The Derivation Tree Diagramme

The derivation tree is drawn as two branches forking out from the sign S (sentence).

Each branch has nodes (joints or knots) in it from which smaller branches fork out. Each node corresponds to a phrase, the two forking branches correspond to the IC of the phrase. The diagramme below is a derivation tree for generating simple sentences with a transitive verb.

S

NP VP

T N V NP

T N V T N

The man hit the ball

The boy took a pen

To generate a sentence we must know that it consists firstly of an NP and a VP, that an NP consists of a determiner and an N, that a VP with a transitive V consists of a V and an NP, that the NP again has a determiner and an N.

All this is shown by the diagramme called the ‘derivation tree’.

The generating of the sentence involves first only the classes of words and the function words. Only on the lowest level (the morphemic level) we choose the concrete lexical elements.

References:

1. Бархударов Л. С. Структура простого предложения современного английского языка. / Л. С. Бархударов. – М.: Высш. шк., 1966. – С. 15-28.

2. Блох М. Я. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка: Учеб. – 4-е изд., испр. / М. Я. Блох. – М.: Высшая школа, 2003. – С. 292-302.

3. Иртеньева Н. Ф., Барсова О. М., Блох М. Я., Шапкин А. П. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка (Синтаксис) / Иртеньева Н. Ф. и др. – М.: Высш. шк., 1969. – С. 56-61.

4. Fries, Ch. An Introduction To The Construction Of English Sentences. / Ch. Fries. – Lnd.: Longmans, Green and Company, 1961. – P. 256-273.