TS 10 Syntax (Part 1) PDF

7 Syntax (Part 1) Introduction to English Linguistics – Schleburg 7 Syntax The story so far … unit analysis First… Later…...

7 Syntax (Part 1) Introduction to English Linguistics – Schleburg 7 Syntax The story so far … unit analysis First… Later… Then… text text linguistics Later the chairman will tell us what our co-workers have observed sentence Later the chairman will tell us what our co-workers have observed clause syntax Later the chairman will tell us what our co-workers have observed phrase Later the chairman will tell us what our co-workers have observed word form morphology ˈleɪt ə ðə ˈʧeə mən wɪl ˈtel əs wɒt aʊə ˈkəʊ wɜːk ə z əv əbˈzɜːv d morpheme l eɪ t ə ð ə ʧ eə m ə n w ɪ l t e l ə s w ɒ t aʊ ə k əʊ w ɜː k ə z ə v ə b z ɜː v d phoneme phonology Syntax describes the rules that the language uses to combine word forms into phrases, clauses and sentences and to express the logical relations between the constituents of a construction. 7 Syntax Three syntactic relations 1. Constituency: Structure y is contained in structure x. A The nights will turn very cold this week. B the nights will turn very cold this week C the nights will turn very cold this week In this example, all of the elements at levels B and C are constituents of the sentence A … but only those in B are immediate constituents of A. How to recognise immediate constituents: They are the largest units that can be substituted by a single form like he/she/it/they, something, then, there, therefore … If they can be moved, they are moved as a whole (like this week). If they are optional, they can be omitted as a whole (like this week). 7 Syntax Three syntactic relations 2. Complementation: Structure x and structure y require each other to form a structure z of a higher level. this + week → this week In this example, this and week complement each other, forming a more complex structure this week that can fulfill a function which neither this nor week alone could: The nights will turn very cold this week. *The nights will turn very cold this. *The nights will turn very cold week. 7 Syntax Three syntactic relations 3. Modification: Structure x is accompanied by an optional structure y that provides additional information on the scope or content of x but does not change its syntactic behaviour. cold → very cold In this example, very adds information to cold that may be semantically relevant, but syntactically very cold functions exactly like cold alone: The nights will turn cold this week. The nights will turn very cold this week. 7 Syntax … and a familiar principle What makes syntax so powerful is (again) the principle of recursion: velvety purple-tinged thirty-year old Bordeaux wine on the ridge of the roof of the house under the tree by the river Phrases can contain more phrases, clauses can contain clauses. This means the number of forms and levels in a syntactic construction is … theoretically unlimited.  The Single Most Important Thing To Know About Syntax A syntactic construction is defined by (a small number of) functional slots, which can be filled by (a virtually unlimited number of) formal realisations. In syntactic analysis it is vital always to keep apart what a constituent is in itself (its form) and what it does (its function within a larger unit). 7 Syntax Form vs. function We have to distinguish strictly between forms and functions, because there is no one-to-one relation between the two: ›form‹ ›function‹ HUSBAND to Jill Fulano FATHER to Jimmy and Sally Fulano FRIEND to Eric Smith John Fulano COLLEAGUE to three employees SUBORDINATE to Mr Robins MEMBER of tennis club VICE-CHAIRMAN of local charity 7 Syntax Form vs. function We have got to distinguish strictly between forms and functions, because there is no one-to-one relation between the two. The same syntactic function can be realised by different forms: it is evident the answer that this is the best solution And, vice versa, the same form can fulfil different syntactic functions: Brutus loved Caesar 7 Syntax The forms of English syntax: words Words have traditionally been divided in types according to their meaning (notional word classes), which is far from satisfactory. In a structuralist approach, parts of speech are defined by the distribution of forms over paradigmatic slots in constructions judged to be grammatical (i. e. structurally possible, not necessarily meaningful or pragmatically acceptable) by native speakers: (slot 1) (slot 2) (slot 3) the red tree that post-capitalist tiger every handmade pretext......... *he *the *the *red *he *he *tiger *marry *handmade *marry *marry 7 Syntax The forms of English syntax: words With this caveat in mind, like many syntactic models ours can continue using the traditional labels for word classes (parts of speech): write verb book noun beautiful adjective soon adverb my, the determiner she, who pronoun in, above preposition because, if conjunction hey, ouch interjection 7 Syntax The forms of English syntax: phrases In English, individual words do not normally act as immediate constituents of clauses or sentences. Between the word and the sentence there is at least one (and frequently more than one) intermediate level at which these words appear surrounded by their complements and