ENG 346: Aspects of the English Language

Lesson 5: Syntax
Week: Feb. 3-9, 2003

Place: Dial 147

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to do each of the following:

Distinguish between grammatical and ungrammatical syntactic constructions.
Identify the basic components of a sentence.
Use a phrase structure tree to analyze sentence structure.
Recognize and analyze syntactic ambiguity.
Recognize and analyze basic transformations, including those involved in yes-no questions and passive constructions.
Explain the concepts of coordination and modification.
Define relevant terms.

Assignments

Read Chapter 5 of Contemporary Linguistics before you come to class on Monday.

Write an outline of your linguistics guide in class on Friday.

Activities

Think Fast: Draw a phrase structure tree for the sentence I assign you in class.

Presentation: Syntax (Professor Canada)

Cooperative Learning: Respond to questions 1, 2, 3 and 5 at the end of Chapter 5 of Contemporary Linguistics.

Discussion: During this time, we will discuss the insights and questions that have emerged during our “Think Fast” exercise, my presentation, and cooperative learning.

Workshop: Using the procedure that I explain in class, begin constructing a detailed outline of your linguistics guide.

Think Again: Using what you have learned or reviewed in this lesson, interpret a personal encounter with syntax. For example, you might look at an instance of syntactic ambiguity.

Conferences: During these one-on-one conferences, I will review some of your writing, orally quiz you on lesson objectives, and field your questions.

Announcements: We will wrap up this lesson with announcements regarding upcoming lessons, as well as other relevant subjects.

Terms

Make sure you know the meaning and significance of each of the following terms:

active sentence
adjective
adverb
agent
auxiliary verb
conjunction
constituent
coordination
deep structure (underlying structure)
determiners
do-insertion
functional categories
grammatical
head
inversion
lexical categories
modification
noun
passive sentence
phrase structure tree
phrase
sentence
subject
surface structure
syntactic categories
syntax
theme
transformation
Universal Grammar
verb

Resources

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language contains extensive information on syntax.

An Introduction to Language contains extensive information on syntax.

Understanding English Grammar is a useful text book for the study of English syntax.

Updated January 7, 2003
© Mark Canada, 2003
mark.canada@uncp.edu

Introduction

In our last lesson, we looked at morphology, the study of word formation. In this lesson, we examine the rules by which English speakers put words together to create meaningful phrases and sentences. We also will begin outlining your linguistics guide. You should have completed most of your research by this time. Please bring at least one of your sources to class on Friday.

Discussion

Phrases

Just as you can combine cabinets, countertops, doors, windows, and other building components in different ways to create different rooms, you can combine words in different ways to create different sentences. In this section of the Grammar Hardware Store, you will find some basic information about the various types of phrases and sentences we find in English. Think of those different phrases as the different units you might find in a house: walls and cabinet consoles, for example. The different sentence patterns are like the different types of rooms we find in houses: kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, and so on.

When building and furnishing a house, we can use some units for different purposes. A wall might support the roof, for example, or it may simply divide the living space. Similarly, some words and phrases can serve different purposes in different sentences. For instance, a prepositional phrase might describe a noun and thus be an adjectival in one sentence; in another sentence, it might describe a verb and thus be an adverbial. In both architecture and grammar, then, we can talk about both form and function. The term form refers to what an element is; function refers to what the element does in a sentence. The chart below lists various forms of phrases in English, according to the various functions they can serve.

Nominals	Adjectivals
Infinitive: I like to swim. Infinitive phrase: I like to swim 10 laps before breakfast. Gerund: I like writing. Gerund Phrase: I like writing poetry and fiction. Noun: She lives in Raleigh. Noun Phrase: I found a big box. Nominal Clause: I knew that he would finish first. Pronoun: We own a dog.	Appositive: My friend Brian lives in New Jersey. Infinitive: I made the decision to stop. Infinitive phrase: I made the decision to stop early. Noun: Stay off of my blue suede shoes. Participle: The convicted thief bowed his head. Participial Phrase: The man convicted of theft bowed his head. Prepositional Phrases: Her reason for coming is out of line. Relative Clause: I know a biologist who lives in the desert.
Adverbials	Sentence Modifiers
Infinitive: She reads to learn. Infinitive Phrase: She reads to learn about other cultures. Noun: They came home. Noun Phrase: I hope to leave Sunday afternoon. Prepositional Phrase: The dog ran around the yard. Participle: They have gone fishing. Participial Phrase: They have gone fishing in the lake. Subordinate Clause: She cringes when they split infinitives.	Adverb: Interestingly, Albert Einstein struggled in school. Vocative: Candace, would you open that window? Interjection: Oh, I don't think she would have left early. Subordinate Clause: Although he was hurt, Al finished first. Appositive: He coughs incessantly, the result his smoking. Relative Clause: She arrived late, which surprised us. Absolute Phrase: Arms akimbo, George waited at the door. Infinitive Phrase: To be honest, I didn't read the book. Prepositional Phrase: His reasons, of course, were honorable.

Keep in mind that phrases can be quite elaborate. Indeed many of them resemble whole sentences and fit into the sentence patterns illustrated below.

