The Importance of Syntax in the Study of a Language

Syntax is important when studying a language.

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Introduction: Why is syntax important in language?

The learning of a language is known as linguistics. Linguistics involves many topics of
learning a language, including the study of syntax. In Linguistics, the study of syntax
involves learning how to structure sentences in a certain language (Smith, 2015).
Semantics is the study of the meanings of words in a particular language; it is quite
easy to learn them due to the presence of translator dictionaries. The purpose of
various words in a sentence also falls under semantics, but the structure of a sentence
that will communicate an idea to other people accurately is very important. The study
of syntax in linguistics is quite challenging since the learner has to know how to put
words in a sentence to make it sensible and avoid ambiguity (Smith, 2015). Many
people know the meanings of many words, but it is difficult to put the words in a
sentence that makes grammatical and logical sense. A sentence is supposed to
communicate something to the listeners. Words arranged in a sentence can give a
particular meaning; the same words rearranged can give a different message to the
listeners. To become proficient in a language, syntax is one of the most important
aspects to be considered.

The choice of the topic on syntax is influenced by the difficulty that is experienced
while learning a foreign language (Smith, 2015). Most of the learners of a language
have problems in the topic of syntax than all other topics in the study of any language.
Syntax is the learner’s first attempt to understand creativity in language and its limits.
An English learner may know the meaning of words football, take, watch and match,
but the meaning of a message depends also on the structure of a sentence. The
learner may say, “Take me a football match watch.” This sentence is not acceptable
as when one would try to figure out its meaning, it might come out ambiguous. The
learner has to know syntax to come up with a sentence like “Take me out to watch the
football match.” Syntax soundness in a sentence makes the sentence easier to
understand for the reader and the listener and the message is passed on to the reader
without any confusion. Thus, people learning languages should take into
consideration the use of syntax (Yule, 2006).

Literature Review on Importance of Syntax in Linguistics

Syntax is a part of linguistics that is involved in the study of sentence structure. It is
based on three elements of a sentence: word order, word agreement, and hierarchical
structure of a sentence (Hana, 2011). Learners of a language must know how to
arrange words that they know to make a sentence. If one wants some books and
knows that they are called books, a sentence may be constructed as “Want these I
books.” It is not grammatically correct, and the listener may not understand the
message. The words should be arranged as, “I want these books.” A learner of a
language should also ensure that there is word agreement in a sentence; subject and
verb, determiner and noun, and other words have to agree with each other (Hana,
2011). The sentence “He want his ball” does not have a proper subject-verb
agreement. The sentence “He wants his ball” is correct since the subject is singular.
The use of proper pronouns in a sentence is also important; the learner should know
which pronoun agrees with the subject of a sentence. A sentence like “I gave she a
book” is not acceptable since the pronoun is wrong (Hana, 2011). The hierarchical
structure of a sentence is also very important. A good example is the following
sentences: “We need focused leaders” and “More leaders who are focused are
needed”. The sentences have the same meaning but different word arrangement
(Hana, 2011).
Semantics deals with the meaning of words in a sentence. In its turn, Syntax defines
the meaning of the sentence. Some sentences can be grammatically correct but make
no sense; these sentences lack the correct use of syntax (Hana, 2011). A good
example is a sentence like ‘Colorless red decisions sleep well.’ This sentence makes
no sense, but it is grammatically correct, although the agreement of words is not right.
Some sentences make sense but are not grammatically correct, as in a sentence like,
“My big ball I will play today”. It shows that the person will play his or her big ball today,
but it is not grammatically correct. The problem results from the lack of word order in
the sentence (Hana, 2011).

Syntax is an aspect of linguistics that gives meaning to a sentence. Most sentences

are ambiguous when they lack syntax properties (Yule, 2006). One may construct a
sentence like, ‘John had a walking stick, and he bumped into an old man with it’, and
another person may construct a sentence like ‘John bumped into an old man, and the
old man happened to be carrying a walking stick’. These two sentences would have
the same meaning as the one initially constructed as ‘John bumped into an old man
with a walking stick’. It creates structural ambiguity; it is open to diverse interpretations
by the reader or the listener. The message could be intended for various listeners and
differential understanding of the sentence leads to confusion. This shows that
sentences that are not well structured could lead to misunderstanding of the message.
The main purpose of syntax in a sentence is to show the structural distinction between
the parties represented in a sentence (Yule, 2006).

Syntax also enables learners to construct sentences that show recursion which is
important in the construction of grammatically correct sentences (Yule, 2006). It
enables the construction of one sentence from many phrases that relate to one subject
or object. A good example is in the description of the location of an object. The sweet
is on the floor, the sweet is near the door, and the sweet is in the kitchen. These
phrases should be combined to construct a complex sentence that the reader or
listener should understand. The prepositional phrase has to be repeated in the
complex sentence, and the words must be well arranged to make sense. Recursion
and proper arrangement of the words will change the sentence as, ‘The sweet is on
the floor, near the door, and in the kitchen’. The insertion of a sentence within another
sentence also requires proper arrangement of the words to make a grammatically
correct and logical sentence (Yule, 2006). It would be less tedious and time-saving to
read one sentence other than two sentences to get the same meaning. An example
can be the following: ‘Ken saw Ian’ and ‘Joan knows that Ken saw Ian.’ The first
sentence is represented in the second one. One can get the meaning of the first
sentence from the second one, and this is use of syntactical skills.
There are many rules involved in the study of syntax, and the easiest way to
understand it is learning through the tree diagrams formed using the syntax rules.
Many people have used this method to learn a different language and they have
proved that it is successful. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011). Learners
have to understand syntax rules to draw the tree. Without knowledge of the rules, it
can be difficult to understand them, but the rules help to make the construction of
sentences an easy task.

