1. Introduction to English Syntax
Syntax: The analysis of sentence structure
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2. Syntax: The definition
Syntax >> The system of rules and categories that allows words to be combined to form sentences in human language. Syntax is concerned with the ways in which words can be combined together to form phrases and sentences.
A sentence is grammatical if speakers judge it to be a possible sentence of their language
Example:
*House painted student a the.
A student painted the house.
Thus, example 2) is a grammatical sentence of English, but 1) is not.
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3. Categories & Structure
A fundamental fact about words in all human languages is that they can be grouped together into a relatively small number of classes, called Grammatical/Syntactic categories.
A grammatical category is a class of expressions which share a common set of grammatical properties.
This classification reflects a variety of factors, including the type of meaning that words express, the type of affixes that they take, and the type of structures in which they can occur.
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4. Word-level Categories
Lexical Categories
Examples
Noun (N)
Harry, boy, wheat, policy, moisture, bravery
Verb (V)
arrive, discuss, melt, hear, remain, dislike
Adjective (A)
good, tall, old, intelligent, beautiful, fond
Preposition (P)
to, in, on, near, at, by
Adverb (Adv)
silently, slowly, quietly, quickly, now
Non-lexical categories
Determiner (Det)
the, a, this, these
Degree word (Deg)
too, so, very, more, quite
Qualifier (Qual)
always, perhaps, often, never, almost
Auxiliary (Aux)
will, can, may, must, should, could
Conjunction (Con)
and, or, but
Note: A potential source of confusion in the area of word classification stem from the fact that some items can belong to more than one category, e.g. comb, watch, etc.
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5. Semantic criteria > Meaning
One criteria involves meaning.
Noun, for instance, typically name entities such as individual (Paijo, Tessy) and objects (book, desk).
Verbs characteristically designate actions (run, jump), sensation (feel, hurt), and state (be, remain).
Adjectives is to designate a property or attribute of the entities donated by noun (tall, handsome)
Adverbs typically denote properties and attributes of the actions, sensations, and states designated by verbs (quickly, early).
Unfortunately, a word’s category membership does not always bear such a straightforward relationship to its meaning. For example, there are abstract nouns such as difficulty, truth, and likelihood.
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6. Morpho-syntactic Criteria
Inflection : These criteria have to do with inflectional suffixes
Category Inflectional affix Examples
Noun Plural –s books, chairs, doctors
Verb Past tense –ed hunted, watched, judges
Progressive –ing hunting, watching, judging
Adjective Comparative –er taller, faster, smarter
Superlative –est tallest, fastest, smartest
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7. Syntactic Criteria > Distribution
The syntactic criteria for word classes are based on what words a given word occurs with and the types of phrase in which a given word occurs.
Category Distribution property
Noun occurrence with a determiner
For example: a car, the wheat
Verb occurrence with an auxiliary
For example: has gone, will stay
Adjective occurrence with a degree word
For example: very rich, too big
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8. Phrase structure
Sentences are not formed by simply stringing words together like beads on a necklace. Rather, sentences have a hierarchical design in which words are grouped together into successfully larger structural units.
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9. Head Phrases are built around a ‘skeleton’ consisting of two levels.NP VP AP PP
Phrase Level
Word Level
Note: It is possible to have a phrase in which only the head position is filled N NP
books
(he likes) V VP
eat
(all animals)
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10. Specifiers
Semantically, specifiers help to make more precise the meaning of the head. They are determiner (Det), qualifier (Qual), and degree words (Deg).
Syntactically, specifiers typically mark a phrase boundary. In English, specifiers occur at the left boundary (the beginning) of their respective phrases.
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11. the books Det N NP never eat Qual V VP quite certain Deg A AP almostPP
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12. Complements
Complements are elements, which are themselves phrases, provide information about entities and locations whose existence is implied by the meaning of the head. For example, the meaning of “eat” implies an object that is eaten, the meaning of “in” implies a location, and so on.
