrevealsisthatthereisnolimitonthenumberofcoordinatedcategoriesthatcanappearpriortotheconjunction.Thus,wecanformstructuressuchas[NPAman,awoman,aboy,acatandadog]gotintothecarinwhichthesubjectNPcontainsfoursmallerNPspriortotheunderlinedconjunctionandoneafterit.35SubordinationSUBORDINATIONreferstotheprocessorresultoflinkinglinguisticunitssothattheyhavedifferentsyntacticstatus,onebeingdependentupontheother,andusuallyaconstituentoftheother.ThusthesubordinateconstituentsarewordswhichmodifytheHead,asshownintheunderlinedpartsoftheconstructions.Consequently,theycanbecalledmodifiers.36two

dogs

Head(Mybrother)candrink(wine).

HeadSwimminginthelake(isfun).

Head(Thepepperwas)hotbeyondendurance.

Head37SubordinateclausesClausescanbeusedassubordinateconstituents,thethreebasictypesofsubordinateclausesare:complementclausesadjunct(oradverbial)clausesrelativeclauses38Johnbelieves[thattheairplanewasinventedbyanIrishman].(complementclause)Elizabethopenedherpresents[beforeJohnfinishedhisdinner].(adverbialclause)Thewoman[thatIlove]ismovingtothesouth.(relativeclause)

subordinateclause393.SyntacticFunction

TheSYNTACTICFUNCTIONshowstherelationshipbetweenalinguisticformandotherpartsofthelinguisticpatterninwhichitisused.Namesoffunctionsareexpressedintermsofsubjects,objects,predicators,modifiers,complements,etc.Apartfromthenotionof“modifiers”beingalreadygivenintheprevioussection,thefollowingaresomeofthebasicfunctionaltermsinsyntax.403.1Subject

Insomelanguages,SUBJECTreferstooneofthenounsinthenominativecase.ThetypicalexamplecanbefoundinLatin,wheresubjectisalwaysinnominativecase,suchaspaterandfiliusinthefollowingexamples.pater

filium

amat

(thefatherlovestheson)patrem

filius

amat(thesonlovesthefather)41InEnglish,thesubjectofasentenceisoftensaidtobethedoeroftheaction,whiletheobjectisthepersonisthepersonorthingacteduponbythedoer.Thisdefinitionseemstoworkforthesesentences:MaryslappedJohn.AdogbitJohn.

42butisclearlywronginthefollowingexamples:Johnwasbittenbyadog.Johnunderwentmajorheartsurgery.

Inordertoaccountforthecaseofsubjectinpassivevoice,wehavetwootherterms“grammaticalsubject”(John)and“l(fā)ogicalsubject”(adog).43Anothertraditionaldefinitionofthesubjectis“whatthesentenceisabout”(i.e.,topic).Again,thisseemstoworkformanysentences,suchasBillisaverycraftyfellow.

butfailsinothers,suchas(Jackisprettyreliable,but)BillIdon’ttrust.AsforBill,Iwouldn’ttakehispromisesveryseriously.

44Allthreesentencesseemtobe“about”Bill;thuswecouldsaythatBillisthetopicofallthreesentences.Thesesentencesmakeitclearthatthetopicisnotalwaysthegrammaticalsubject.subject45Itseemsthatwecannotreliablyidentifythesubjectofasentencewitheithertheagentorthetopic.Rather,weusegrammaticalcriteriatodevelopaworkabledefinition.Whatcharacteristicsdosubjectshave?NotethefollowingpropertiesofsubjectsinEnglish:46WordorderSubjectordinarilyprecedestheverbinthestatement:Sallycollectsstamps.*CollectsSallystamps.47Pro-formsThefirstandthirdpersonpronounsinEnglishappearinaspecialformwhenthepronounisasubject,whichisnotusedwhenthepronounoccursinotherpositions:Helovesme.Ilovehim.Wethrewstonesatthem.Theythrewstonesatus.48AgreementwiththeverbInthesimplepresenttense,an-sisaddedtotheverbwhenathirdpersonsubjectissingular.However,thenumberandpersonoftheobjectoranyotherelementinthesentencehavenoeffectatallontheformoftheverb:Sheangershim.Theyangerhim.

