Dictionary.com
definitions

phrase-structure rule

noun Linguistics.

a rule that generates a sentence or other syntactic construction from words and phrases and identifies its constituent structure.

RELATED CONTENT

All About Prepositional PhrasesPrepositional phrases are the kinds of things you use all the time without thinking about them. They’re groups of words that begin with a preposition and end with an object. Prepositions are words like about, across, after, for, and in. You’ll see them in simple prepositional phrases, like about zebras, after school, and with friends. Objects of Prepositions When we say object, we mean the …
READ MORE
Phrases Only New Englanders KnowRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE

Nearby words

  1. phrase book,
  2. phrase marker,
  3. phrase structure,
  4. phrase structure tree,
  5. phrase-structure grammar,
  6. phrasemaker,
  7. phrasemonger,
  8. phraseogram,
  9. phraseograph,
  10. phraseological
Compare rewrite rule.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for phrase-structure rule

phrase-structure rule

noun

generative grammar a rule of the form A → X where A is a syntactic category label, such as noun phrase or sentence, and X is a sequence of such labels and/or morphemes, expressing the fact that A can be replaced by X in generating the constituent structure of a sentenceAlso called: rewrite rule Compare transformational rule
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012