File 5- Syntax Flashcards
Syntax
a component of mental grammar that deals with constructing phrasal expressions out of smaller expressions. Also a name for the subfield of linguistics which studies how expressions can combine to form longer expressions.
Linguistic Expression
a piece of language with a form, a meaning, and syntactic properties
Grammatical
a term used to describe a sentence that is in accordance with the descriptive grammatical rules of some language, especially syntactic rules OR syntactically well-formed
Ungrammatical
not in accordance with the descriptive grammatical rules of some language, especially syntactic rules OR syntactically ill-formed
Grammaticality Judgement
an instance of a native speaker of some language deciding whether some string of words corresponds to a syntactically well-formed or grammatical phrasal expression in their native language
Principal of Compositionality
the notion that the meaning of a phrasal expression is predictable from the meanings of the expressions it contains and how they were syntactically combined
Lexical Expressions
a piece of language with a form, a meaning, and syntactic properties
Syntactic Properties
properties of linguistic expressions that dictate how they can syntactically combine with other expressions, namely, word order and co-occurrence properties
Word Order
the linear order in which words can occur in some phrasal expression. Also, the set of syntactic properties of expressions that dictates how they can be ordered with respect to other expressions
Topicalized
(topicalization) a syntactic process by which (in English) a syntactic constituent occurs in the beginning of a sentence in order to highlight the topic under discussion
Argument
a linguistic expression that must occur in a sentence if some other expression occurs in that sentence as well. If the occurrence of expression X in a sentence requires the occurrence of expression Y in that sentence, we say that Y is an argument of X
Complement
a non-subject argument of some expression
Co-Occurence
the set of syntactic properties that determines which expressions may or have to co-occur with some other expression in a sentence
Syntactic Constituent
a group of linguistic expressions that function as a syntactic unit within some larger expression; the smaller expressions out of which some larger phrasal expression was constructed in accordance with the phrasal structure rules
Cleft
a type of sentence that has the general for it is/was X that Y,
Syntactic Categories
a group of expressions that have very similar syntactic properties. All expressions that belong to the same syntactic category have more or less the same syntactic distribution
Syntactic Distribution
refers to the set of syntactic environments in which an expression can occur.
Sentence
a syntactic category that consists of all phrasal expressions that can grammatically occur in “Sally thinks that____.”
Noun Phrases
the name of a syntactic category that consists of proper names, pronouns, and all other expressions with the same syntactic distribution
Determiners
the name of a lexical category and a syntactic category that consists of expressions such as the, a this, all, etc. Syntactically, consists of those expressions of category noun to their right result in an expression of category noun phrase
Intransitive Verbs
the name for the set of lexical expressions whose syntactic category is verb phrase
Verb Phrase
the name of a syntactic category that consists of all expressions of syntactic category that consists of all expressions which if combined with a noun phrase to their left result in a sentence
Ditransitive Verb
the syntactic category that consists of those expressions that if combined with two expressions of category noun phrase to their right result in a verb phrase. A verb that needs two noun phrase complements
Transitive Verb
the name of a syntactical category that consists of those expressions that if combined with an expression of category noun phrase to their right result in a verb phrase
Noun
the name of a lexical category and a syntactic category. Morphologically consists of two words to which the plural suffix -s or the suffix -like can be added. Syntactically, consists of expressions that can combine with determiners to their left, the resulting expression being of category noun phrase
Adjective
the name of a lexical category and a syntactic category. Morphologically, consists of words to which the comparative suffix -er or the suffix -ness can be added. Syntactically, the category of those expressions that can be noun adjuncts or occur in between a determiner and a noun.
Preposition
the name of a lexical category and a syntactic category that consists of expression such as of, in, for, with, etc. Syntactically, this category consists of those expressions that when combined with an expression of category noun phrase to their right result in an expression of category prepositional phrase
Prepositional Phrase
the name of a syntactic category that consists of those expressions that contains preposition and a noun phrase. Can be verb phrase adjunct or noun adjunct.
Phrase Structure Rules
a recipe for syntactically combining expressions of certain syntactic categories. Along with the lexicon, phrase structure rules are a part go a descriptive grammar of some language.
Lexical Ambiguity
the phenomenon where a single word is the form of two or more distinct linguistic expressions that differ in meaning or syntactic properties
Structural Ambiguity
the phenomenon where a single string of words is the form of more than one distinct phrasal expression.
Lexical Entry
a representation of a lexical and its linguistics properties within a descriptive grammar of some language. A collection of lexical entries constitutes lexicon.
Verb Phrase Adjunct
a kind of adjunct that combines with an expression of syntactic category verb phrase with the resulting expression also being of category verb phrase
Noun Adjunct
a kind of adjunct that combines with an expression of syntactic category noun with the resulting expression also being of category noun
Morphosyntax
the name for suntax and morphology considered jointly as a single component of grammar
Adjunct
a linguistic expression whose occurrence in a sentence is optional; also called modifier
Agreement
the phenomenon by which certain expressions in a sentence (e.g. a verb and its subject) must by inflectionally marked for the same person, number, gender, etc.
Phrasal Expression
a linguistic expression that results from the syntactic combination of smaller expressions. A multi-word linguistic expression. A sentence is special kind of phrasal expression.
Sentential Complement Verbs
the name of a syntactical category that consists of those expressions that if combined with a sentence to the right result in a verb phrase; a verb that needs a sentence as its complement
Adverb
the name of a lexical category and a syntactic category that consists of expressions such as quirky, well, furiously, etc. Syntactically, adverbs can be verb phrases adjuncts.