Sheangersthem.49ContentquestionsIfthesubjectisreplacedbyaquestionword(whoorwhat),therestofthesentenceremainsunchanged,asinJohnstole/wouldstealMrs.Thatcher’spicturefromtheBritishCouncil.Whostole/wouldstealMrs.Thatcher’spicturefromtheBritishcouncil?

50Butwhenanyotherelementofthesentenceisreplacedbyaquestionword,anauxiliaryverbmustappearbeforethesubject.Ifthebasicsentencedoesnotcontainanauxiliaryverb,wemustinsertdidordo(es)immediatelyafterthequestionword,asin:WhatwouldJohnsteal,ifhehadthechance?WhatdidJohnstealfromtheBritishCouncil?WheredidJohnstealMrs.Thatcher’spicturefrom?51TagquestionATAGQUESTIONisusedtoseekconfirmationofastatement.Italwayscontainsapronounwhichrefersbacktothesubject,andnevertoanyotherelementinthesentence.JohnlovesMary,doesn’the?MarylovesJohn,doesn’tshe?*JohnlovesMary,doesn’tshe?523.2Predicate

PREDICATEreferstoamajorconstituentofsentencestructureinabinaryanalysisinwhichallobligatoryconstituentsotherthanthesubjectwereconsideredtogether.Itusuallyexpressesactions,processes,andstatesthatrefertothesubject.Theboyisrunning.Peterbroketheglass.Janemustbemad!53Aspredicateincludesconstituentssuchasverb,object,complement,etc.,peoplefinditillogicaltouseaclass-term,namely,theverb,ingrammaticalanalysisofafunctionalnature.ThewordPREDICATORissuggestedforverborverbsincludedinapredicate.543.3Object

OBJECTisalsoatermhardtodefine.Since,traditionally,subjectcanbedefinedasthedoeroftheaction,objectmayrefertothe“receiver”or“goal”ofanaction,anditisfurtherclassifiedintoDIRECTOBJECTandINDIRECTOBJECT.Motherboughtadoll.Mothergave

mysister

adoll.

Ind.Obj.

Dir.Obj.

55Insomeinflectinglanguages,objectismarkedbycaselabels:theaccusativecasefordirectobject,andthedativecaseforindirectobject.InEnglish,“object”isrecognisedbytracingitsrelationtowordorder(aftertheverbandpreposition)andbyinflections(ofpro-nouns).Mothergaveadolltomysister.Johnkickedme.56Modernlinguists(e.g.Chomsky,Halliday)suggestthatobjectreferstosuchanitemthatitcanbecomesubjectinapassivetransformation.Johnbroketheglass.

(TheglasswasbrokenbyJohn.)PetersawJane.(JanewasseenbyPeter.)

object57Althoughtherearenominalphrasesinthefollowing,theyarebynomeansobjectsbecausetheycannotbetransformedintopassivevoice.Hediedlastweek.Thematchlastedthreehours.HechangedtrainsatTianjin.(*TrainswerechangedbyhimatTianjin.)583.4TheRelationbetweenClassesandFunctionsClassesandfunctionsdetermineeachother,butnotinanyone-to-onerelation.Aclassitemcanperformseveralfunctions.Forinstance,anounoranominalphrasecanfunctionasthesubject,object,modi-fier,adverbialandcomplementofasentence.59Theboysareplayingfootball.(Subj.andObj.)theSummerPalace(Modifier)Hecameherelastmonth.(Adv.)HechangedtrainsatTianjin.(Comp.)phrasefunction60Afunctioncanalsobefulfilledbyseveralclasses.Forinstance,thesubjectofasentencecanberealizedbyanoun,pronoun,numeral,infinitive,etc.Thedogisbarking.(Nominal)Wewillstayhere.(Pronoun)Onlytwo-thirdsofthepopulationhereareworkers.(Numeral)Torunfastcanbedangerous.(Verbal)

614.Category

ThetermCATEGORYreferstothedefiningpropertiesofthesegeneralunits:thecategoriesofthenoun,forexample,includenumber,gender,caseandcountability;andoftheverb,forexample,tense,aspect,voice,etc.624.1NumberNUMBERisagrammaticalcategoryusedfortheanalysisofwordclassesdisplayingsuchcontrastsassingular,dual,plural,etc.InEnglish,numberismainlyobservedinnouns,andthereareonlytwoforms:singularandplural,suchasdog:dogs.