A vegetarian should never eat [a hamburger].
head
complement the thing eaten
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13. A VP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement
never
eat a
hamburger
Qual V
Det N VP NP
A VP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement
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14. A NP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement
the
book
Det N NP PP
about the war
A NP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement
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15. An AP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement
quite
certain
Deg A AP PP
about Mary
An AP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement
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16. A PP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement
almost in
Deg P PP NP
the house
A PP consisting of a head, a specifier, and a complement
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17. Phrase structure rule NP > (Det) N (PP) VP > (Qual) V (NP)
AP > (Deg) A (PP)
PP > (Deg) P (NP)
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18. Sentences
The largest unit of syntactic analysis is the sentence (S). A sentence combines an NP (often called the subject) with a VP.
The (S) rule: S > NP VP A
scientist
discovered
the
answer
Det N V NP VP S
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19. The above analysis assumes that S is special in the sense that, unlike other phrases, it does not have internal structure (with head, a complement, and a specifier). However, many linguists now believe that S is essentially similar to other phrases and has the structure as follow:
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20. V NP VP InflP (=S) Det N Pst
discovered V NP VP
InflP (=S)
the
answer
Det N
Infl A
scientist
Pst
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21. VP InflP(=S) V Det N NP Infl discover the answer A scientist will
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24. Complement Clauses
All human languages allow sentence-like construction to function as complement.
Example:
[The psychic knows [that/whether/if the contestant will win]]
* The smaller bracketed phrase is called a complement clause while the larger phrase in which it occurs is called the matrix clause
* Words such as that, if, and whether are known as Complementizers (Cs).
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25. that whether if the contestant will win C Det N Infl V NP VP S CP
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26. S that whether if CP C S the contestant will Det N Infl NP VP win V
knows
The
psychic
NonPst
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29. Tests for phrase structure
According to the syntactic analysis, the words that make up a sentence form intermediate structural units called phrases. How do linguists using this approach to syntax determine which words should be grouped together into phrases?
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30. The substitution test
Evidence that NPs are syntactic units comes from the fact that they can often be replaced by an element such as they, it, or do so.
Example:
[NP The citizens] rebelled after they discovered the truth. (they = the citizens)
The students will [VP wear ties] if the teachers will do so.
They stopped [PP at the corner] and we stopped there too
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31. The movement test
Another indication is that phrases can be moved as a single unit to a different position within the sentence (this is called a movement test)
Example,
They stopped [PP at the corner] >>
[PP at the corner], they stopped.
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33. The coordination test
A group of words forms a constituent if it can be joined to another group of words by a conjunction such as and, or, or but. (This is labeled the coordination test since patterns built around a conjunction are called coordinate structure).
Example,
The children [VP often sweep the floor] but [VP never clean the wall].
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34. this man and that child Det N Con NP read a book or walk the dog V NPVP
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35. Transformation
Transformation is a special type of rule that can move an element from one position to another.
Transformation can be in the form of Inversion and insertion
Inversion >> moves the auxiliary from the Infl position to a position to the left of the subject.
Insertion >> adds a special auxiliary verb.
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36. Inversion in yes-no questions
Will the boy leave? >> The boy will leave
the
Boy
will
leave
Det N
Infl V NP VP S
Will the boy leave?
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37. Deep Structure Vs. Surface Structure
Will the boy leave? >> The boy will leave
the
Boy
will
leave
Det N
Infl V NP VP S
Will the boy leave?
Deep structure
Inversion process
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38. Wh-Movement The man should repair which car?
Which car should the man repair ?
inversion
Wh-Movement
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39. Do insertion Those birds sing those birds do sing
Do those birds ---- sing?
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40. References
Eagleson, R. D., Threadgold, T., & Collins, P. (1985). Inside language. Melbourne: Pitman Publishing.
Fromkin, V., Blair, D., & Collins, P. (2000). An introduction to language. New South Wales: Harcourt Australia Pty Limited.
O'Grady, W. (1997). Syntax: The analysis of sentence structure. In W. O'Grady, M. Dobrovolsky & F. Katamba (Eds.), Contemporary linguistics (pp ). Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
O'Grady, W., Dobrovolsky, M., & Aronoff, M. (1989). Contemporary linguistics: An introduction. New York: St. Martin's Press.
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41. Radford, A. (1997). Syntax: A minimalist introduction
Radford, A. (1997). Syntax: A minimalist introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres
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