Syntax

The Sentence Patterns of Language

 What makes
these wrong?
Guess, trust your instinct until it fails you.
Figure out what makes the following
examples wrong!
1. We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by
hand.
2. Toilet out of order. Please use floor below.
3. Wanted – man to take care of cow that does not smoke.
4. A desk suitable for a lady with thick legs and large drawers.
5. We will oil your sewing machine and adjust tension in your home for $
10.00.
Are these following sentences
syntactically correct?
1. Enormous crickets in pink socks danced at the prom.
2. Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
3. A verb crumpled the milk.
 Tree
Diagramming
Its roots and leaves
 Every girl reads some poetry.
S
Every girl read some poetry.

NP VP

Every girl read some poetry.

D et N V
NP

some poetry.
D et N
 Every girl read some poetry.
S
roots
Every girl read some poetry.

NP VP

Every girl read some poetry.

D et N V
NP

some poetry.
leaves
D et N
 A hyena laughed at me.
S
A hyena laughed at me.

NP VP

A hyena laughed at me.

D et N V
PP

at me.
P N
 The boy runs fast.
S
The boy Runs fast

NP VP

The boy runs fast

D et N V AdvP

fast
Adv
 The boy biked to the store.
S
The boy biked to the store.
NP VP
The boy biked to the store
D et N V PP
to the store
P NP
the store.
D et N
The Rules of
Syntax
Combine WORDS into PHRASES and
PHRASES into SENTENCES.
The Rules of Syntax
The English language applies the rule Subject + Verb + Object.

1. The English sentence “The President nominated a new Supreme Court Justice,” is
grammatical because the words occur in the right order.
2. It describes the relationship between the meaning of a particular group of words
and the arrangement of those words.
3. It specifies the grammatical relations of a sentence, such as Subject and Direct
Object. They provide information about who is doing what to whom.
4. Illustrates that sentences are not simply strings of words with no further
organization.
Examples
Jack and Jill ran up the hill.
Jack and Jill ran the hill up.
Up the hill run Jack and Jill.
Jack and Jill ran up the bill.
Jack and Jill ran the bill up.
Up the bill ran Jack and Jill.
Examples
Jack and Jill ran up the hill. (Correct)
Jack and Jill ran the hill up. (Wrong)
Up the hill run Jack and Jill. (Correct)
Jack and Jill ran up the bill. (Correct)
Jack and Jill ran the bill up. (Correct)
Up the bill ran Jack and Jill. (Wrong)
Constituency and
Constituency
Tests
Constituents
These are the natural groupings or parts of a
sentence.
1. Stand Alone Test
If a group of words can stand alone, for example in answer to a
question, they form a constituent.

Example
I found a puppy.

What did you find?

A puppy (Correct)
found a (Wrong)
2. Replacement by a Pronoun
A pronoun can substitute for natural groups.

E xa m p l e
In answer to the question where did you find a puppy? A
s p e a ke r c a n s a y, “ I f o u n d h i m i n t h e p a r k .”

Words such as “do” (which is not a pronoun per se) can also take the place of the
entire predicate found a puppy as in “John found a puppy and Bill did to.”

If a group of words can be replaced by a pronoun (FOR NOUN PHRASES) and a word like
do (FOR VERB PHRASES) it forms a constituent.
3. Move as a UNIT Test
If a group of words can be moved, they form a
constituent.

Example
The child found a puppy.
It was a puppy that the child found.
A puppy was found by the child.
Theories of
Linguistics
GRAMMATICAL DESCRIPTION
Linguistic Theory
It is what authors refer to as description of language, otherwise
commonly known as grammar.

The description of a language may appear in various

methods or forms depending on the objectives of the
linguist in studying the language .

In a simpler idea, LINGUISTIC THEORY is the result of

the description of a language .
Models of Grammatical Description
Making a descriptively adequate grammar of a language is an ART,
involving HUNCHES, INSIGHTS, and TECHNICAL SKILLS.
There are three modern grammars considered by linguists to be
adequate:
A. Structural Grammar Models:
1. linear grammar model
2. Phrase structure grammar model
B. One Semantic-Based Grammar Model
1. transformational/generative grammar model
1. Linear Grammar Model
This linguistic description focuses on the structure of the sentence,
treating the sentence as a string of grammatical categories like
beads in a necklace, or alternative as a series of slots to be filled by
words of the category appropriated for each slot.

This is also called slot-and-filler grammar.

Fries calls this successive segmentation analysis of a sentence as

immediate constituent analysis (ICA).
1. Linear Grammar Model –MODEL ANALYSIS
These boys generally walked home.

D N A DV V A DV
Rewrite Rule:
D + N + ADV + V + ADV S
where:
D Determiner
N Noun
ADV Adverb
V Verb
S Sentence
1. Linear Grammar Model –MODEL ANALYSIS
The tall haughty lady delivers a speech.

D A DJ A DJ N V D N
Rewrite Rule:
D + ADJ + ADJ + N + V + D + N S
where:
D Determiner
ADJ Adjective
N Noun
V Verb
S Sentence
2. Phrase Structure Grammar
This grammatical description groups together those elements
which function as meaningful units after identifying its sentence
constituents

Each act of segmentation divides up a single construction into 2

constituent components:
1. noun phrase which corresponds to the complete subject of
sentence;
2. verb phrase which corresponds to the complete predicate.
2. Phrase Structure Grammar
NOAM CHOMSKY’s tree diagram best illustrates the linguistic
analysis of the sentence using the phrase structure grammar, with
these steps:

1. identify immediate constituents,

2. group the constituent into phrase,
3. group the phrases into noun and verb phrases,
4. group the phrases into the sentence again,
5. Make a rewrite rule description.
2. Phrase Structure Grammar

S ste p 4

NP VP ste p 3

VP ste p 2

d et N adv V adv ste p 1

These boys generally walked home.

2. Phrase Structure Grammar

Rewrite Rule Decription: ste p 5

S NP + VP
NP det + N
VP adv + V + adv
The X-bar Schema
This is a 3-tiered structure. It is a template or blueprint that
specifies how the phrases of a language is organized.
NP

oxygen
 S

NP VP

D et N V

The N V NP

child found D et N

a N

The child found a puppy.

puppy
RESOURCES
Nelson, F.W. The Structure of the American English. New York: Ronald Press,
co., 1958

Labov, William. Principles of Linguistics Change. MA: Blackwell Publishers

Ltd., 1994

Smolinski, Frank. Landmarks of American Language and Linguistics. Vol. 1.

Washington, D.C:USA, 1984

Fromkin, V., Rodman, R, & Hyams, N. Introduction to Language, 10th ed.

Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2014