syntax

Syntax

The Study of Sentence Structure

  • Syntax is the study of sentence structure.

  • It examines how words come together to form phrases, clauses, and complete sentences.

  • syntactical inquiry raises the question: "How do we recognize, comprehend, and produce so many different structures?"

Structural Levels

Word Level

  • Morphology

  • Phonetics

  • Phonology

Sentence Level

  • Phrase

  • Clause

  • Sentence

Competence Model

Chomsky’s Linguistic Competence Model

  • Syntax is integrated within Noam Chomsky's Linguistic Competence Model.

  • For effective and fluent communication, speakers must:

    • Understand the relationship between sounds and meanings.

    • Comprehend and convey spoken messages.

Sounds and Meaning

  • The interaction between sounds (phonetics) and meanings (semantics) plays a crucial role in linguistic competence.

Syntax Defined

  • Syntax involves combining words to form structured phrases, clauses, and sentences.

Construction Practice

  • Given the words: "Boy, girl, standing, table, behind, door, the, the, and, are, at, the, by, the, is"

    1. Create three simple sentences using these words.

    2. Add a prepositional phrase to the constructed sentences.

    3. Form another simple sentence with an additional prepositional phrase.

    4. Combine the constructions using conjunctions: and, but, or.

Syntax vs. Grammar

  • Syntax:

    • The study of structure within sentences and the placement of elements in sentences.

    • Specifically about constructions and arrangements.

  • Grammar:

    • A broader term encompassing all rules governing a language, which includes syntax, morphology, etc.

Grammatical Rule System

Underlying Structural Principles

  • Embedding: The ability to integrate clauses and phrases within others.

  • Conjoining: Linking two or more clauses to create complex sentences, allowing for an infinite number of sentences.

Present in All Languages

  • Every language has grammatical rules, though specific rules may differ among languages.

Governing Sentence Construction

  • The framework that dictates how phrases, clauses, and sentences are put together.

Clause Types

  • Declaratives: Statements that convey information. Example: "I don’t care."

  • Interrogatives: Questions that seek information. Example: "How are you?"

  • Imperatives: Commands or requests. Example: "Take this dress."

Flexibility of Grammar

  • Same words can be grouped in varied ways, leading to different meanings based on their arrangement.

  • Surface components: The visible structure of sentences based on word order.

  • Deep structure: The underlying meanings, influenced by language aspects such as pragmatics.

Ambiguity in Structure

  • Example:

    • "The professor said on Tuesday she would collect the homework."

  • This can lead to different interpretations based on structural arrangement.

Structural Rule System of Syntax

Built on Morphological Categories

  • Verbs are essential for understanding and constructing sentences.

  • Constituent structure: A method to segment sentences into phrasal units down to the word level.

  • Hypothesis testing: A technique for determining and understanding the structural rule system in sentences.

Verbs – Basic Categories

  • Tense:

    • Present

    • Past

    • Regular

    • Irregular

  • Progressive Type:

  • Auxiliary Verbs:

    • Modal verbs conveying possibility, necessity, and obligation.

    • Examples: Can, could, would, should, shall, may, might, must.

Auxiliary Verbs

  • Known as "helping verbs" and include:

    • Forms of "be": is, am, are, was, were

    • Forms of "have": have, has, had

    • Forms of "do": do, does, did

Forming Questions with Auxiliary Verbs

  • The auxiliary verb is inverted with the subject to form a question.

    • Example: "He is getting hungry" becomes "Is he getting hungry?"

Using "Do" in Questions

  • When a main verb lacks an auxiliary, the auxiliary verb "do" is employed for question formation.

    • Example: "She walks to work" becomes "Does she walk to work?"

Negative Forms

  • The contracted negative form "n’t" attaches to auxiliary but not main verbs.

    • Examples: "isn’t", "doesn’t".

  • For sentences with only a main verb, the contracted negative attaches to "do".

    • Example: "The dog barks all day" becomes "Doesn’t the dog bark all day?"

Uncontracted Negatives

  • Can follow an auxiliary directly in sentences.

  • Example: "Janice can not open the jar."

Tag Questions

  • Tag questions utilize auxiliary verbs that reflect the opposite condition of the sentence’s auxiliary.

    • Example: "The fish is swimming oddly, isn’t it?"

    • Example: "The teacher isn’t standing at the front of the room, is she?"

Repetition of Auxiliary

  • Tag questions repeat the auxiliary verb from the main sentence.

    • Example: "The dog is chewing the bone, isn’t he?"

    • Example: For sentences with only a main verb, "do" is used. "Dad always sits in that chair, doesn’t he?"

Constituent Structure Terms

Key Components

  • Subject: The "actor" in the sentence, either a nominal (noun) or pronominal (pronoun).

  • Verb: The action or 'state of being' expressed in the sentence.

  • Object: The entity or participant acted upon in the sentence.

Basic Phrase Types

  • Noun Phrase (NP)

  • Verb Phrase (VP)

  • Prepositional Phrase (PP)

  • Adverbial Phrase (AP)

Terms Related to Constituent Structure

  • Constituent Structure: The organization of word groupings within a sentence into corresponding phrases.

  • Sentence Tree: A visual representation of a sentence's constituent structure.

  • Node: Each labeled point in a sentence tree.

  • Recursion: The capability of a finite rule set to generate an infinite variety of structures, signifying that language is unbounded.

Parsing and Analyzing Sentences

  • Parsing: Breaking down a sentence into its components for analysis.

  • Head of a Phrase: The pivotal node aligned with the category of the phrase.

    • Example: An NP is headed by a noun; a PP is headed by a preposition.

Extraposition and Dependency

Extraposition

  • A condition where a modifying clause is distanced from its head, resulting in discontinuous dependency.

    • Example: "Susan said something more than once that nobody expected."

    • Example: "Some guy was there with red hair."

Discontinuous Dependency

  • A structure wherein members of a single constituent are separated by non-constituent elements.

    • Example: "The trainer picked the gymnast out who was most likely to win."

Phrase Structure Rules

  • An operation that expands a simple sentence into multiple components.

  • Each phrase must have its head designated first:

    • An NP must contain a noun as its head.

    • A PP must contain a preposition as its head.

Application of Phrase Structure Rules

  • Structures can be analyzed down to their fundamental parts, right to the word level.

Genealogical Breakdown in Sentence Structure Parsing

Example Sentence Parsing

  • Example: "The author wrote a new story."

    • S = Mother node (the entire sentence)

    • NP → "The author"

    • VP → "wrote a new story"

    • Result: NP + VP forms daughter nodes to S and sister nodes to each other.

Hierarchical Breakdown

  • Further examples illustrate the structure in greater detail:

    1. The author wrote a new story.

    • Art N V NP:

      • Article, N = Sister nodes and daughter nodes to NP.

      • V, NP = Sister nodes and daughter nodes to VP.

    1. The author wrote a new story further broken down into components.

Practice Examples

  • To solidify learning, analyze the following sentences for their structure:

    • "John ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

    • "The pig rolled in the mud in the barnyard."

    • "The couch was put in the middle of the room."

    • "Did you turn off the light?"

    • "Can we ride to the concert together?"

    • "Let’s take a break from this work."