Unit 2: Syntax

Content

• Which language aspect is more closed to syntax?

• Grammar

• Grammar and syntax Relationship

• Morphology

• Etimology of the Word Syntax.

• What is syntax?

• What is syntax in linguistics?

• The basic rules of syntax in English

• Proper Syntax in English Sentences

• Parallel Structure in Sentences

• What is the difference between grammar and syntax?

• Summary: What is Syntax in the language

Explaining the topic

Before defining what is meant syntax, it is a great of importance to introduce some aspects
which are interrelated with syntax (interdisciplinary phenomena). Hence, the questions arise
here is: Which language aspect is more closed to syntax?

Living Language

Look at these two sentences and decide which one seems normal to you:

Paul gave Mary a new book.

Paul new a book Mary gave.

Why is one not considered correct even though it contains all the same words? Can you
articulate the rules that govern your decision or are they intuitive?

Grammar

Grammar employs a finite set of rules to generate the infinite variety of output in a language.
This is the basis. Chomsky argued for a system of sentence generation that took into account
the underlying syntactic structure of sentences. He emphasized the native intuition of any
native speaker of a language to identity ill-formed sentences in that language. The speaker
may not be able to provide an explanation why some sentences are acceptable and others are
not. However, it cannot be denied that such intuitions exist in every person. While Chomsky’s
ideas have evolved over the years, the main conclusions appear to be that language is a rule-
based system, it is a set of syntactic rules. (Chomsky, Syntactic structures, 1957).
Grammar and syntax relationship

Difference between Syntax and Grammar

Grammar is the study of rules governing the use of language. In linguistics, grammar is the set
of structural rules that governs the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given
natural language.

Syntax studies how a sentence is structured. In linguistics, syntax is the “study of the principles
and processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages”. It consists of the
type of sentence, agreement and word order.

The next discussion will shed the light on other aspect that is more closed and correlated to
syntax: What is it?

Morphology. Difference Between Morphology and Syntax

Elements of Linguistics

• Morphology and syntax are an integral part of linguistics. They are subdivisions of the
study of languages and together with phonetics, semantics and phonology contribute
to the understanding of how a language is formed. Morphology deals with the
understanding of how words are formed while syntax is focused on the way sentences
are developed. Basically, morphology is the study of the structure of words, while
Syntax studies the structure of sentences. Together these disciplines help linguists
understand how language works.

• Terminologically, the term ‘morphology’ comes from Latin, it consists of two parts:
Morph-: form/shape-(o)logy: science or branch of study. Morphology helps linguists
understand the structure of words by putting together morphemes. A morpheme is
the smallest grammatical, meaningful part of language.
Etimology of the Word Syntax

Terminologically, syntax can be anlayzed in the following way:

syn-: derived from Latin, latin took it from the Greek preposition

‘sin’ means ‘together’

-tax: derived from Greek root means ‘to put in order’ , as a whole means putting things
together in an orderly manner.

Syntax is the set of rules and process that govern sentence structure in a language. A basic
description of syntax would be the sequence in which words can occur in a sentence. One of
the earliest approaches to syntactic theory comes from the works of the Sanskrit grammarian
Pāṇini (c. 4th century BC).

What is syntax?

• Syntax definition: Syntax can be defined as a set of rules, principles, and processes that
preside over the structuring of sentences in any given language. Syntax defines the
rules that need to be followed when forming a sentence from words, clauses,
punctuation, and phrases.

• Correct syntax involves the right choice of words, correct tense, matching number,
proper arrangement of words and phrases. Proper syntax, unlike diction, is
comparatively strict. Abiding by the rules of syntax is very important in all kinds of
formal writing, and it is an indication that the writer is knowledgeable.

What is syntax in linguistics?

Syntax has to do with how words are put together to build phrases, with how phrases are put
together to build clauses or bigger phrases, and with how clauses are put together to build
sentences. (Miller, 2002). One of the main roles of syntax is to analyze the structure of the
sentence in order to discover the hidden meaning(s). Consider the following sentences:

I can see a man with a telescope. - He said that that ‘that’ that man used was wrong.

The basic rules of syntax in English

There are five basic rules of syntax in English, which are enough for constructing simple
sentences correctly.

1) All sentences require a subject and a verb. However, imperative sentences (commands) do
not need to include their subject because it’s assumed to be the person the sentence is
directed at.

2) A single sentence should include one main idea. If a sentence includes two or more ideas,
it’s best to break it up into multiple sentences.

3) The subject comes first, and the verb comes second. If the sentence has objects, they come
third, after the verb.

