Week 3 Flashcards
Why syntax clauses
- The ability to transmit messages to others with the nuance required to effectively transmit information of incredible complexity is achieved, in large part, through syntax
Understanding more compound and complex sentences and considering the role of clauses as central to such sentence structures is essential
What is syntax
The area of linguistics interesting in sentence structure. Specifically syntax refers to the rules regarding how words combine into phrases, clauses and sentences
What are sentences
: Linguistic unites consisting of one or more clauses. In other words, sentences are constructed from phrases and clauses
What is a phrase
A grammatical unit smaller than a sentences, consisting of one or more words which share a grammatical function )e.g. ‘the man’ = noun phrase)
What is a clause
- Clause: A linguistic unit that consists of a sequence of phrases, containing at least a subject/agent and a verb (e.g. ‘The man is eating a banana’)
Types of sentences
- Simple: Sentences that consist of just one clause e.g. he won the lotto
- Compound: Sentences that consist of two main clauses combined by a coordinating conjunction such as ‘and, or and but’ e.g. it will be hot today but raining tomorrow
- Complex: Sentences which consist of a main clause with one or more subordinate clauses. Clauses connected by use of a subordinating conjunction such as: that, if, since. Although e.g. Since it was sunny, he left his umbrella at home
- It is the different types and properties of clauses that allows us to produce the range of sentences: Sentence used to agree, to question, to make a statement, to negate
Clause types
- Declaratives: Clauses that make a statement or declare something
- Interrogatives: Clauses that ask questions
- Imperatives: Clauses that make a command
Declarative clauses
- Clauses that make a statement, or declare something
- Clause structure in which the verb element is central and central to the meaning of the clause
- Structure of a basic declarative clause: SVO
- Basic clause construction, of chich the other clauses are based upon
- Often first babies sentence
- More flexible
Easier to build foundational clause form
Imperative claus
- Clauses that make a command
- e.g. stop right there, give me that, leave me alone
- Often have no subject noun phrase e.g. stop right there has no subject bs she stopped right there = declarative clause
- However, there are instances where imperatives do contain subjects e.g. you stop what you are doing
- Positive imperatives: Stop right there
- Negative imperatives: Don’t do that
Interrogative clauses
- Clauses that ask questions
- Often contain WH Interrogatives: Who, what, which, where, when, how
- e.g. what is the boy doing, where are my keys, when did she leave
- There are also interrogatives based on Yes/No structure. Often contain auxiliary verbs: Have, will can, do/did
- e.g. Will you be home tonight, can I see you’re example, did she find her keys
- Tag interrogative clauses used to indicate when there may be a degree of uncertainty or the speaker/writer is seeking confirmation e.g. is that on king william street?
Further clause types
- Active: Clauses which emphasize the agent (or doer)
- Passive: Clauses in which the agent is reduced in prominence
- Negation: Clauses that contain negatives
Active clause
- Highlight the agent or doer
- Often commence clause with the agent or doer. e.g. Sandra stole the show, Pana wrote the bool
There are also instances when an active phrase does not start with a subject e.g. Yesterday Sandra stole the show, Suddenly, Pana wrote in the book
- Often commence clause with the agent or doer. e.g. Sandra stole the show, Pana wrote the bool
Passive clause
- Reduce the prominence of the agent or doer
Agent = The entity carrying out the action
Negation clause
- Clauses that contain a negation or a negative
- e.g. no, not, didn’t, do not
- Negation applied to whole clauses and is achieved through the negative word - Not, no, don’t
- It can occur together with the auxiliary: to be: Is, am, was, were. To do: did, do, can, could
- e.g. I am not sleeping, he is not funny
Not mutually exclusive, a clause can be one or more clauses e.g. can be negative and declarative
Complex sentence
Clause:
- A grammatical unit that consists of a subject and a verb
- Sentences are made up of clauses: A sentence can be just one clause (e.g. I am not sleeping) or more than one clause
- Compound sentences: A sentence containing 2 main clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction
- Complex sentence: A sentence consisting of a main clause with one or more subordinate clauses, connected by use of a subordinating conjunction
Main clause:
- A clause that can stand alone in a complete sentence (syntactically complete)
Subordinate clause: Clauses which are subordinate of the main clause. Not syntactically complete sentences but require a main clause to attach onto to make sense
Identifying main and subordinate clauses
- Main clause: a clause that can stand alone in a complete sentence
Subordinate: Clauses which are subordinate of the main clause. Not syntactically complete sentences, but require a main clause to attach onto to make sense
Coordinating conjunctions
- In compound sentences
- Used to join two linguistic units of the same kind
- The most common coordinating conjunctions are and, or, but
e.g. the boy needed a pair of pliers and some nails
Subordinating conjunctions
- In complex sentences
- Used to signal that one grammatical structure (clause) is subordinate to another
- The most common coordinating conjunctions are: Because, so, as well, as, after, although, before, when
Used to introduce the subordinate clause
Types of subordinate clauses: Relative
- Refers to a noun
- Often signified by WH word (who, which) as well as that
- A noun phrase typically directly precedes the relative clause
- e.g. This is the house that Mr Smith built
e.g. She was the person who stole my guitar
Types of subordinate clauses: Adverbial
Adverbial:
- A clause that modifies the entire main clause
Typically refer to:
- When something occurs (time) and start with the subordinating conjunction when
- The reason something occurs: and start with the subordination conjunction - since/because
- The condition of something and may start with if/although
- e.g. although it sounded good at the time, the idea was a bad one
- When her order was ready she drove up to the window
Types of subordinate clauses: Complement
Complement:
- A clause that describes a verb or adjective (or sometimes a noun)
- Typically signified by the subordinating conjunction: that, if
- A verb usually directly precedes the complement clause
- e.g. the students asked if the exam was over
The boys knew that the car was stolen
