Syntax

Syntax explores the internal structure of sentences and the relations between sentences.

One of the phenomena syntax seeks to explain is our ability to generate an endless set of new sentences.

We also have the ability to judge the acceptability of any new sentence we come across.

The internal structure of sentences is produced by the relations between the constituents of a sentence.

Constituency tests help us determine which words belong to the same constituent.

We can use tree diagrams to display the hierarchical relations between constituents.

Sometimes, the same string of words has several different structures.

Each word belongs to a part of speech or lexical category.

Languages have different types of lexical categories.

Semantic, morphological and syntactic tests can be used in identifying lexical categories.

The lexical categories can be split into narrower subcategories.

Every word projects its own syntactic phrase.

X-bar Theory asserts that all phrasal categories have the same basic internal structure.

Phrase structure grammar is composed of rules that generate each type of phrase.

Phrase structure rules that generate the same phrasal category produce recursion.

Transformations describe relations between different sentences.

The Inversion Transformation creates yes-no questions.

While inversion has some elements in common across languages, there is also considerable parametric variation.

This week’s lecture notes

Assignment: ex. 9, 10 and 15, p. 232; ex. 30, p. 236; ex. 34, p. 237

Due: April 3rd