4) Subordinate clauses (dependent clauses) also require a subject and verb. Below we explain
more about how to use subordinate clauses in sentence structure.
5) Adjectives and adverbs go in front of the words they describe. If there are multiple
adjectives describing the same noun, use the proper adjective order, known as the “Royal
Order.”

Proper Syntax in English Sentences

In English, a strong, active voice sentence will always have the subject doing the action of the
sentence. These sentences will follow a basic subject-verb-object format. Below are a few
examples of different types of syntax in English. Each of these examples has different syntax.

Simple sentences follow a subject-verb format. Simple Syntax Examples:

The boy jumped.

The girl sang.

Compound sentences have more than one subject or verb. Compound Syntax Examples:

The boy jumped and the girl sang.

I did not go to the concert but I went to the fair.

Complex sentences contain a subordinating clause. Complex Syntax Examples:

The boy jumped even though he was nervous.

Because she was excited, the girl sang.

Compound-complex sentences contain two independent clauses and more dependent clauses.
Compound-complex Syntax Examples:

Even though he was nervous, the boy jumped and he landed across the stream.

The girl sang and the woman shrieked because they were excited.

Parallel Structure in Sentences

When constructing sentences, it is important to always keep in mind that ideas should be
parallel.

In English, parallel structure is most often an issue when creating a series list. Therefore, we
will look at an example of appropriate parallel structure through lists.

• Correct example:

I like running, jumping, and hiking.

In this example, three gerunds are used (running, jumping, hiking) to create the grammatically
correct list.

• Incorrect example:

I like to run, jumping, and hiking.

In this example, “to run” and “jumping” and “hiking” are not parallel. “To run” is
an infinitive and “jumping” and “hiking” are gerunds. This sentence is grammatically incorrect
and this sentence does not have proper syntax.
Conclusions

What is Syntax in the language?

Syntax is one of the main areas of linguistic research developed in recent decades. Generally, it
encompasses the entire study of how words are ordered in any language to produce a
meaningful sentence. It studies the structure and formation of sentences and explains how
words and phrases are arranged to form correct sentences. It deals with all rules that are
necessary to form up a particular language.

The syntax is a part of grammar, indicating the way in which the words are sequenced to
create sentences.

The relation between morphology and syntax is the following: while morphology builds up
word forms—typically by combining roots with other roots and with affixes, but also by
applying other operations, syntax takes fully inflected words as input and combines them into
phrases and sentences.

Questions.

1) Which language aspect is more closed to syntax?

The aspect closely related to syntax is grammar. Grammar encompasses the rules and
structures that govern how words and phrases are organized in a sentence, leading to the
formation of coherent and meaningful sentences in a language. It includes elements like word
order, sentence structure, punctuation, and the relationships between different parts of
speech.

2) What is syntax?

Syntax can be defined as a set of rules, principles, and processes that preside over the
structuring of sentences in any given language. Syntax defines the rules that need to be
followed when forming a sentence from words, clauses, punctuation, and phrases.

3) Give the definition of syntax according to Miller.

Syntax has to do with how words are put together to build phrases, with how phrases are put
together to build clauses or bigger phrases, and with how clauses are put together to build
sentences. (Miller, 2002).

4) What is the difference between syntax and grammar?

Grammar is the study of rules governing the use of language. In linguistics, grammar is the set
of structural rules that governs the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given
natural language.

Syntax studies how a sentence is structured. In linguistics, syntax is the “study of the principles
and processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages”. It consists of the
type of sentence, agreement and word order.

5) What is the difference between syntax and morphology?

Morphology and syntax are an integral part of linguistics. They are subdivisions of the study of
languages and together with phonetics, semantics and phonology contribute to the
understanding of how a language is formed. Morphology deals with the understanding of how
words are formed while syntax is focused on the way sentences are developed. Basically,
morphology is the study of the structure of words, while Syntax studies the structure of
sentences. Together these disciplines help linguists understand how language works.

6) What role does syntax play in linguistics?

One of the main roles of syntax is to analyze the structure of the sentence in order to discover
the hidden meaning(s).

7) What are the basic rules of syntax?

There are five basic rules of syntax in English, which are enough for constructing simple
sentences correctly.

1) All sentences require a subject and a verb. However, imperative sentences (commands) do
not need to include their subject because it’s assumed to be the person the sentence is
directed at.

2) A single sentence should include one main idea. If a sentence includes two or more ideas,
it’s best to break it up into multiple sentences.

3) The subject comes first, and the verb comes second. If the sentence has objects, they come
third, after the verb.

4) Subordinate clauses (dependent clauses) also require a subject and verb. Below we explain
more about how to use subordinate clauses in sentence structure.

5) Adjectives and adverbs go in front of the words they describe. If there are multiple
adjectives describing the same noun, use the proper adjective order, known as the “Royal
Order.”