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Grammar and Syntax.

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Presentation on theme: "Grammar and Syntax."— Presentation transcript:

1 Grammar and Syntax

2 GRAMMAR Words can be combined in a limited number of patterns: ex.: A beautiful girl OK (appropriate)‏ beautiful A girl* or girl the beautiful* NO Definition How speakers arrange words, that is the combination of words within a sentence and how sentences are arranged in a proposition.

3 TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR Parts of speech: Agreement among categories:
Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs Prepositions Pronouns and Conjunctions. Agreement among categories: Number Person Tense Voice (active/passive) Gender ex.: The girl loves her cat The girl loved him/it last year

4 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR Costituent analysis S [=sentence]‏
[The boy loves the girl] [(the boy) (loves (the girl)] NP(Art+N) + VP[V+NP(Art+N)] NP= noun phrase Art= Article N= noun VP= verb phrase

5 Charlie broke the window. The window was broken by Charlie.
GENERATIVE GRAMMAR “I will consider a language to be a set (finite or infinite) of sentences” Chomsky during the '50s The endless set is generated by the operation of the explicitly formalised rules. Surface Vs Deep structure Charlie broke the window. The window was broken by Charlie. In traditional grammar, the first is called an active sentence, focusing on what Charlie did, and the second is a passive sentence, focusing on The window and what happened to it. The distinction between them is a difference in their surface structure, that is, the different syntactic forms they have as individual English sentences. The other “underlying” level, where the basic components (Noun Phrase+Verb+Noun Phrase) shared by the two sentences can be represented, is called their deep structure.

6 Syntax Definition The structure and ordering of components within a sentence is technically known as SYNTAX. ex.:They are outside Vs Are they outside? Only I saw Mary Vs I saw Mary only Function: affirmative, interrogative, prescriptive,

7 Syntax Combination: S+V They/ run S+ V + dO They/ play/ music
S+ V + iO Mary/ gave/ the baby /its bottle S+V+ Nominal part She/ looks/ radiant S+ V+ Adverbial part I /had to go /to Paris S+ V+ dO + Adverbial part They / needn't have left/ home/ so early

8 GRAMMAR > SYNTAX Morphology + syntax = grammar

9 PREMODIFICATION The L-shaped computer room has six new computers
The driver’s overrapid downhill driving of the bus caused brake failure Vs The driver drove the bus too rapidly down the hill so the brakes failed) A small car factory A small factory for making cars A factory for making small cars

10 A small car-factory (=A small factory for making cars)
A small-car factory (=A factory for making small cars)

11 PREMODIFICATION 1. glass cracks more quickly the harder you press
2. cracks in glass grow faster the more pressure is put on 3. glass crack growth is faster if greater stress is applied 4. the rate of glass crack growth depends on the magnitude of the applied stress 5. glass crack growth rate is associated with applied stress magnitude SEMI-TECHNICAL LEVEL (semi-binding structure) changing in: - tenor - premodification - passive Vs active - objectivity TECHNICAL LEVEL (highly-binding structure)

12 Activity 1 Transform the following postmodified sentences into premodified constructions: The rate at which inflation grows 2) A pentagon is a figure which has five sides 3) A train which carries passengers 4) An engine which is driven by diesel oil

13 Answers 1) The rate of inflation growth The inflation growth rate
2)A pentagon is a figure with five sides A pentagon is a five-sided figure 3)A train for carrying passengers A passenger-carrying train (or A passenger train) 4) An engine driven by diesel oil A diesel (oil)-driven engine (or A diesel engine)

14 Activity 2 Identify all the parts of speech used in this sentence (e.g. woman = noun): The woman kept a large snake in a cage, but it escaped recently.

15 Answer The

16 Activity 3 Create a labeled and bracketed analysis of this sentence:
The thief stole a wallet

17 Answer


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