Syntax

Syntax Definition: a set of rules that govern how morphemes and words are combined to form longer strings of meaning

Ways of Indicating Morpheme Function Morphology 1) inflections--Magna aranea perterruit puellam. Syntax 2) function words--The girl was frightened by a big spider. 3) word order-- The big spider frightened the girl.

What are the rules in a language for using these building blocks? Morphemes combine into Words combine into Phrases combine into Clauses combine into Sentences What are the rules in a language for using these building blocks? Morphology addressed morphemes and words, so we will focus on phrases, clauses and sentences here.

Phrases Three examples of types of phrases; 1. Noun phrases = a noun and its modifiers 2. Verb phrases = a verb and its modifiers 3. Prepositional phrases = a preposition, it’s object and modifiers

Noun Phrases Act as a subject in a sentence The cute little boy threw John the ball. boy + the cute little Act as a direct object in a sentence ball + the Act as an indirect object in a sentence John

Verb Phrases Is made up of the verb and its modifiers. Joan walked quickly and quietly. walked + quickly and quietly

Clauses Definition: a group of two or more words which include its own subject and predicate

Types of Clauses Independent clauses are simple sentences Eg. Sarah patted the dog. Sarah (subject) + patted (verb) + dog (object) Dependent Clauses cannot stand alone Eg. When Sarah patted the dog, . . .

Agreement Rules Units within a sentence must match each other E.g. In English, singular subject nouns require singular person verbs and plural subject nouns require plural person verbs. E.g. In Spanish, adjectives and articles must match the singular or plural nature of the noun they modify They must also agree with the gender of the noun

There are over 200 definitions of the term “sentence.” Sentences There are over 200 definitions of the term “sentence.” Two of the most commonly used apply to written sentences : Has a subject (noun/noun phrase) and a predicate (something that is said about the subject) By punctuation: begins with a capital letter, ends with a full stop (.?!) Spoken language makes it more difficult to define “sentence”.

Short-Hand Symbols Syntactic Categories Subject = S, Verb = V, Object = O NP = Noun Phrase, VP = Verb Phrase, PP = Prepositional Phrase, etc. S+V S+V+O NP+VP+PP Etc.

Displaying Sentence Structure Line Analysis Bracket Analysis Chinese Box Diagramming Diagramming Tree Diagram Analysis Phrase Marker Structure

Line Analysis

Bracket Analysis

Chinese Box Diagram

Compound Sentence

Diagramming

Tree Diagram Analysis

Phrase Marker Analysis (P-marker)

Powerpoint Study Guide Syntax Modifiers Morphemes Independent clause Words Dependent clause Phrases Agreement rules Clauses Sentences Noun phrase Syntactic categories Verb phrase Line Analysis Prepositional phrase Bracket Analysis Subject Chinese Box Diagramming Predicate Diagramming Direct object Tree Diagram Analysis Indirect object Phrase Marker Structure