syntax & semantics: UNIT 1

linear structure

= word order

= linear sequence of units in a sentence

constituency

= constituent structure

= the hierarchical structuring of units

- grouping words into larger units which are again organized into larger units

- phrase structure

ranks

- units are organized at different levels

- these levels are referred to as ranks

- rank scale = hierarchy of units

5 levens of units = ranks

1) sentence

2) clause

3) phrase

4) word

5) morpheme

sentence (definition)

the largest structural unit in the grammar

sentence (how to recognize?)

- in writing: punctuation

- in speaking: intonation

clause (definition)

an immediate constituent of a sentence

clause (how to recognize)

- organized around at least 2 elements ( 1. verb = Predicator, 2. Subject)

- meaningful unit (event, state)

phrase (definition)

an immediate constituent of a clause

phrase (notation)

phrases are separated by slashes

phrase (recognition)

tests

- substitution (e.g. by a pronoun)

- movement in the clause (e.g. by passivization)

word (definition)

an immediate constituent of a phrase

morpheme (defintion)

- an immediate constituent of a phrase

- smallest grammatical unit

syntactic categories

= form classes

- can be identiefied at each level or rank (words, phrases, clauses)

syntactic categories (words)

- correspond to word classes

- traditinally know as 'parts of speech'

- (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, pronoun, determiner, conjunction, interjection, numeral)

syntactic categories (phrases)

- a phrase is named according to its main word = the central word in the phrase, except the PP

- 6 main types (NP, VP, AjP, AvP, PP, DP)

syntactic categories (clauses)

are organized in different ways

- in terms of finiteness

- in terms of other formal structures (wh-clause, that-clause)

- in terms of types of constructions (relative clause, comparative clause)

syntactic functions (1. relation between functions and class)

- same category but different functions

- same function, but different categories

- a function is realized by a category = encoded by

syntactic function (2. head and dependents)

= central underlying pattern, which applies in the same way in all phrases, and to a certain extent also in clauses

the head is central

the head is central, it determines:

1) the distribution of the contituent, where it can occur in a larger unit

2) what kinds of dependents are permitted

syntactic functions (3. syntactic functions in the clause)

- Predicator

- obligatory elements (complements): Subject, Object, Predicative

- optional elements (modifiers): free Adjuncts

syntactic functions (4. syntactic functions in phrases)

- Head

- Modifiers (Pre- & Post)

- Determiners (only in the NP)

semantic functions

- refer to the roles that various constituents in a clause have in the event that is expressed = semantic roles = participant roles

- each verb type has a set of semantic roles

relational structure

functions are essentially relational concepts

- indicate relation of consitutetn to the larger units

- functions, amongst each other, are in a relationship of head-dependents

the patterning of functions in a constituent = relational structure = functional structure

internal structure

the constituents it contains, and the roles they play in the unit as a whole

external structure

where does/can this unit appear in higher units?