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Syntax

Syntax. P. Sebastian. Part 1. What is Syntax?. “Syntax is concerned with how expressions combine with one another to form larger expressions.”. How is grammaticality judged?.

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Syntax

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  1. Syntax P. Sebastian

  2. Part 1

  3. What is Syntax? • “Syntax is concerned with how expressions combine with one another to form larger expressions.”

  4. How is grammaticality judged? • “Ask yourself whether you could utter the string in question, whether you have ever heard it uttered, and whether you know or can imagine other native speakers of the same language who would utter it.” • Gut feeling (green flag/red flag) • Finding the balance

  5. Syntax and Semantics • Syntax can impact semantics: • Sally likes Bob. • Bob likes Sally.

  6. Sentences and non-sentences • Syntactically well-formed sentence with bizarre meaning • “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” • Vs. “*Green sleep colorless furiously ideas.” • Syntactically ill-formed sentence with straight-forward meaning • *Me bought dog.

  7. Mine vs. my • Semantically speaking, what’s the difference? • Syntactically speakng, what’s the difference?

  8. Syntactic properties • 2 kinds • Word order • Co-occurrence

  9. Word order • 35% of the world’s languages are SVO • Sally ate an apple. • *Sally an apple ate. • 45% SOV, 19% VSO • These lables can be misleading because languages can exhibit different word order patterns in different contexts • The apple was eaten by Sally. (p. 202) • Preposition vs. postposition (mind blown) • If there is so much variability, how can we teach word order??

  10. Co-Occurence • Arguments and compliments – look at page 203 and tell your neighbor what arguments and a compliments are. • Sally devoured an apple. • *Sally wondered an apple. • What are the possible compliments of rely?

  11. Adjuncts • Purely optional – haha! • Adjuncts as modifiers • Sally likes small dogs • Context is always needed to distinguish an expression as an argument or an adjunct. • Sally’s cat seemed cute. (cute as argument) • Sally has a cute cat. (cute as adjunct) • More on adjunct vs argument on p. 207 (chart)

  12. Agreement – A Lesson in Spanish Demonstratives • What are the three types of agreement? Context in el principito • Este/Esta • Ese/Esa • Aquel/Aquella • Estos/Estas • Esos/Esas • Aquellos/Aquellas

  13. Part 2

  14. Role of syntax • Syntax, inasmuch as it is synonymous with grammar, should be taught as a means by which to communicate more efficiently and more clearly. It should not be taught as a subject to be acquired without context. Explicit instruction can occur but this should be done with a greater purpose in mind (composition, conversation, presentation, etc.)

  15. Hypothesizing – Questions • Teachers can develop creative linguistics lessons. • 1 2 3 4 5 6 • How do we describe question formation in English? • Some teachers can develop creative linguistics lessons • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

  16. Refining the hypothesis • To change a statement into a question, move word 2 to the front of the sentence • To change a statement into a question, move the first verb to the front of the sentence • To change a statement into a question, move the first verb in the predicate to the front of the sentence • Teachers who read this book and attend courses that enable them to learn a great deal about linguistics can develop creative linguistics lessons. • To change a statement into a question, move the first auxiliary in the predicate to the left of the subject.

  17. Phrases – p. 226 & 228 EL • S = NP – (AUX) – VP • NP = (DET) – (Q) – (ADJP) – N – (PP) • P. 226 in EL • VP = V – (NP) – (PP) – (ADVP) • p. 228 in EL • ADJP = (INT) – ADJ • PP = P - NP

  18. Tree diagrams – just for fun • The creative teacher developed exciting linguistics lessons • The principal admired the creative teacher. • The student spilled her lunch on the creative teacher.

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