Syntax Module 5

Question 1

Diction

Answer 1

defines the style of written or spoken language representing the choices of the speaker or writer makes with in the rules of grammar and sytax.

Question 2

syntax

Answer 2

states the rules for using words, phrases, clauses, and punctuation, specifically to form sentences. OR Parts that sentences consist of and their connections and dependencies.

Question 3

modifier

Answer 3

word or phrase intended to change or modify another part of the sentence, typically the subject.

Question 4

Independent Clause

Answer 4

a clause that can stand on its own. Contains all information needed to be a complete sentence. 1) has a subject-tells reader what the sentence is about 2) has an action or predicate- tells reader what the suject is doing 3) Expresses complete thought- tells something happened or was said

Question 5

Dependent Clause

Answer 5

clause that does not express a complete thought. 1) presence of a marked word (before, after, because, once, in order to, etc) 2) presence of conjunction- and, or, nor, but, yet) 3) Must be joined with another clause.

Question 6

Clauses

Answer 6

units of grammar that contain a predicate (verb) and a subject (noun)

Question 7

oxford comma

Answer 7

the best comma

Question 8

Run on sentence

Answer 8

sentences that contain too many ideas without proper punctuation

Question 9

sentence fragments

Answer 9

lack one or more of the following: does not express a complete thought, does not have a subject, noun, or pronoun, does not express an action (verb)

Question 10

structure

Answer 10

organized combination of mutually connected and dependent parts or elements

Question 11

constitutents

Answer 11

syntactic units/structural units, aka phrases

Question 12

pronominalisation

Answer 12

substitution of a constituent by a pronoun

Question 13

proform

Answer 13

pro-phrase=pronoun

Question 14

movement test

Answer 14

if string of words can be moved to other sentence positions, it is proof of being a constituent

Question 15

coordination test

Answer 15

it is only constituents that can be coordinated by the coordination conjunction “and”

Question 16

gapping test

Answer 16

tag question leaves a gap in which we could inset the missing string

Question 17

sentence fragment test

Answer 17

possible answers to the question- certain types of string can form possible sentence fragments the speaker can use to answer the question

Question 18

mother node

Answer 18

node immediately above a given node

Question 19

sister node

Answer 19

node that shares the same mother node

Question 20

structural ambiguity

Answer 20

cases in which different interpretations arises through different sentence structures assigned to the same string of words.

Question 21

prepositional phrase

Answer 21

modifying phrase that consists of a proposition and its object. Includes about, after, at, before, behind, by, during, for, from, in, of, over, past, to, under, up, with

Question 22

adjective phrase

Answer 22

a phrase where the head of which is an adjective. that modifies a noun or pronoun

Question 23

verb phrase

Answer 23

a syntactic unit composed of at least one verb and its dependents-objects, compliments, and other modifiers-but not the subject

Question 24

adverb phrase

Answer 24

group of 2 or more words that function as an adverb in a sentence

Question 25

head (or a phrase)

Answer 25

the word that determines the suntactic category of that phrase. “boiling hot water” the noun phrase head is “water”

Question 26

word class

Answer 26

part of speech or speech category of words that have similar grammatical properties

Question 27

syntactic categories

Answer 27

sentence, noun, noun-phrase, determiner, adj, or adverb; syntactic unit that theories of syntax assume

Question 28

parts of speech

Answer 28

a category in which a word is assigned in accordance with its suntactic function.

Question 29

lexical categories

Answer 29

noun-verb-adj-adverb-prepostion: carry meaning and have similar grammatical properties

Question 30

adverb

Answer 30

word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, adverb, or verb, expresses a relation of place, time, manner, cause, degree, etc.

Question 31

Article

Answer 31

special modifiers that appear before nouns and noun phrases (the, a)

Question 32

demonstrative

Answer 32

words to indicate which entities are being referred to and determine those entities from others. (this, those, that)

Question 33

posessives

Answer 33

word used to indicate relationship of possession

Question 34

conjunctions

Answer 34

word used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause (and, if, but)

Question 35

Determiners

Answer 35

aka demonstratives; word, phrase, or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase, and expresses the reference of that noun in the context (a, the, every)

Question 36

Subordinate clauses

Answer 36

clause typically introduced by a conjunction that forms part of and is dependent on a main clause. has subject and verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence. “since the sun will be shining.”

Question 37

predicate

Answer 37

part of a sentence or clause that contains a verb and states something about the subject. (went home in “John went home.”)

Question 38

case form

Answer 38

forms that mark the grammatical function of a noun phrase in a sentence or phrase

Question 39

transitive verb

Answer 39

verbs that need an object

Question 40

intransitive verb

Answer 40

verbs that cannot take an object (arrive, die, etc. You cannot “arrive” something)