modifiers, forming phrases: has been written verb phrase my first book noun phrase ravishingly beautiful adjective phrase rather soon adverb phrase in my first book prepositional phrase Although English typically keeps the elements of a phrase together, phrases can be discontinuous (interrupted by other elements): the idea came up that it might be advisable to consult a lawyer a better book has never before been written 7 Syntax The forms of English syntax: clauses Where German just speaks of a Satz, English terminology makes a difference between clause and sentence. A clause is any structure that consists of a verb phrase plus its complements and modifiers: analysable in terms of person, number and mood he is always helpful The form of the verb phrase makes a clause finite or non-finite: as he is always helpful (… Fulano is very popular with his colleagues) being always helpful (… Fulano is very popular with his colleagues) Paradoxically, the verb itself may be missing on the surface with the functional structure of the clause still intact (verbless clause): though always helpful (… Fulano is not very popular with his colleagues) 7 Syntax The forms of English syntax: sentence The highest-ranking structure in syntax, a sentence is a syntactically independent structure that consists of at least one finite clause. A theoretically unlimited number of the constituents of a sentence can themselves be clauses: Though ___ always helpful, Fulano knows he is not as popular with his colleagues as the other two Australians are, who joined the team after the boss had fired Phil, which is a situation nobody is really happy with, but I canʼt think of a way to improve it without offending anyone … 7 Syntax The forms of English syntax The forms of English syntax are … … at the highest level: the sentence, … at intermediate levels: clauses (of different types) phrases (of different types) … at the lowest level: words (of different classes and subclasses) form sentence function form clause clause function form phrase phrase phrase phrase function form word word word word word word word word These levels can occur repeatedly! 7 Syntax Verb Phrase (VP) Functions in the verb phrase: AUXILIARIES HEAD finite plays non-finite to be playing always finite! non-finite having been played finite has not been being played finite might have been being played The first element of a verb phrase decides whether the whole phrase, and the entire clause, is finite or non-finite. Only a finite verb phrase can function as the highest-ranking verb of a canonical sentence. The only other elements considered part of the English verb phrase are the to of the to-infinitive and the negative particle not. 7 Syntax Verb Phrase Forms in the verb phrase (sub-classes of verbs): lexical verb: add, bring, cease, distinguish, edit, flourish … (open class) primary verb: be, have, do (closed class) modal verb: can, may, must, shall, will (closed class) This classification is justified on distributional grounds: function AUXILIARY HEAD lexical verb forms primary verb primary verb modal verb Primary verbs can function both as auxiliaries and heads: »Have you done your homework?« – »Don’t be silly! I am having a shower.« 7 Syntax Noun Phrase (NP) Functions in the noun phrase: DETERMINATIVE PREMODIFICATION HEAD POSTMODIFICATION Edinburgh my chameleon a very tasty meal ∅ very tasty meals that incredibly ugly building over there the crucial fact that they started it all those five problems we mentioned relative clause 7 Proper nouns and non-count nouns can be converted into count nouns with a different meaning: Syntax there are two Alices in my street (‘two girls called Alice’) I’ve only had three beers (‘three glasses of beer‘) Noun Phrase Forms in the noun phrase (sub-classes of nouns): proper noun: Alice, God, Manhattan, April count noun: house, idea, molecule, sheep non-count noun: applause, butter, information, music Again, this classification makes sense because the different types of forms behave differently in the noun phrase: *an Alice, *many Manhattans, *a butter, *musics determiner: the, a(n), this, that, my, some, any, which pronoun: I, him, yours, ourselves, who, which, this, everyone, something Pronouns are functionally equivalent to a complete noun phrase: the newly elected Council Chair of the British Medical Association she 7 Syntax Adjective Phrase (AdjP) Functions in the adjective phrase: PREMODIFICATION HEAD POSTMODIFICATION good extremely interesting fair enough very fond of bungee jumping Form in the adjective phrase: adjective Even one-word phrases are phrases (not words) when they occur as immediate constituents of a clause: That’s (very) interesting! There is always a potential for modification. 7 Syntax Adverb Phrase (AdvP) Functions in the adverb phrase: PREMODIFICATION HEAD POSTMODIFICATION soon very politely as clearly as I could Form in the adverb phrase: adverb Even one-word phrases are phrases (not words) when they occur as immediate constituents of a clause: She talked (very) politely. There is always a potential for modification. 7 Syntax Prepositional Phrase (PP) Functions in the prepositional phrase: HEAD COMPLEMENT with my friend to him because of that particular issue Form in the prepositional phrase: preposition