SYNTAX -Canvas by Aracely Villalta

SYNTAX

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Syntax is the study of the rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences in a given language.

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Understanding syntax helps explain how words combine to form phrases and sentences, crucial for grasping any language.

2. Syntactic Rules

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Syntactic rules dictate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences.

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Rules determine the correct sentence structure in different languages, such as Subject-Verb-Object in English.

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Example: In English, adjectives generally precede the nouns they modify, such as "a red apple." In French, however, many adjectives follow the noun, e.g., "une pomme rouge" (an apple red).

3. Structure of Sentences

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1. Introduction to Syntax

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Explores how words and phrases fit together to form coherent sentences.

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Sentence structures vary significantly across languages, influencing how ideas are expressed.

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Example: Complex sentences in English often use subordinating conjunctions, such as "although," "because," or "when," to connect clauses. For instance, "She stayed home because it was raining."

4. Phrase Structure Rules

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These rules specify how different types of phrases (noun phrases, verb phrases) should be constructed.

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A noun phrase could be structured as a noun plus an optional determiner and adjectives.

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Example: A common phrase structure rule for an English noun phrase (NP) is: NP → (Determiner) (Adjective) Noun. This can generate phrases like "the big house" or "a delicious meal."

5. Lexical Rules

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6. Tree Diagrams

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Used to visually represent the syntactic structure of sentences.

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Helps in understanding and teaching complex sentence structures visually.

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These rules deal with the correct use of words in sentences based on their lexical categories..

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For instance, which types of verbs or nouns can fit into a particular sentence pattern

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Example: In English, only transitive verbs can take a direct object. So, in the sentence "She likes ice cream," "likes" is a transitive verb that appropriately aligns with the direct object "ice cream."

7. Syntactic Ambiguity

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Occurs when a sentence can be interpreted in more than one way due to its structure.

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Example: "Visiting relatives can be annoying" can mean either the act of visiting relatives is annoying or the relatives being visited are annoying.

8. Generative Grammar

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A concept of grammar that aims to describe the syntax of languages in terms of a set of generative rules.

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Helps linguists predict what sentences are grammatically correct in any language.

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A generative grammar rule might specify that if a verb phrase can consist of a verb followed by a noun phrase, then from this rule, we can generate an infinite number of phrases using different verbs and noun phrases, such as "eat an apple," "kick the ball," or "write a letter."

STUDY QUESTIONS

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1. What was the original literal meaning of syntax in Greek?

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The original literal meaning of "syntax" in Greek is "arrange together" or "order." The term comes from the Greek words "syn," meaning "together," and "taxis," meaning "arrangement."

4. What is wrong with the following rule of English syntactic structure? “A prepositional phrase rewrites as a preposition followed by a noun.”

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The rule is too restrictive and incorrect because a prepositional phrase in English can consist of a preposition followed by a noun phrase, not just a single noun. Noun phrases can include determiners, adjectives, and modifiers. For example, "on a sunny day" includes the determiner "a" and the adjective "sunny."

5. Which of the following expressions are structurally ambiguous and in what way?

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(a) "These are designed for small boys and girls." — Ambiguous whether "small" applies to both boys and girls or just boys.
(b) "The parents of the bride and groom were waiting outside." — Ambiguous whether it refers to one set of parents for both or each having their own parents.
(c) "How come a bed has four legs, but only one foot?" — Not structurally ambiguous but plays on the word "foot."
(d) "We met an English history teacher." — Ambiguous whether the teacher teaches "English history" or is an "English" teacher of history.
(e) "Flying planes can be dangerous." — Ambiguous whether it refers to the act of flying planes or planes that are flying.
(f) "The students complained to everyone that they couldn’t understand." — Ambiguous if "that they couldn’t understand" applies to "everyone" or just "the students."

6. What part of speech is lovely in the following sentence?

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"We saw a lovely rainbow yesterday." — In this sentence, "lovely" functions as an adjective describing the noun "rainbow."

2. How many noun phrases are there in the following sentence?

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"George saw a small dog in the park near the fountain and it followed him when he left the park." — There are four noun phrases: "George," "a small dog," "the park," and "it."

8. Which part of the following sentence is the VP (Verb Phrase)?

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"None of the people in the building supported the proposed rent increase." — The verb phrase is "supported the proposed rent increase."

7. Which of the following expressions would be generated by this phrase structure rule: NP → {Art (Adj) N, Pro, PN}?

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(a) a lady — Yes, fits the structure Art N.
(b) the little girl — Yes, fits the structure Art Adj N.
(c) her — Yes, fits the structure Pro.
(d) Annie — Yes, fits the structure PN.
(e) the widow — Yes, fits the structure Art N.
(f) she’s an old woman — No, includes a verb and does not fit any single category in the rule.

9. What kind of generative rule is this: N → {girl, dog, boy}?

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This is a lexical replacement rule in a generative grammar, specifying that a noun (N) can be replaced by either "girl," "dog," or "boy" in syntactic structures. It is a type of substitution rule used to generate specific lexical items within a syntactic category.

3. Do phrase structure rules represent deep structure or surface structure?

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Phrase structure rules primarily represent surface structure. They are used to describe the syntactic organization of sentences as they are manifested in language, detailing how words and phrases are structured to form sentences .

10. Complete the following tree diagrams.

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1. A girl saw you.

2. Mary can help the boy.

NP VP NP Aux VP

Art N V NP V NP

Pro PN Art N