English Syntax

1. English Syntax arifsuryo.unnes@gmail.com ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTSSTATE UNIVERSITY OF SEMARANG 2011-2012

2. Week 1: introduction • Definition • In the old paradigm, grammar is meant as: • a dead language (Latin) • learning how to writegood English • learning how to speak properly In the new paradigm, grammar is meant as: • reference to the mechanism (rules which allow us to put words together in certain ways) according to which language works when it is used to communicate with other people

3. The meaning of a message conveyed by language has three components: SEMANTICS GRAMMAR PHONOLOGY

4. Variation in Language • variation according to USER - regional origin - social-class membership - age - sex • variation according to USE (register/ style) - tenor - mode - domain/ field

5. Variation according to user • Regional origin: speech identification is based on the followings • pronunciation • example: the way American and British English pronunce ‘mother, father, etc’ (for speacial case, it can be seen from Harry Potter films) • B. vocabularies • example: the way American and Brithish English name ‘train station/ • grammar • example: the way between Black and White people in English speaking countries speak and write

6. Variation according to user • Social class membership: things affecting the variety of language • Social class • example: the use of standard and non-standard English • B. Regional background • example: upper-middle class speakers • Work places • example: doctors, teachers, factories

7. Variation according to user Ages: children-teenagers-adults Most of distinguishabel features are in the grammatical features. Exampla: Do you have some money? Youngers to adults in Britain Speakers for all ages in America

8. Variation according to user • Sex: • Some characteristics are: • Women are more likely to use standard English than men • Women participate more actively than men in a formal situation such discussion in a class. • Men are better speakers in an informal situation by dominating the topics

9. Variation according to USE • It is commonly refered as REGISTER: • Register cab be subdivided into three which affect the language variety: • Tenor: the relationship between a speaker and the addressee(s)/ <formal or informal> • Mode: the effects of the medium in which the language is transmitted/ <spoken or written. • Domain/ filed: the activity in which it plays a part/ the topic being taken place • Example: • For sale • On behalf of the President of Indonesia, I would like ................. • Categories of language use: • Tenor: informal Mode: written Domain: advertising • Tenor: formal Mode: spoken Domain: politics

10. Grammar and Effective Communication • Function of language: • to communicate with other people • language should not be evaluated according to what type of grammatical rules it follows • language is evaluated according to whether it conveys its message effectively.

11. Week 2: the hierarchy of grammatical units Introduction: Sentence is the largest unit of language Sentence can be analyzed into its part. It is called a process of PARSING A sentence is composed of smaller units: CLAUSES, PHRASES and WORDS GRAMMATICAL UNIT OF ENGLISH SYMBOL Sentence Se CLause Cl Phrase Ph Words Wo

12. Clauses: Clauses are the principal units of which sentences are composed. Sentence may consist of one or more clauses Example: John watches TV every day (simple sentence consisting one clause) John is watching TV while his mom is in the kitchen (one sentence consisting of two clauses).

13. Phrase: Phrases are units intermediate between clause and word. Example: (My uncle John) (is reading) (his favorite book) (with his old glasses)

14. Week 3: GRAMMATICAL NOTATIONS • Bracketing • Tree diagram • Bracketing: • Sentences are marked with an initial capital letter and a final full stop • Clauses are enclosed in square brackets [] • Phrases are enclosed in round brackets ( ) • Words are separated by spaces • If we need to separate the grammatical components of words, we can use a dash:- • Example: • [(Our land-lady) (keep-s) (a stuff-ed moose) (in her attic)]. • [(Uncle Olaf) (savage-ly) (devour-ed) (his six-th peach)].

15. Tree diagram: • It consists of the symbols Cl, Se, Ph and Wo • Full labelling • Abreviated tree diagram • Unlabelled tree diagram Example: Look at the book, pp.29-30

16. Week 4: USING GRAMMATICAL TESTS • Expansion Tests • Substitution Tests • Substraction Tests • Movement Tests

17. Expansion Tests • Expanding a word by adding other words to it • Showing that the word is acting as a phrase • Adding meaning, but do not change the relations between parts of speech Example: [ (Olaf) (munched) (peaches) (contntedly) ] [(Uncle Olaf) (has munched) (his peaches) (very contentedly)

18. Substitution Tests • Replacing each of the constituents by a word group having the same function • Replacing each of the constituents by a word group having similiar meaning • Even by subtituting a word, that word is behaving as a phrase Example: [ (They) (are playing) (Arsenal) (at home) (next week)] [ (Their team) (are playing) (our team) (at home) (next week) ]

19. Substraction Tests h Example: [ (They) (are playing) (Arsenal) (at home) (next week)] [ (Their team) (are playing) (our team) (at home) (next week) ]

20. Movement Tests Changing constituent without changing its meaning or function in the clause Example: [ (Uncle Olaf) (savagely) (devoured) (his sixth peach) ] *savagely can be put anywhere.

21. Week 5: FORM AND FUNCTION • Form classes: the classification of phrases depends on how the unit is composed of smaller units, or on how its form can vary. • Word Classes • Noun (N) • Verb (V) • Adjective (Aj) • Adverb (Av) • Phrase Classes • Noun phrase (NP) • Verb phrase (VP) • Adjective phrase (AjP) • Adverb phrase (AvP) • Genitive phrase (GP) • Prepositional phrase (PP)

22. Function classes: classification based on how they are used to form larger units. A unit’s function class determines such things as what positions it can fill, and whether it is optional. Terms: • P (predicator): is the only element of a clause which is a verb phrase • S (subject): come before P, denotes the actor, be present in a main declarative clause • O (object): comes after P, denotes the sufferer of the action Example: Look at the book, p.34

23. Function classes: elements of the phrase Terms: • Head (H): the word which can not be omitted from the phrase • Modifier (M): it can be omitted from the prase (optinal) Example: Look at the book, p.35

24. Week 6: Words – Words Open Classes Terms: • Nouns (N) • Verbs (V)

25. Nouns (N) The class of nouns: • Function of nouns Nouns can function as the head (H) of a noun phrase • Form of nouns • Meaning of nouns Concrete Abstract Subclasses of which are: Count/ mass nouns Proper/ common nouns Collective nouns

26. Verbs (V) The class of verbs: • Function of verbs • Form of verbs regular irregular • Meaning of verbs expressing action expressing event expressing processes expressing activities expressing state etc.

27. Week 7: Words – Words Open Classes Terms: • Adjectives (Aj) • Adverbs (Av)

28. Adjective (N) The class of nouns: • Function of adjectives can function as the head (H) of an adjective phrase can function as the modifier in a noun phrase • Form of adjectives it is gradable • Meaning of adjectives physical qualities of colour, shape, etc psychological qualities of emotion evaluative qualities Subclasses of which are: Count/ mass nouns Proper/ common nouns Collective nouns

29. Adverbs (Av) The class of adverbs: • Function of adverb can function as the head (H) of an adverb phrase can function as the modifier in an adverb phrase • Form of adjectives it is gradable • Meaning of adjectives Manner Place Direction Time Duration Frequency Degree Attitude Connective

30. Week 9: Words: closed words classes • Determiners (d) the most common determiners are the article THE and A • Pronouns (p) • Enumerators (e) • Prepositions (p) • Conjunctions (cj) • Operator-verbs (v) • Interjections (ij) • Particles