Numberisalsoreflectedintheinflectionsofpronounsandverbs,suchasHelaughs:Theylaugh,thisman:thesemen.63Inotherlanguages,forexample,French,themanifestationofnumbercanalsobefoundinadjectivesandarticles.lechevalroyal(theroyalhorse)leschevaux

royaux(theroyalhorses)number644.2GenderGENDERdisplayssuchcontrastsas“masculine:feminine:neuter”,“animate:inanimate”,etc.fortheanalysisofwordclasses.Whenworditemsrefertothesexofreal-worldentities,we

aretalkingaboutnaturalgender.Theoppositeisgrammaticalgender.Thoughthereisacorrelationbetweennaturalgenderandgrammaticalgender,theassignmentmayseemquitearbitraryinmanycases,forinstance,inLatin,

ignis‘fire’ismasculine,whileflamma

‘flame’isfeminine.65Englishgendercontrastcanonlybeobservedinpronounsandasmallnumberofnouns,and,theyaremainlyofthenaturalgendertype.he:she:itprince:princessauthor:authoress66InFrench,genderismanifestedalsobothinadjectivesandarticles.beaucadeau(finegift)bellemaison(finehouse)Lecadeau

estbeau.(Thegiftisgood.)Lamaison

estbelle.(Thehouseisbeautiful.)67Sometimesgenderchangesthelexicalmeaningaswell,forexample,inFrench:lepoele(thestove)lapoele(thefryingpan)lependule(thependulum)lapendule(theclock)684.3Case

Thecasecategoryisusedintheanalysisofwordclassestoidentifythesyntacticrelationshipbetweenwordsinasentence.InLatingrammar,casesarebasedonvariationsinthemorphologicalformsoftheword,andaregiventheterms“accusative”,“nominative”,“dative”,etc.TherearefivecasesinancientGreekandeightinSanskrit.Finnishhasasmanyasfifteenformallydistinctcasesinnouns,eachwithitsownsyntacticfunction.69InEnglish,caseisaspecialformofthenounwhichfrequentlycorrespondstoacombinationofprepositionandnoun,anditisrealisedinthreechannels:(a)inflection,(b)followingapreposition,(c)wordorder,asmanifestedinteacher:teacher’swith:toamanJohnkickedPeter:PeterkickedJohn704.4AgreementAGREEMENT(orCONCORD)maybedefinedastherequirementthattheformsoftwoormorewordsofspecificwordclassesthatstandinspecificsyntacticrelationshipwithoneanothershallalso,becharacterizedbythesameparadigmaticallymarkedcategory(orcategories).71Thissyntacticrelationshipmaybeanaphoric,aswhenapronounagreeswithitsantecedent,Whoseisthispen?--Oh,it’stheoneIlost.oritmayinvolvearelationbetweenaheadanditsdependent,aswhenaverbagreeswithitssubjectandobject:Each

personmayhaveonecoin.

72Agreementofnumberbetweennounsandverbs:Thismanruns.

Thebirdflies.

Thesemenrun.

Thesebirdsfly.735.1PhrasePHRASEisasingleelementofstructurecontainingmorethanoneword,andlackingthesubject-predicatestructuretypicalofclauses.Traditionally,itisseenaspartofastructuralhierarchy,positionedbetweenclauseandword.5.Phrase,ClauseandSentence