Discussion on The Importance of Syntax in Linguistics

The study of a language is a challenging task. A sentence is the basic element of
communication in a particular language. It should pass the message to listeners easily
and efficiently, without creating ambiguity, misunderstanding or confusion. There are
many aspects of learning a language such as semantics, syntax, and morphology
among others. The former deals with the knowledge of the meanings of various words
within a language (Landsberg, 1995). The use of the correct form of words in a
sentence is also quite a simple task; this is morphology. The formation of sentences
is syntax, and it is the most important aspect of learning a language. As seen before,
some sentences can be grammatically correct but ambiguous; such sentences
confuse the recipient of the message. A good language learner must have the skill of
arranging words in a sentence to create one that is grammatically correct and non-
ambiguous.

Syntactic properties of a language enable the combination of simple sentences to form

complex sentences (Valin, 2001). It can be very tedious to read or speak out in small,
simple sentences so the learners must know how to construct complex sentences.
The arrangement of simple sentences to form complex sentences utilizes the skill of
syntactical understanding. Syntactic properties of a language enable the learners to
construct different sentences that have the same meaning. This concept is a parallel
syntactic way of deeper structural units; it makes the language more flexible and
reduces the rigidness that the learners have in their minds (Vadja, 2014). A good
example in English is a sentence in the active form, ‘John kicked the ball.’ The
sentence bears the same meaning as the passive sentence, ‘The ball was kicked by
John’. The only difference is the arrangement of words that switches the subject from
John to the ball. The knowledge of syntax allows learners of a language the liberty to
construct different sentences with the same meaning, and this makes their work easier
and enhances their understanding of the language (Vadja, 2014).

In the study of a language, syntax skills are very important since they help the learners
to understand the structure of the language in a systematic and structural way. A
learner who does not understand the syntax aspects of a language finds it difficult to
understand the sentences written or spoken in a particular language. It is essential
that students learn the syntactic properties of the language before moving to the next
stages (Kim & Sells, 2007). With a proper understanding of the syntax aspects of a
language, the students can move on to the linguistic analysis of complex language
phenomena. The understanding of syntax elements of a language makes it is easy to
understand the essential elements within a sentence and their relationships. A good
example is when dealing with a sentence that has more than one noun; the most
important one in such a sentence is the noun that gives its character to the phrase and
it is the head noun. If the head noun is singular or plural, the phrase will follow the
orientation of the head noun (Kim, Sells, 2007). The head noun must also be in good
agreement with the verb associated to it for the sentence to make sense. A learner
has to know syntax properties to construct correct sentences. Therefore, it is evident
that syntax is the most important aspect of learning a language. This is because the
syntax properties of a sentence enable the learners to understand the patterns of a
language effectively and clearly.

Learners of a language who do not know the syntactic aspects of a language have a
language deficiency that prevents them from communicating efficiently. Insufficient
communication can be dangerous since it leads to a misunderstanding of the message
and cause severe consequences. Learners who have a syntax skill deficiency
demonstrate inconsistency in the order of words when speaking (Children’s Speech
and Language Services, 2015). This could lead to sentences that are not logical or
with grammatical errors and limited grammatical markers. Deficiency in syntax skills
causes learners of a language difficulty in understanding and using verbs in various
tenses (Children’s Speech and Language Services, 2015). These people also have
difficulty in the use of the plural and singular forms of words. The deficiency of syntax
skills makes learners of a language struggle with story retelling task and general
communication in the language becomes very difficult (Children’s Speech and
Language Services, 2015). These problems show that the study of syntax properties
of a language is very important; deficiency of this knowledge causes great challenges
in learning and speaking a language.

Conclusion: So, Why is Syntax Important in Linguistics?

Language enables communication; for people to communicate in a particular
language, they must construct correct and logical sentences in the language. The most
important task in learning a language is the arrangement of the words in agreement
with each other and prepositions to create a grammatical sentence that makes sense.
This skill is the syntax property.

Semantics, grammar, phonology, morphology, and syntax are all important properties
of the study of a language, and a good learner must know them all. These aspects are
not autonomous, and they must be studied together. The syntax is a rule that governs
the combination of words in a sentence to construct a correct one. It also connects the
combination of smaller units like phrases, clauses, and small sentences into
compound sentences. A learner who does not have a good mastery of syntax
properties of a language might end up constructing ambiguous sentences that can be
confusing to the listener.

The syntactic properties of a language enable easy communication between different

parties; the listener can understand the sentences constructed by the speaker. Lack
of syntactic properties creates some difficulty in understanding and speaking what in
turn causes insufficient communication. Therefore, it is important for learners of a
language to understand the syntax properties before the study of higher aspects of
the language; it will make their understanding much easier. It is evident that the
syntactic properties of a language are the most important properties.
References
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