In addition to all of these phrases, we have various ways to expand verbs; that is, we can add words called auxiliaries to the verb to express subtle shades of meaning. The formulae for adding these auxiliaries appear below, along with examples. The optional items appear in parentheses.

Verb-Expansion Rule for the Active Voice

Tense	(Modal)	*(have* + past participle)**	(be + present participle)	verb
present				give
past				gave
present	should			give
present			is	giving
past			was	giving
present	will		be	giving
past		had		given
past	should	have	been	giving

Verb-Expansion Rule for the Passive Voice

Tense	(Modal)	*(have* + past participle)**	(be+ present participle)	(be+ past participle)	verb
present				is	given
past				was	given
present	will			be	given
present		has		been	given
past		had		been	given
present	will	have		been	given
past			was	being	given
past	should	have	been	being	given

Sentences

Rooms in homes generally belong to a small number of categories: kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room, utility room, closet, garage, porch, sunroom, and attic. Each has particular characteristics. Similarly, as your text book explains, English has 10 basic sentence patterns. The chart below lists each pattern, along with its required elements.

Sentence Patterns	Examples
Subject + be + Adverbial	Ben is here.
Subject + be + Adjectival	Ben is funny.
Subject + be + Nominal	Ben is a carpenter.
Subject + linking verb + Adjectival	Ben appears happy.
Subject + linking verb + Nominal	Ben became a father.
Subject + intransitive verb	Ben jogs.
Subject + transitive verb + direct object	Ben constructs buildings.
Subject + transitive verb + indirect object + direct object	Ben gave Martha a desk.
Subject + transitive verb + direct object + adjectival	Ben finds Martha friendly.
Subject + transitive verb + direct object + nominal	Ben considers Martha a friend.

Just as we can move walls and slightly alter ceilings in a house, we can transform sentences by moving elements and slightly altering the verbs. Here are a few transformations we find in English:

Underlying structure: This restaurant serves fabulous lasagna.

Interrogative sentence (yes/no): Does this restaurant serve lasagna?
Interrogative sentence (wh question): What does this restaurant serve?
Exclamatory sentence: What lasagna this restaurant serves!
Imperative sentence: Serve lasagna.
Negative sentence: This restaurant does not serve lasagna.
Passive voice: Lasagna is served by this restaurant.

Practice

Below are some activities designed to help you master the knowledge and skills covered in this unit.

Syntactic Ambiguity: A syntactically ambiguous sentence has one surface structure and two deep structures. Below is a list of newspaper headlines. Using phrase structure trees, show how each illustrates syntactic ambiguity.

"Judge to rule on nude beach."
"Enraged Cow Injures Farmer with Ax."
"Stolen Painting Found by Tree."
"Two Sisters Reunited after 18 Years in Checkout Counter."
"Killer Sentenced to Die for Second Time in 10 Years."

Paraphrase: Paraphrases are two or more surface structures for the same deep structure. Use a phrase structure tree to diagram each of the following sentences and then paraphrase each. Identify the transformation you used to produce the paraphrase. In what way can transformations subtly affect the meaning of a deep structure while maintaining the basic message?

Congress cut funding for national parks.
The lobbyist has given the senator several gifts.
The mechanic repaired the car quickly.
The shortstop leaped over the runner gracefully.
She looked up the word.

Sentence Variety: Write one of the following sentences at the top of a sheet of paper. First, use a phrase structure tree to diagram each sentence. If necessary, "untransform" the sentence before diagramming it. Then, work together to write at least five new sentences that convey roughly the same information. Comment on the flexibility of English syntax.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe."

Poetic Syntax: Perhaps the main reason that poetry is so challenging, especially for the inexperienced reader, is that poets generally have a large syntactic vocabulary; that is, they use vocatives, inversions, and other structures more often than other writers. Use what you have learned about syntax to analyze the following lines from poetry:

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears."
"If ever two were one, then surely we."
"Something there is that doesn't love a wall . . . "
"Whose woods these are I think I know."
"Busy old fool, unruly sun, / Why dost thou thus, / Through windows, and through curtains call on us?"
"one-night cheap hotels"
". . . There lives the dearest freshness deep down things . . ."

What's in a Quotation?: As David Crystal notes on page 214 of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, spoken syntax differs from written syntax. No one appreciates this difference more than print journalists, who often have to transcribe spoken sentences for their stories. For this exercise, pretend that you are a reporter who has recorded the following from an interview: "I think that sports stars Jordan Sanders Mike McGwire all those guys make way too much money I mean you know how much is one guy worth you know cause like you know I just wanna say to 'em how much do you actually work in a year I heard on TV or no it was the radio that some of them make like $3,000 a minute I mean a second that's like I mean it doesn't seem right that they should make so much money when I'm when everybody else is like struggling to you know get by you know" After analyzing this passage, do the following:

Transcribe it so that it could appear as a written quotation.
Identify some aspects of spoken English that make it difficult to transcribe. How do you suppose journalists cope with these problems? Try to come up with your own standards.
Compare your transcription with those of the other groups. What differences do you notice? What syntactic or other phenomena lie beneath the different transcriptions?
Discuss how this exercise might force us to revise our definition of the word "quotation." What implications do these transcription problems have for the mass media?

Conclusion

In this lesson, we have examined syntax. In our next lesson, we will look at semantics, the study of meaning.