SYNTAX

SYNTAX

1. Syntax is the part of grammar that represents a speaker’s knowledge of sentences and their structures.

   • WHAT THE SYNTAX RULES DO
     • The rules of syntax combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences
       • They also specify the correct word order for a language.
         • They also describe the relationship between the meaning of a group of words and the arrangement of the words.
           • The rules of syntax also specify the grammatical relations of a sentence, such as the subject and the direct object. “Who is doing what to whom”
             • Syntax rules specify constraints (limitations or restrictions) on sentences based on the verb of the sentence.
               • Syntax rules also tell us how words form groups and are hierarchically ordered in a sentence.
                 • Structurally ambiguous sentences can often be humorous: For sale
   • WHAT GRAMMATICALITY IS NOT BASED ON
     • A person´s ability to make grammatical judgements does nor depend on having heard the sentence before.
       • Grammaticality is not based on meaningfulness
         • Grammaticality is not based on truthfulness
   • GENERATIVE GRAMMAR
     • Generative Grammar is a set of formal rules used to generate or define the membership of an infinite set of grammatical sentences in a language.
       • Instead of analyzing a single sentence, this grammar devises a set of rules of construction that may help in generating sentences or structures in an infinitely large number.
         • This grammar attempts to produce all and only grammatical sentences of language.
           • (all and only means that our analysis must account for all the grammatical correct phrases and sentences and only those grammatical correct phrases and sentences in whatever language we are analyzing.)
   • SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE
     • The generative grammar defines the syntactic structures of a language.
       • The grammar will generate all the well formed syntactic structures (e.g. sentences)
         • The grammar will have a finite number of rules but will generate infinite number of well formed structures
   • SENTENCE STRUCTURE
     • We could say that the sentence “The child found the puppy” is based on the template Det—N—V—Det—N
       • But this would imply that sentences are just strings of words without internal structure
         • This sentence can actually be separated into several groups:
   • SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES
     • A syntactic category is a family of expressions that can substitute for one another without loss of grammaticality.
       • All the underlined groups constitute a syntactic category known as a noun phrase (NP)
         • All the bolded groups constitute a syntactic category known as a verb phrase (VP)
   • TREE DIAGRAM
     • A tree diagram is a way of representing the hierarchical nature of a structure in a graphical form. It is named a "tree diagram” because the classic representation resembles a tree, even though the chart is generally upside down compared to an actual tree, with the "root" at the top and the "leaves" at the bottom.
       • Tree diagram provides us visual representation of the constituents of the corresponding expression
   • PHRASE STRUCTURE TREES AND RULES
     • A phrase structure (PS) tree (or constituent structure tree) is a tree diagram with syntactic category information:
       • In a PS tree, every higher node dominates all the categories beneath it • S dominates everything
         • A node immediately dominates the categories directly below it.
           • Sisters are categories that are immediately dominated by the same node
             • Phrase structure rules specify the well-formed structures of a sentence
               • This tree is formed using the following rules:
                 • We therefore have to account for these possible sentences in our phrase structure rules and need the following rules so far:
   • THE INFINITY OF LANGUAGE: RECURSIVE RULES
     • Recursive rules allow a grammar to generate an infinite number of sentences (in this case by adding PPs indefinitely)
       • The recursive phrase structure rule VP  VP PP allows the following tree
   • RECURSIVE ADJECTIVES AND POSSESSIVES
     • However, this rule would allow an adjective to come before a determiner, which is not possible in English
       • Possessor NPs such as in the girl’s shoes function as a determiner with the ‘s representing possession (poss)
         • The recursive nature of PS rules is common to all languages
   • HEADS AND COMPLEMENTS
     • Phrase structure trees also show the relationships among the elements in a sentence
       • Some heads require a certain type of complement and some don’t
         • Verbs also select subjects and complements based on semantic properties (S-selection)
     • The category of Auxiliary verbs (such as will, has, is, and may as well as modals might, could, would, and can) heads a sentence because a sentence is about a situation of state of affairs that happens at some point in time
       • Particular kinds of auxiliaries go with certain kinds of VPs
         • But, this sentence does have the past tense morpheme –ed, and in sentences without an auxiliary, the tense is the head of the S