Syntax Vocabulary Flashcards
Syntax
the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language
Constituent
a word or a group of words that function as a single unit within a hierarchical structure
Phrases
a group of words (or possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence, a single unit within a grammatical hierarchy
Prominalization
the process or fact of using a pronoun instead of another sentence constituent (such as a noun or noun phrase)
Pro-form
pronoun
Movement
Testing if some constituents can be moved to somewhere else in the sentence without changing its meaning or its grammaticality
Coordination test
combining words or groups of words into a single unit using the preposition “and”, and then confirming that they still behave exactly like each of the nouns would individually
Gapping
an ellipsis in which a verb is removed in one, or more, of a series of coordinations
Sentence fragment
a word, phrase, or clause that usually has in speech the intonation of a sentence but lacks the grammatical structure usually found in the sentences of formal and especially written composition
Structural ambiguity
the potential of multiple interpretations for a piece of written or spoken language because of the way words or phrases are organized
Noun phrase
a phrase that has a noun (or indefinite pronoun) as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun
Prepositional phrase
a group of words containing a preposition, a noun or pronoun object of the preposition, and any modifiers of the object
Adjective phrase
a group of words that describe a noun or pronoun in a sentence
Verb phrase
the portion of a sentence that contains both the verb and either a direct or indirect object
Adverb phrase
a group of two or more words that function as an adverb in a sentence
Determiner
a word or affix that belongs to a class of noun modifiers that expresses the reference, including quantity, of a noun
Subordinate clause
a group of words that has both a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence
Main clause
clauses that can stand on their own
Predicate
the portion of a clause, excluding the subject, that expresses something about the subject
Subject-verb agreement
the subject of a sentence must always match the verb describing its action
Clause
a syntactic unit that consists minimally of a verb phrase and its subject.
Sentence
the largest syntactic units and they are made up of one or more clauses
Case
a grammatical category determined by the syntactic or semantic function of a noun or pronoun
Transitive verb
a verb that takes a direct object
Intransitive verb
a verb or clause that is unable to take a direct object
Ditransitive
describes a verb or clause which takes two objects
Direct object
a grammatical relation that exhibits a combination of certain independent syntactic properties
Indirect object
a grammatical relation that is one means of expressing the semantic role of goal and other similar roles
Adverbial clause
a clause that has an adverb-like function in modifying another clause
Adjunct
an optional constituent of a construction
Complement
a constituent of a clause, such as a noun phrase or adjective phrase, that is used to predicate a description of the subject or object of the clause
Predicative complement
also called the subject complement because it restates or describes the subject
Omission
deleting one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase
Passivization
the transformation of a sentence from an active form to a passive form
Syntactic function
the grammatical relationship of one constituent to another within a syntactic construction
Slang
unconventional words or phrases that express either something new or something old in a new way
Grammar
the system of principles, conditions, and rules that are elements or properties common to all languages – the essence of human language
Didactics
the teaching and learning of foreign languages in an institutional setting
Interrogatives (wh-pronouns)
a pro-form that is used in questions to stand for the item questioned (who, what, where, when, why, how)
Tree diagram
In a tree diagram, a sentence is divided into two parts: a subject and a predicate. They are made up of noun phrases or verb phrases. These are groups of words that include a noun or verb and any words that add as modifiers. The subject is a noun phrase while a predicate is usually a verb phrase
