Syntax Flashcards
(74 cards)
1
Q
What is Syntax?
A
the grammatical arrangement of words into bigger units + creating well-formed phrases, clauses and sentences
2
Q
What is a phrase?
A
a group of words or single word acting as a grammatical unit
[My dog] [chased [a cat]]. NP [VP [NP]]
3
Q
What is a clause?
A
a combination of phrases
e.g. NP + VP
My dog chased a cat.
4
Q
What is a sentence?
A
follows grammatical rules; consists of one or more clauses
My dog chased a cat. My dog chased a cat, but she was quicker than him.
5
Q
What is an utterance?
A
an information unit; not necessarily complete sentences; can also
consist of more than one sentence
My dog chased a cat, but she was quicker than him. And uuh, then he just gave up.
6
Q
What types of phrases are there?
A
- NP
- VP
- AdvP
- AdjP
- PP
7
Q
What is the phrase structure?
A
Head + dependents
-> head is obligatory, determines the type of phrase
a phrase can contain other phrases = embedded phrases
8
Q
What does structural ambiguity mean?
A
That there is more than one possible constituency structure
9
Q
What is the syntactic form defined by, the word classes and types of phrases?
A
- defined by syntactic, semantic and morphological criteria
- word classes: noun, verb, adjective, preposition, determinative
- types of phrases: NP, VP, PP, AdjP, AdvP
10
Q
What is the syntactic function, its phrase level and sentence level?
A
- the role of an element in its grammatical context
- phrase level: head, determiner, modifier, peripheral dependent
- sentence level: subject, predicate, Od, Oi, SC, OC, Adjunct
11
Q
What is grammar?
A
- a book: prescriptive/descriptive
- an approach: traditional-descriptive, ..
- an abstract system: speaker’s knowledge on their langauge
12
Q
What types of clauses are there?
A
- Finite clause: Peter meets Tom.
- Non-finite clause: Made in England.
- Verbless clause: Off with you!
13
Q
What can a NP be?
A
- Subject: My dog is silly.
- Object: I love my dog.
- Modifier: My dog’s paws are smelly.
one form - many functions
14
Q
What can the subject be?
A
- NP: Summer is almost here.
- PP: From here to Paris is a long trip.
- Clause: What I wanted to say is that I’m sorry.
One function - many forms
15
Q
There are five types of transitivity, name them.
A
- Intransitive verb (S-V)
- Monotransitive (S-V-Od)
- Distransitive (S-V-Oi-Od)
- Copulative (S-V-SC)
- Complex-transitive (S-V-Od-OC)
verb determines which pattern is used
transitivity = number of objects a predicate can take
16
Q
There are three types of valency, name them
A
- Monovalent (needs a S, no compl. & objects)
- Divalent (needs a S & Od)
- Trivalent (needs a S, Oi & Od)
valency = number of arguments (incl. S) a predicate can take
17
Q
What is the difference between a main and a subordinate clause?
A
- Main/independent clause: can stand by itself
- Subordinate/dependent clause: cannot stand by itself
When I’m tired, I can’t concentrate.
When I’m tired, I can’t concentrate.
18
Q
What types of sentences are there?
A
- Simple = 1 clause
- Compound = 2+ main clauses
- Complex = one main clause + subordinate clause(s)
- Compound-complex: 2+ main clauses + subordinate(s)
19
Q
What can subordinate clauses be?
A
- Finite or non-finite
- can fulfil all syntactic functions except for predicator in main clause
20
Q
What does finite and non-finite mean?
A
- Finite: marked for tense
- Non-finite: no marked for tense (-ing, Infinitive, -ed) -> basically no person, number and tense
21
Q
What types of constituency tests are there?
A
- Substitution
- Questioning/Sentence fragment
- Movement
- Coordination
Coordination: My dog chased a cat and a squirrel
22
Q
What are the general principles of grammar?
A
- Meaning relations
- Sequencing
- Hierarchy and dependency
- Syntactic form and function
23
Q
What are grammatical relations/information generally expressed by?
A
- Word order
- Inflection
- Function words/free grammatical morphemes
- Intonation
24
Q
What does word order express?
A
grammaticality & changes in meaning
a. I want to have a nice steak for supper.
b. For supper I want to have a nice steak.
Meaning changes:
e. Tom saw Jim. – Jim saw Tom.
f. I had made some copies. – I had some copies made.
25
What are function words?
= free grammatical morphemes
- of/by in NP
- Comparative/Superlative: more/most
- determiners: a, the, this/that, every, my
- Auxilaries/modals: have, be, can, may
| express grammatical relations
26
How are grammatical relations expressed by intonation?
