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ECS 5 ENGLISH SYNTAX

Chapter 1 Introduction to Syntax

In linguistics, syntax (/ˈsɪntæks/) is the set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the
structure of sentences (sentence structure) in a given language, usually including word order. The
term syntax is also used to refer to the study of such principles and processes. The goal of many
syntacticians is to discover the syntactic rules common to all languages.
The word syntax comes from Ancient Greek: σύνταξις "coordination", which consists of σύν
syn, "together", and τάξις táxis, "an ordering".
One basic description of a language's syntax is the sequence in which the subject (S), verb (V),
and object (O) usually appear in sentences. Over 85% of languages usually place the subject
first, either in the sequence SVO or the sequence SOV. The other possible sequences are VSO,
VOS, OVS, and OSV, the last three of which are rare. In most generative theories of syntax,
these surface differences arise from a more complex clausal phrase structure, and each order may
be compatible with multiple derivations.
Any speaker of any human language can produce and understand an infinite number of possible
sentences. Thus, we can‘t possibly have a mental dictionary of all the possible sentences. Rather,
we have the rules for forming sentences stored in our brains. Syntax is the part of grammar that
pertains to a speaker‘s knowledge of sentences and their structures.

Proponents of Syntax

The most important linguist of the late twentieth century, Chomsky is also one of the foremost
leftist critics of American foreign policy and the news media. His main contribution to linguistics
is the influential ―transformative–generative grammar‖—an attempt to describe mathematically
the syntactical processes common to all human language. Chomsky draws a key distinction
between the deep structure and surface structure of languages. The deep structure, he argues, is
not culturally determined (and therefore ultimately arbitrary) but rather ―hardwired‖ in the
human brain. It constitutes what he terms a competence, a set of dispositions to grammatical
formation that underlie the surface diversity of human languages. Some of Chomsky's most
interesting examples draw on the relatively uniform process of language acquisition among
children and their capacity to extrapolate rules (if often incorrectly) from limited linguistic
experience. Transformative–generative grammar thus seeks to move beyond the strongly
culturalist position of structural linguistics (as developed by Ferdinand de Saussure , C. S. Peirce,
Roman Jakobson , and others), which had demonstrated that language was a free-floating
structure of signifiers that bore no intrinsic relation to the mental concepts signified. If the major
thrust of this work was to reveal language as a relatively arbitrary structure of differentiated
signs, Chomsky set out to scientifically describe the ground rules of that structure. Although
many of his specific claims and mathematical abstractions have been challenged by subsequent
work, some version of transformative–generative grammar underlies virtually all modern
linguistics.
Chomsky's prolific criticism of politics and the mass media bears little relationship to his work in
linguistics. In this area, he has repeatedly sought to demonstrate the alignment of media
coverage with government and corporate interests (which, Chomsky is quick to point out,
include the media companies), especially in the area of foreign policy. His major works in
linguistics include Syntactic Structures (1957) and Cartesian Linguistics (1966). In media and
political criticism, his writing includes Manufacturing Consent (1968, with Edward Herman) and
Necessary Illusions (1989).

Generative Grammar
 Noam Chomsky (1950‘s)
 In theoretical linguistics, generative grammar refers to an approach to the study of syntax.
- A generative grammar of a language attempts to give a set of rules that will correctly predict
which combinations of words will form grammatical sentences.
- These rules will follow directly & predictably from applying the explicit rules.
- If the sentences of a language can be compared to this , then there must be a set of explicit
rules that can produce all those sentences.
Such a set of explicit rules = generative grammar.

What the Syntax Rules Do

 The rules of syntax combine words into phrases and phrases, into sentences.
 They specify the correct word order for a language.
–  For example, English is a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) language.
1. The President nominated a new Supreme Court justice. (SVO)
2. President the new Supreme justice Court a nominated.
(Incoherent)

 They also describe the relationship between the meaning of a group of words and the
arrangement of the words.
–  I mean what I say vs. I say what I mean.

 The rules of syntax also specify the grammatical relations of a sentence, such as the
subject and the direct object.
–  Your dog chased my cat vs. My cat chased your dog.

 Syntax rules specify constraints on sentences based on the verb of the sentence:
The boy found.
The boy found in the house.
The boy found the ball.
Disa slept.
Disa slept soundly.
Disa slept the baby.

 Syntax rules also tell us how words form groups and are hierarchically ordered in a
sentence.
 “The captain ordered the old men and women off the ship.”
*This sentence has two possible meanings:
1. The captain ordered the old men and the old women off the ship.
2. The captain ordered the old men and the women of any age off the ship.

*The meanings depend on how the words in the sentence are grouped (specifically, to which
words is the adjective ‗old‘ applied?)
1. The captain ordered the [old [men and women]] off the ship.
2. The captain ordered the [old men] and [women] off the ship.
*These groupings can be shown hierarchically in a tree

1. These trees reveal the structural ambiguity in the phrase ―old men and women.‖
2. Each structure corresponds to a different meaning

 Structurally ambiguous sentences can often be humorous.

Catcher: ―Watch out for this guy, he‘s a great fastball hitter.‖
Pitcher: ―No problem. There‘s no way I‘ve got a great fastball.‖

What Grammaticality is Not Based on?

 Grammaticality is not based on prior exposure to a sentence.
 Grammaticality is not based on meaningfulness.
 Grammaticality is not based on truthfulness.
Properties of syntactic knowledge

 Humans can understand & produce an infinite number of

sentences they never heard before
Some purple gnats are starting to tango on microwave

 Our grammar can understand and produce long sentences

―Bill said that he thought that the esteemed leader of the house had it in mind to tell the
unfortunate vice president that the calls that he made from the office in the White House
that he thought was private….”

 Determines the grammatical relations in a sentence

Mary hired Bill Vs. Bill hired Mary

Syntax & Meaning

 Non-sense sentences with clear syntax:
Colorless green ideas sleep comfortably.
A verb crumpled the milk.
I gave the question an angry egg.
Comfortably sleep ideas green colorless.
Milk the crumpled verb a.
the question I an gave egg angry.

 Sentences are composed of discrete units that are combined by rules.

 These rules explain how speakers can store infinite knowledge in a finite space – brain.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

THE TIE-BACK
Syntax (Part 1) https://youtu.be/n9168PgGHBc CHECKPOINT

Activity 1.
Review about morphology https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Unisa-Open/OER-@-
Unisa/Linguistics/BasicMorphology

Activity 2.
Watch the link below in preparation for the next lesson. Syntax (Part 2)
https://youtu.be/MPWuI9whbEY

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Prepared by:

Ms. Edel Mae D. Opeña

References:
ENGL_20013_ENGLISH_SYNTAX.pdf.
toaz.info-module-english-syntaxdocx-pr_65d867ae74dc7491caa800a9054ba834.pdf