phrase-structure grammarn
a grammar which analyzes the structure of different sentence types in a
language. It consists of phrase-structure ruleswhich specify the constituency
of syntactic categories. For example, one phrase-structure rule specifies that
a noun phrase (NP) can be expanded or “rewritten as” (Art) (Adj) N (PP),
that is, an optional article plus an optional adjective plus a noun plus an
optional prepositional phrase. The structure of sentences generated by such
rules is often illustrated by a tree diagram.
phrase-structure rulen
seephrase-structure grammar
phylogenyn
also phylogenesis
see ontogeny
picture dictionary n
a dictionary in which meanings are shown entirely through illustrations
such as pictures or photographs. Picture dictionaries usually seek to explain
the words in a basic vocabularyand words are normally grouped by
topic or situation.
pidginn
a language which develops as a contact language when groups of people
who speak different languages try to communicate with one another
on a regular basis. For example, this has occurred many times in the
past when foreign traders had to communicate with the local population
or groups of workers from different language backgrounds on plant-
ations or in factories. A pidgin usually has a limited vocabulary and a
reduced grammatical structure which may expand when a pidgin is used
pidgin