Linguistics Cartoon Favorites - Parts of Speech

An Illustrated Language Tree

Image from iastate.edu

Typeface Envy

I recently reconnected with a college friend who lives about an hour away. We decided to meet for lunch at a halfway point and she suggested a restaurant I had not heard about previously. As I walked up to the restaurant I saw this:

And I immediately thought this:

Interestingly, Bar Louie franchises are known for their martinis and they do not serve Mike's Hard Lemonade.

Linguistics Cartoon Favorites - Flying with Homophones

Syntax with Sherlock - Sentence Ambiguity Illustrated and Diagrammed

*For simplicity's sake, because the phrase "using binoculars" functions like a prepositional phrase, I have taken the liberty of changing "using" to "with" for the diagrams.

Here is a syntactic diagram of the version of the sentence pictured on the left.

Here is a syntactic diagram of the version of the sentence pictured on the right.




The above syntactic trees show that the ambiguous nature of the sentence results from the possibility of the prepositional phrase attaching to the noun phrase or directly to the verb phrase.

Click here for more sentence ambiguity diagrams.

Sherlock image from - http://bb.ustc.edu.cn/

An Introduction to Sentence Types and Basic Sentence Trees

Simple Sentence

Every sentence must contain a noun phrase and a verb phrase (in some sentences the noun phrase may be null).

Coordinate Sentence

Every coordinate sentence must contain at least two simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction.

Complex Sentence

Every complex sentence must contain one simple sentence and at least one dependant clause that includes a subordinating conjunction and a simple sentence.

Complex-Coordinate Sentence (example 1)

Complex-Coordinate Sentence (example 2)

Every complex-coordinate sentence must contain at least two simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction and at least one dependant clause that includes a subordinating conjunction and a sentence.


Please note: Because of the recursive nature of language a coordinate sentence could have an unlimited number of simple sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions, and a complex sentence could have an unlimited number of dependant clauses joined by subordinating conjunctions, and a complex-coordinate sentence could have an unlimited number of simple sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions and dependant clauses joined by subordinating conjunctions, and, and, and, and.....

Ontologies and Analogies with Liqueur and Strings Attached

A dear friend recently introduced me to what may become my favorite libation of the summer.

Paolucci Limoncello
List Price $23.99
30% alcohol

However, being the bargain hunter that I am, I found a fairly tasty and less expensive alternative.

Lombardi Limonata

List Price $9.99

10% alcohol

When I first introduced this option to said friend, the response was, "so what do you call this, 'Limonviolin'?"

What a wonderful analogy. I laughed for a good ten minutes (and I had only had half of one drink at this point).

In other words, Limoncello is to Limonata as cello is to violin.

Limoncello is more expensive and has a larger alcohol content than Limonata.

A cello is more expensive and is larger than a violin.

Ontologically, this example groups together liqueurs that have similarities in flavor, and differences in price and alcohol content, and compares them to string instruments that have similarities in materials, and differences in price and size.

An Introduction to Basic Phrase Structure Trees

Noun Phrase

A noun phrase must include a noun (determiner, adjective and prepositional phrase are optional). Alternatively, a noun phrase can be a pronoun that represents a noun.

Verb Phrase

A verb phrase must include a verb (auxiliary, noun phrase or adjective, prepositional phrase and dependant clause are optional).

Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase must include a preposition and a noun phrase.

Dependent Clause

A dependent clause must include a subordinating conjunction and a sentence.

Key:
det = determiner
adj = adjective
N = noun
Pro = pronoun
aux = auxiliary verb
V = verb
P = preposition
PP = prepositional phrase
SC = subordinating conjunction
S = sentence

Please note: Because adverbs can modify several different elements in a sentence, they will be covered in a separate post in the future.

Regarding Comments

Dear Readers,

Just wanted to let you know that for the past month and the upcoming month I have had and will have a hard time responding to your comments. I spend summers in an area with a very weak internet connection. Most of the posts you see have been scheduled ahead of time as it is especially hard for me to access Blogger. I do see all of your comments on a daily basis through e-mail notifications (my e-mail is much easier to access for some reason). At any rate, I appreciate your continued reading and comments; keep them coming. Hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

Laura

Mixed Messages - Semiotics and Text Message Initialisms Don't Mix

If you see someone

DROWNING

lol

CALL 911

If it weren't for the initialisms created through text message communication, this sign would not have appeared on Fail Blog.

In the old days, the image would have been interpreted semiotically as a swimmer's head and two arms waving for help, not as a comment that suggests people should "laugh out loud" at the sight of a drowning person.

Get Your Linguistics Game On

It's vacation week for many so why not play a game. Here are some fun games from the edifying sites Sporcle and Lumosity:

Sporcle - "mentally stimulating diversions"

Can you name the most commonly used words in the English language?
Can you name the words given their IPA pronunciation?
Can you name the triple homophones from the hints below?
Link to list of all language games on Sporcle

Lumosity - "reclaim your brain"

Word Bubbles
Word Sort


Image credit

A Case for Dangling Prepositions

Stick Deodorant

I got a new stick deodorant today.

The instructions said, “Remove cap and push up bottom”.

I can barely walk, but whenever I fart the room smells lovely.

Image from Language Arts Games

No matter how lovely a room smells, I think everyone who uses deodorant would be much more comfortable pushing the bottom up than pushing the deodorant up their bottom.