32 also modify adjectives and other adverbs Aarts, 1997, p. 42. The example of an
adverb that is used to modify adjectives is extremely. The sentence I am extremely happy today is acceptable. In the example, the word extremely modifies the
adjectives happy. The word very is the example of an adverb that can modify other adverbs. Considering the example She works very hard, the word very
modifies the other adverb hard.
g. Conjunction
Conjunction is class of words that is functioning to link two sentences, phrases, or words. There are two types of conjunctions, they are subordinating
conjunction and coordinating conjunctions. The examples of conjunctions are and, or, that, if, for, etc.
h. Interjection
Interjections refers to words that express emotion, physical state, agreement, disagreement and so on. The example of interjections are the
expressions such as oh, erh, hmm, ah, nah, yuck, euw, etc.
5. Theories of Tree Diagram
Napoli 1996 states that every part of grammar, morphology and syntax, makes use of tree diagram p. 307. In morphology, the use of tree diagram can
show the building of some words. For example the construction of the word reconstruction. Tree diagram is also known as phrase makers. It shows the visual
representation of hierarchical linguistics system or structure Aarts, 1997, p. 60. In line with Aarts 1997, Poole 2002 mentions that tree diagrams “are used to
33 graphically illustrate the structure of a sentence.” p. 23. Other than tree diagram,
people can also use bracketing. However, the same information that people get from bracketing is often more easily seen using tree diagram Napoli, 1997, p.
307. Aarts 1997 also mentions that the system of labelled bracketing is almost impossible to read due to the wealth of details. For example, the sentence The
people in the room will move the desk into the hall would have the sentence bracketed as follows.
[S [NP [art The] [n people] [PP [prep in [NP [art the] [n room]]]] [aux will] [VP[v move][NP[art the][n desk] [PP [prep into [NP
[art the] [n hall]]]]]]] The confusing pattern of bracketing makes the experts Napoli 1997 and Aarts
1997 recommend tree diagrams to see the sentence structure. Moreover, tree diagram will show the three important aspects of sentence Akmajian et.al, 2001,
p. 207. The three important aspects of a sentence are: a The linear order of words in the sentence
b The categorization of words into parts of speech c The grouping of words into structural constituents of the sentence
Figure 2.2 will show the linear order, categorization, and grouping of words which are the important aspects of a sentence.
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Figure 2.2. Tree Diagram of a Sentence
Symbol used in the diagram: S
– sentence NP – noun phrase
Aux – auxiliary verb VP – verb phrase
PP
– prepositional phrase Art
– article N
– noun V
– verb Prep – preposition
Studying Figure 2.2, every part of the sentence The people in the room will move the desk into the hall is connected to particular symbol according to its lexical
categories. Therefore, the word the is connected to symbol Art which means article. It indicates that the word the belongs to article. The words and also lexical
categories are all served in linear order. Figure 2.2 also shows the grouping of words into structural constituents of the sentence. The subject phrase, the people
in the room, is the combination of several lexical categories. Figure 2.2 shows the connection of word by word in the making of single constituent. Figure 2.3 would
visualize the subject phrase the people in the room.
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Figure 2.3 Tree Diagram of a Phrase
From Figure 2.3, it can be seen that Art and N are connected to the same symbol NP which makes them to form a single constituent. As well as, NP and Prep are
connected to the same symbol PP. The last example is that Art, N, and PP are connected to the same symbol NP and make a single constituent.
To be precise, constructing tree diagram as seen in Figure 2.2 needs evidence whether it is true and represented the way it should or not. Akmajian
et.al 2001 mentioned that the tree diagrams shows the theories of syntax and also has empirical evidence p. 188.
B. Theoretical Framework
This part is aimed to provide the theories used in order to answer the research questions. Three research questions arise regarding the study of lexical
and grammatical ambiguity in Reader’s Forum section in The Jakarta Post newspaper. The research questions are:
1. What words are lexically ambiguous in the Reader’s Forum section of The
Jakarta Post newspaper?
