Syntax Flashcards
grammar
accounts for the actual use of a language not its prescriptivism.
Clause
kernel sentence with finite vern ex. she walks, he goes to the store
infinitive/small clause
basic verb without finite information ex. To go to the store.
Syntax
structure of a sentence, core of a language’s grammar.
Grammar
complete system of phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic information and rules that the speaker of a given language possess.
structure
organized combination of mutually connected and dependent parts or elements.
pronominalization
substitution of a constituent by a pronoun
prophase/ proforms
replacing an entire phrase with a pronoun
movement
movement of strings of word to other sentential positions.
WH pronouns
the pronouns who, whose, which and what can be the subject or object of a verb.
coordination test
Only constituents can coordinated by the coordinating conjunction “and”
AND
contains a property that of combining only constituents of the same kind. Ex. Black and White
DO SO
a non engendered pronominal that can replace the act in which a subject is doing. Ex. People will go to the station. ( People will (do so)
Gapping
A construction in which part of a sentence is omitted rather than repeated. Ex. Some ate beans, and others ate rice. ==> Some ate beans, and others rice.
Structural Ambiguity
cases in which different interpretation arise through different sentence structures assigned to the same string of words.
Head
The most important element in a phrase that defines the type of phrase that it is.
Noun phrase NP
a phrase that is headed by a noun. ( A gold ring) - ring
Prepositional Phrase PP
A phrase that is headed by a preposition (we drove to the grocery store) (to the grocery store)
Verb Phrase
A phrase that is headed by a verb. I will have been studying linguistics for 3 hours (VP) Will have been studying.
adverb phrase
A phrase that is headed by an adverb. Jack bought flowers for his mother.
animate noun
person animal creature
word class
words classified as nouns, adjectives, verbs and prepositions
Criteria of word class
semantic, morphological and syntactic
phrase structure rules
rules that build syntactic structure
sentence
the largest syntactic unit made up of one or more clauses
Simple sentence
1 clause
complex sentence
contains at least 1 subordinate clause
superordinate clause
also known as a matrix clause, a clause that comes first in a complex sentence.
adverbial constituents
constituents that give the circumstances of the event denoted by the rest of the sentences i.e.( time, place, manner reason)
subject verb agreement
syntactic process which requires subject and verb to share the same person and number feature.
case forms
Because there is a distinction between subject and object, depending on the function of a phrase in a sentence the phrase will exhibit a certain form.
neuter pronouns
a pronoun that doesn’t have a gender specific identity.
transitive verbs
verbs that need an object
intransitive verbs
verbs that CANNOT take an object
covert objects
objects in a transitive verb sentence that are understood or assumed. (They kissed and departed)
passivization
sentences in an active voice can be passivized by making the object of the active sentence the subject of the passive sentence ex She wrote [the novel]object at the end of the 19th century.[The novel]subject was written at the end of the 19th century.
Ditransitive Verb
verbs that can take two objects
Direct object
In a ditransitive sentence the object that denotes an entity that undergoes the action or process denoted by the verb
Indirect object
the object that denotes the goal the recipient or beneficiary of the event denoted by the verb.
Adverbial
constituents that provide info about the circumstances of the action denoted by the verb and its subjects and objects. They can be modifiers of the clause or verb phrase, but not obligatory.
Complements
Semantically and structurally highly dependent sister constituents of heads [proud [of her achievements]PP]AP
