Linguistics 2 - Syntax Summary Noël Burton "Analysing Sentences"

M V Hoogstad



Linguistics 2: Syntax Summary
N. Burton-Roberts (2016). Analysing Sentences An Introduction to English Syntax. 4​th​ edn. London:
Routledge.

Week 1

Introduction

Syntax is the study of elements of a sentence that can be grouped together, looking at the
form and the positioning; sentence structure.

Chapter 1: Sentence Structure: Constituents

Structure

General rules for the structure of a sentence are :

1. You can split it up into parts (constituents)
2. There are different kinds of parts (the categories)
3. They are arranged in a certain way
4. Each constituent has its own function

Sentences are analysed with tree diagrams (and phrase markers). You can analyse it on 3
levels.: 1) constituents, 2) categories, 3) functions.

A sentence consists of phrases (groups of words put together). What kind of phrase is the
category → also called “grammatical category” to what word category do the words in the
phrase belong? Sentences have a ​hierarchical structure​.

Establishing Constituents

Tree diagrams can also be called “phrase markers”. If you can find one word that can replace
part of a sentence, it’s a constituent.




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‘Phrase’ and ‘Constituent’

Not every word-sequence can function as a constituent in every sentence. Context is key. If a
phrase can be branched out (e.g. phrase consists of phrase-a and phrase-b) it’s called a
node​. It “dominates” all elements of a constituent. The parts should always make sense.
There are 5 methods to find the phrases:

1. Omission (leave the phrase/word out)
2. Replacing it by one word (mostly pronouns)
3. The question test (wh- questions)
4. Movement (can it be put at the beginning of a sentence)
5. Sense test

Week 1 - tutorial

Notes from the lecture

Syntax is a description of:

➢ How words are organized into groups (phrases).
➢ How these phrases are organized into sentences.

Grammaticality

➢ We’re only interested in describing grammatical sentences.
➢ Sentences are potentially infinite.
➢ Grammaticality = whether a sentence displays acceptable structure.
➢ Acceptability = a general judgement about a sentence’s suitability in a real-world
context. → unacceptable sentences can still be grammatical. (E.g. nonsensical, too
long for conversation, wrong register etc.).
➢ Ungrammatical sentences get an asterisk (*).
➢ Unacceptable sentences get a pound sign (#).

Prescriptivism ☹

➢ How it should be used (rules).

Descriptivism ☺

➢ Describe how it is actually used.



Syntax: Phrases are chunks of words belonging together. One basic unit of a sentence is the
word.

Node = the end of a line in a tree diagram. Mark this with a dot.

Constituents (definitions):

1. Any word is a constituent.
2. Multiple words forming a unit → phrase. Useful PowerPoint online:

https://www.slideshare.net/rubenzapatad/syntax-tree-diagrams




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Week 2

Chapter 2: Sentence structure functions

Structuring sentences involves knowing what the constituents are, knowing the category and
the function.

Subject and Predicate

Speakers have the ability to recognize sentence structures even if every sentence is unique;
it always follows a certain similar structure. The subject (in most cases, the beginning of a
sentence before the first verb) and the predicate are the two main constituents of a sentence.
The predicate normally says something about the subject and it can be analysed to a deeper
level. To identify the subject you can form a yes/no question. If the subject changes position,
you have identified it. If you have a provisional subject (there) → it’s called an​ empty subject
(​expletive​), ​Note:​ the subject isn’t always positioned at the beginning of a sentence.



Noun Phrase and Verb Phrase

The subject and predicate are functions of the two constituents. Subjects are generally noun
phrases because the most important word is a noun. Predicates are centered around verbs
hence the category verb phrase. We need to distinguish between functions and categories.
Even though subjects are generally noun phrases, noun phrases can also act as a direct
object, for example (part of the predicate). Example of a tree diagram (triangle notation) :




Dependency and function

A phrase marker (e.g. subject & predicate) functions at the same level as other phrase
markers. The subject and the predicate are mutually dependent on one another. They are
both obligatory in the structure of sentences. There is a certain structure:

> Head:

The word in a phrase that is most important or centered on is called the head. The
category of this word determines the name (category) of the phrase. Everything revolves
around the head word.



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