74Therefore,first,aphrasemustbeagroupofwordswhichformaconstituent.Second,aphraseisloweronthegrammaticalhierarchythanclauses.Moreprecisely,simpleclausesmay(andusuallydo)containphrases,butsimplephrasesdonot(ingeneral)containclauses.75thethreetallestgirls(nominalphrase)hasbeendoing(verbalphrase)extremelydifficult(adjectivalphrase)tothedoor(prepositionalphrase)veryfast(adverbialphrase)phrase76However,thereisatendencytomakeadistinctionbetweenWORDGROUPandPHRASE.Awordgroupisanextensionofwordofaparticularclassbywayofmodificationwithitsmainfeaturesoftheclassunchanged.Thuswehavenominalgroup,verbalgroup,adverbialgroup,conjunctiongroupandprepositiongroup(e.g.rightbehind,allalong).“Tothedoor”isstillacceptedasaprepositionalphrasewhichconsistsofaprepositionplusanominalgroup,andis,consequently,nolongerapreposition.775.2ClauseAconstituentwithitsownsubjectandpredicate,ifitisincludedinalargersentence,isaCLAUSE.ClausecanalsobeclassifiedintoFINITEandNON-FINITEclauses,thelatterincludingthetraditionalinfinitivephrase,participialphrase,andgerundialphrase.78Thebestthingwouldbetoleaveearly.It’sgreatforamantobefree.Havingfinishedtheirtask,theycametohelpus.XiaoLibeingaway,XiaoWanghadtodothework.Filledwithshame,heleftthehouse.Alloursavingsgone,westartedlookingforjobs.It’snousecryingoverspiltmilk.Doyoumindmyopeningthewindow?795.3SentenceTraditionally,SENTENCEistheminimumpartoflanguagethatexpressesacompletethought.Bloomfield(1935)definedthesentenceasone“notincludedbyvirtueofanygrammaticalconstructioninanylargerlinguisticform”.Sentencesmaybeclassifiedalongtheintersectingdimensionsofstructureandfunction.80Thetraditionalapproachpresentsabinarydivisionintermsofstructureasfollows: simpleSentence complex non-simple compound81Thefunctionalapproachgivesaframeworklikethis: Yes/noInterrogativeIndicativewh-DeclarativeSentenceJussiveImperative

Optative

82Somelinguistsarenowinterestedinthecommunicativefunctionofutterancesandlabelvarioussentencesas“statement”,“question”,“command”,“request”,“confirmation”,etc.Basedonwordclasses,Bolinger(1969)reportsfivebasicsentencetypes.83Motherfell.(Nominal+intransitiveverbal)Motherisyoung.(Nominal+copula+complement)MotherlovesDad.(Nominal+transitiveverbal+nominal).MotherfedDadbreakfast.(Nominal+transitiveverbal+nominal+nominal)Thereistime.(There+existential+nominal)84Quirk,etal(1972)introducessevensentencetypesaccordingtothegrammaticalfunctionsoftheconstituentsinvolvedinasentence:AGrammarofContemporaryEnglish85TypeSVC

Maryiskind. anurse.TypeSVA

Maryishere. inthehouse.TypeSV

Thechildislaughing.TypeSVO

Somebodycaughttheball.TypeSVOC

Wehaveprovedhimwrong.

afool.TypeSVOA

Iputtheplateonthetable.TypeSVOO

Shegivesmeexpensivepresents.

866.Recursiveness

Thoughitmainlymeansthataphrasalconstituentcanbeembeddedwithin(i.e.,bedominatedby)anotherconstituenthavingthesamecategory,RECURSIVENESShasbecomeanumbrellaterm,underwhichmaybebroughttogetherseveralimportantlinguisticphenomenasuchascoordinationandsubordination,conjoiningandembedding,hypotacticandparatactic.Allthesearemeanstoextendsentences.Howlongcanbeasentence?87Theoretically,thereisnolimittothenumberofembeddingonerelativeclauseintoanotherrelativeclause,solongasitdoesnotbecomeanobstacletosuccessfulcommunication.Thesameholdstruefornominalclausesandadverbialclauses.Thisiswhatwecallrecursiveness,forexample:Imetamanwhohadasonwhosewifesoldcookiesthatshehadbakedinherkitchenthatwasfullyequippedwithelectricalappliancesthatwerenew.88Recursiveness,togetherwithopenness,isgenerallyregardedasthecoreofcreativityoflanguage.John’ssisterJohn’ssister’shusbandJohn’ssister’shusband’suncleJohn’ssister’shusband’sun