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Introduction to English Syntax

Introduction to English Syntax. Syntax: The analysis of sentence structure. Syntax: The definition.

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Introduction to English Syntax

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  1. Introduction to English Syntax Syntax: The analysis of sentence structure

  2. Syntax: The definition Syntax >> The system of rules and categories that allows words to be combined to form sentences in human language. Syntax is concerned with the ways in which words can be combined together to form phrases and sentences. • A sentence is grammatical if speakers judge it to be a possible sentence of their language Example: • *House painted student a the. • A student painted the house. Thus, example 2) is a grammatical sentence of English, but 1) is not.

  3. Categories & Structure • A fundamental fact about words in all human languages is that they can be grouped together into a relatively small number of classes, called Grammatical/Syntactic categories. • A grammatical category is a class of expressions which share a common set of grammatical properties. • This classification reflects a variety of factors, including the type of meaningthat words express, the type of affixes that they take, and the type of structuresin which they can occur.

  4. Word-level Categories Note: A potential source of confusion in the area of word classification stem from the fact that some items can belong to more than one category, e.g. comb, watch, etc.

  5. Semantic criteria > Meaning One criteria involves meaning. • Noun, for instance, typically name entities such as individual (Paijo, Tessy) and objects (book, desk). • Verbs characteristically designate actions (run, jump), sensation (feel, hurt), and state (be, remain). • Adjectives is to designate a property or attribute of the entities donated by noun (tall, handsome) • Adverbs typically denote properties and attributes of the actions, sensations, and states designated by verbs (quickly, early). • Unfortunately, a word’s category membership does not always bear such a straightforward relationship to its meaning. For example, there are abstract nouns such as difficulty, truth, and likelihood.

  6. Morpho-syntactic Criteria Inflection : These criteria have to do with inflectional suffixes Category Inflectional affix Examples Noun Plural –s books, chairs, doctors Verb Past tense –ed hunted, watched, judges Progressive –ing hunting, watching, judging Adjective Comparative –er taller, faster, smarter Superlative –est tallest, fastest, smartest

  7. Syntactic Criteria > Distribution The syntactic criteria for word classes are based on what words a given word occurs with and the types of phrase in which a given word occurs. Category Distribution property Nounoccurrence with a determiner For example: a car, the wheat Verboccurrence with an auxiliary For example: has gone, will stay Adjectiveoccurrence with a degree word For example: very rich, too big

  8. Phrase structure Sentences are not formed by simply stringing words together like beads on a necklace. Rather, sentences have a hierarchical design in which words are grouped together into successfully larger structural units.

  9. NP VP AP PP N V A P Phrase Level VP NP Word Level V N eat (all animals) books (he likes) Head Phrases are built around a ‘skeleton’ consisting of two levels. Note: It is possible to have a phrase in which only the head position is filled

  10. Specifiers • Semantically, specifiers help to make more precise the meaning of the head. They are determiner (Det), qualifier (Qual), and degree words (Deg). • Syntactically, specifiers typically mark a phrase boundary. In English, specifiers occur at the left boundary (the beginning) of their respective phrases.

  11. NP VP N V Det Qual eat the books never PP AP P Deg A Deg in almost certain quite

  12. A vegetarian should never eat [a hamburger]. head complement the thing eaten Complements Complements are elements, which are themselves phrases, provide information about entities and locations whose existence is implied by the meaning of the head. For example, the meaning of “eat” implies an object that is eaten, the meaning of “in” implies a location, and so on.

  13. VP NP Qual V Det N never eat a hamburger A VP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement

  14. NP PP Det N about the war the book A NP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement

  15. AP PP Deg A about Mary quite certain An AP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement

  16. PP NP Deg P the house almost in A PP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement

  17. Phrase structure rule NP > (Det) N (PP) VP > (Qual) V (NP) AP > (Deg) A (PP) PP > (Deg) P (NP)

  18. S VP NP NP Det N V Det N A scientist discovered the answer Sentences • The largest unit of syntactic analysis is the sentence (S). A sentence combines an NP (often called the subject) with a VP. • The (S) rule: S > NP VP

  19. The above analysis assumes that S is special in the sense that, unlike other phrases, it does not have internal structure (with head, a complement, and a specifier). However, many linguists now believe that S is essentially similar to other phrases and has the structure as follow:

  20. InflP (=S) VP NP Infl NP Pst Det N V Det N A scientist discovered the answer

  21. InflP(=S) VP NP Infl NP Det N V Det N A scientist will discover the answer

  22. Complement Clauses All human languages allow sentence-like construction to function as complement. Example: [The psychic knows [that/whether/if the contestant will win]] * The smaller bracketed phrase is called a complement clause while the larger phrase in which it occurs is called the matrix clause * Words such as that, if, and whether are known as Complementizers (Cs).

  23. CP S NP VP C Det N Infl V that whether if the contestant will win

  24. VP CP NP S Infl NP VP V C Det N Infl V Det N NonPst will the contestant win The psychic knows that whether if S

  25. Tests for phrase structure According to the syntactic analysis, the words that make up a sentence form intermediate structural units called phrases. How do linguists using this approach to syntax determine which words should be grouped together into phrases?

  26. The substitution test Evidence that NPs are syntactic units comes from the fact that they can often be replaced by an element such as they, it, or do so. Example: • [NP The citizens] rebelled after they discovered the truth. (they = the citizens) • The students will [VP wear ties] if the teachers will do so. • They stopped [PP at the corner] and we stopped there too

  27. The movement test Another indication is that phrases can be moved as a single unit to a different position within the sentence (this is called a movement test) Example, They stopped [PP at the corner] >> [PP at the corner], they stopped.

  28. The coordination test A group of words forms a constituent if it can be joined to another group of words by a conjunction such as and, or, or but. (This is labeled the coordination test since patterns built around a conjunction are called coordinate structure). Example, The children [VP often sweep the floor] but [VP never clean the wall].

  29. VP NP NP VP VP NP V Det NP N Con Con Det V N NP read a book or walk the dog this man and that child

  30. Transformation • Transformation is a special type of rule that can move an element from one position to another. • Transformation can be in the form of Inversion and insertion • Inversion >> moves the auxiliary from the Infl position to a position to the left of the subject. • Insertion >> adds a special auxiliary verb.

  31. S Will the boy ----- leave? NP VP Det N Infl V the Boy will leave Inversion in yes-no questions Will the boy leave? >> The boy will leave

  32. S NP VP Det N Infl V the Boy will leave Deep Structure Vs. Surface Structure Surface Structure Will the boy leave? >> The boy will leave Will the boy ----- leave? Deep structure Inversion process

  33. Wh-Movement The man should repair which car? Which carshould the man ----- repair ------? inversion Wh-Movement

  34. Do insertion Those birds sing those birds do sing Do those birds ---- sing?

  35. References Eagleson, R. D., Threadgold, T., & Collins, P. (1985). Inside language. Melbourne: Pitman Publishing. Fromkin, V., Blair, D., & Collins, P. (2000). An introduction to language. New South Wales: Harcourt Australia Pty Limited. O'Grady, W. (1997). Syntax: The analysis of sentence structure. In W. O'Grady, M. Dobrovolsky & F. Katamba (Eds.), Contemporary linguistics (pp. 181-244). Essex: Pearson Education Limited. O'Grady, W., Dobrovolsky, M., & Aronoff, M. (1989). Contemporary linguistics: An introduction. New York: St. Martin's Press.

  36. Radford, A. (1997). Syntax: A minimalist introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres

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