Syntactic Knowledge Flashcards
Clause
A clause is a constituent that includes a subject and a predicate. Some clauses occur inside other clauses, and so not all clauses are independent sentences
Predicate
The state, event, or activity that the sentence attributes to its subject
Arguments
Phrases that correspond to the participants or actors involved in a sentence’s predicate, typically noun phrases
Intransitive predicate
Takes one argument (the subject); no object
Transitive predicate
Takes two arguments (subject and direct object); one object
Ditransitive predicate
Takes three arguments (subject, direct object, and indirect object); two objects
Types of sentences (function)
Declarative: Clauses are statements, things can be true or false
Interrogative: Clauses are questions - two general types of questions: Yes - no and content questions
Imperative: Clauses express requests or commands
Types of sentences (structure)
A sentence is simple if it contains only one clause
A compound sentence has at least two clauses, linked by a conjunction like and, or, or but
A complex sentence: One that contains a subordinate embedded clause
Denotation
The dictionary meaning of a word, what the word literary means
Complements
Phrases, provide information about entitles and location implied by the meaning of the head
Specifiers
Structural units like det, adv, deg
Head
The nucleus of a phrase
Preposition
Prepositions establish relationships between words, phrases, and clauses, indicating where, when, or how something is related to something else
Determiner
The specific noun we’re talking about
