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Linguistics 2: English Phonetics and Syntax - Summary 2
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1Summary
Linguistics 2: The Syntax of English
Year 1 Semester 2
Table of Contents
,2
Week 1.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Week 2.......................................................................................................................................................... 5
Week 3.......................................................................................................................................................... 9
Week 4........................................................................................................................................................ 15
Week 5........................................................................................................................................................ 21
Week 6........................................................................................................................................................ 25
Week 8........................................................................................................................................................ 31
Week 9........................................................................................................................................................ 37
Week 10...................................................................................................................................................... 43
Week 11...................................................................................................................................................... 48
Week 1
AS chapter 1: Sentence Structure: Constituents
Structure
Syntax is about the structure of sentences. When something is complex, it means
that:
,3
a. It’s divisible into parts (its constituents),
b. There are different kinds of parts (different categories of constituents),
c. The constituents are arranged in a certain way,
d. And each constituent has a specifiable function in the structure of the thing as
a whole.
A hierarchy of parts and hierarchical structure means that the parts themselves
consist of parts, which may consist of further parts.
Diagrams that show how things are analysed into their constituent parts are called
tree diagrams.
Immediate constituent: when the relation between different parts is direct, and not
interrupted by a mediator.
In dealing with syntactic structure, three things need to be done:
a. Analysing linguistic expressions into their constituents,
b. Identifying the categories of those constituents, and
c. Determining their functions.
Are words the immediate constituents of the sentences that contain them? The
answer is no. The position of words in a sentence is determined by the fact that the
words are not immediate constituents of the sentence, but belong with other words to
form groups – phrases – which have their own position in the sentence. These
phrases are the immediate constituents of the sentence. So, while sentences
certainly contain words, they don’t consist of words. They consist of phrases.
Example: Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream.
Road can replace stream because they belong to the same category: they are both
nouns. Laughing and silently can’t replace stream because they aren’t nouns.
Establishing constituents
Example: Martha smiled.
This is a good sentence. But something could be added: Martha smiled invitingly.
Invitingly is an optional part of the sentence, when left out it gives us another
complete sentence. However, Martha and smiled are obligatory. Invitingly is
therefore a constituent of this sentence.
Sequences of words that can function as constituents in the structure of
sentences are called phrases. Tree diagrams represent structure by marking which
sequences of words in a sentence are its constituent phrases. So syntactic tree
diagrams are called phrase markers.
If a sequence of words can be omitted from a sentence leaving another good
sentence, that’s a good indication that the sequence is a phrase functioning as
a constituent in the structure of the sentence. However, not all phrases are
omissible. If you can replace a sequence of words in a sentence with a single
word without changing the overall structure of the sentence, then that
sentence functions as a constituent of the sentence and is therefore a phrase.
Answers to ‘WH’ questions (who, which, what, why etc.) are phrases.
The movement of a sequence of words in forming a construction indicates that
the sequence is a phrase.
Phrases form not only syntactic units (constituents in the structural form of
sentences) but also semantic units. In other words, they form identifiable parts
of the meaning of sentences; they form coherent units of sense.
‘Phrase’ and ‘constituent’
, 4
A phrase is a sequence of words that can function as a constituent in the structure
of sentences. Word-sequences that are constituents in a certain sentence cannot
function as constituents of every sentence in which they appear.
If an element (word or phrase) is part of a phrase, it can only relate to other elements
within that same phrase. An element can belong directly only to one phrase at a time.
Node: any point in a phrase marker that could branch and bear a label (e.g. ‘phrase
a’). A node is said to dominate everything that appears below it and joined to it by a
line. A node is said to immediately dominate another element when there are no
intervening nodes.
In a phrase marker, a sequence of elements is represented as a constituent if
there is a node that dominates all those elements and no others.
Various kinds of evidence for constituents:
a. Omission,
b. Replacement by a single word,
c. The question test,
d. Movement,
e. The sense test.
Lecture 1: 05/02/2020
The syntax of a language
The syntax of a particular language is a description of:
How words are organised into groups (called phrases)
How these phrases are organised into sentences
Sentences are potentially infinite.
Native speakers have implicit knowledge about their language: this knowledge
comes from Language Acquisition.
Grammaticality versus acceptability
Acceptability = a general judgment about a sentence’s suitability in a real-world
context
Grammaticality = whether a sentence displays acceptable structure
Unacceptable sentences can still be grammatical: e.g. ‘Colourless green ideas sleep
furiously’ [nonsensical]/ ‘I enjoyed the party very very very (x500) much’ [too long for
conversation]/ when a sentence uses the wrong register
Notation
An ungrammatical sentence is marked by an asterisk (*)
- *Harry married has Megan.
An unacceptable but grammatical sentence is marked by a pound sign (#)
Prescriptivism Descriptivism
Seeks to prescribe how a language Seeks to describe how native speakers
should be used use their language
Associates certain language use with Seeks to explain why some sentences
certain moral judgments are grammatical and some are
ungrammatical in a certain language
Emphasises the importance of rules of Is only concerned with the rules of
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