Sentence structure Flashcards
What is sentence structure?
Syntax
Can sentences be unacceptable/ungrammatical and still have fine meaning?
Yes they can because sentence consist of more than just the meaning of words.
Is syntactic dependent or independent of meaning?
Syntax is independent of meaning (semantics).
Can a sentence be grammatical while making no sense?
Yes
What happens when we don’t follow the rules of grammar?
We produce speech errors or stutters.
What is studied by theoretical linguist?
Competence ( knowledge of native speakers and use in ideal situations)
What is usually studied by psycholinguistic?
Performance (how we produce and understand actual language)
What is the ultimate aim of psycholinguistic and who came up with this thing?
Universal grammar (Chomsky)
What are open class words?
Nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives (also called lexical words)
What are closed classes words?
Pronouns, auxiliary verbs ( would, do (you), (you) have (eaten)) and copula verbs (is, are).
What are closed class or function words?
Determiners, preposition and connectives (whereas, or)
What is S?
A sentence or clause.
What is the subject?
The subject of the sentence is the thing that is doing or being the the verb.
What is the direct object?
The direct object of the verb is the thing being acted upon. Usually comes after the main verb
What are the two rules which explain the possibility of producing an infinite number of different syntactic structures?
Recursive and iterated