- falling/rising intonation at the end of clauses
- tone unit contours for subordinate clauses
- internal structure
## Footnote
This is a peaceful evening.
This is a peaceful evening?
Politicians who are corrupt should be exposed. -> only the corrupt politicians should be exposed – not all politicians
Politicians, who are corrupt, should be exposed. -> all politicians are corrupt
Those who sold quickly made a profit.
27
What are language typologies?
The classification of languages based on shared grammatical patterns
- Morphosyntax: 4 prototypes & 2 poles
- Word order: at clause, phrase & word level
28
What are the four prototypes of Morphosyntax?
- Isolating languages
- Agglutinating languages
- Inflectional = fusional languages
- Polysnythetic = incorporating languages
29
Explain the "Isolating languages" prototype of Morphosyntax
- one word = one morpheme
- one morpheme -> one meaning
- semantically transparent
| e.g. Mandarin
30
Explain the "Agglutinating languages" prototype of Morphosyntax
- Poly-morphemic words
- One morpheme - one meaning
- semantically transparent
| e.g. Turkish
31
Explain the "Inflectional = fusional languages" prototype of Morphosyntax
- poly-morphemic words
- one morpheme - more than one meaning
- semantically non-transparent
| e.g. Latin, Spanish "Llegó"
32
Explain the "Polysynthetic = incorporating languages" prototype of Morphosyntax
complex words, often containing whole clauses
| e.g Sourthern Tiwa
33
What are the two poles + explanation of Morphosyntax?
- Analytic languages: word order rules, function words -> isolating languages
- Synthetic languages: inflection -> inflectional/fusional languages
## Footnote
English is mixed:
* predominantly isolating with some inflectional features
* mostly analytic, slightly synthetic
34
What are the basic types of word order?
- Head-initial languages (VO)
- Head-final languages (OV)
| () = clause level
35
What are the theoretical approaches to Grammar?
- Generative Grammar
- Systemic Functional Grammar
- Cognitive Grammar
36
What are the principles and parameters of Generative Grammar?
- Principles: what is common to all languages
- Parameters: language-specific settings, tendency towards binary structures
37
What is common to all languages in Generative Grammar?
| principles
- Heads + compliments are in linear order.
- All declaratives must contain a subject.
38
What are the parameters of Generative Grammar?
- Whether head or complement go first -> head-directionality parameter
- If subject is explicitly or not mentioned -> null-subject/pro-drop parameter
39
What are the theories of language acquisition of Generative Grammar?
- Universal Grammar (UG)
- Language Faculty (LAD)
40
What is Universal Grammar?
theory about the nature of possible grammars of human languages and the special cognitive abilities we have for processing language
41
What is the X-bar schema (X') in Generative Grammar?
= internal structure of any phrase
- X = any word class, heads phrase XP
- X' = any intermediate category = bar level
- Between XP and X is Specifier and X'
## Footnote
- X heads the phrase XP (i.e. determines grammatical properties)
- XP is a projection of X
42
What are the characteristics of the X-bar schema (X')?
- binary branching
- Specifier positions need to be filled
- Complements are sisters of X
| bar-level is always there, even if it
only consists of one word
43
What is the difference between Complements and Adjuncts?
- Complement: obligatory, added at X level
- Adjunct: additional info, that can be omitted, added at X' level, the more adjuncts, the more X' level
44
The X-bar schema X' is not just applicable to phrases, but also?
to clauses & sentences
-> inflectional phrases IP (sentence is also a phrase; head = inflection)
45
What are the characteristics of Systemic Functional Grammar?
- Form & function are interrelated
- Language has the form it has due to function it fulfils
- Can't look at grammar without context -> comprehenisve understanding
- Text as basic unit of analysis
46
What is text?
- Product of discourse
- spoken or written
- length = irrelevant
47
What are the different types of functionalism?
- Of discourse -> overall intention (e.g. informative, persuasive)
- Of interaction -> speaker intention
- Of elements -> parts of the sentence (e.g. semantic functions)
48
What types of Context are there?
- (Co-)text -> surrounding text (narrowest)
- Context of situation -> immediate environment in which situation takes place
- Context of culture -> any shared knowledge (largest)
49
What do the parameters of situation in Systemic Functional Grammar do?
- help us to interpret the context of situation
- structure all texts
- linked to three meta-functions
50
What are the parameters of situation?
- Field: field of human experience encompassed by text: Who? What? Where -> what you are talking about
- Tenor: social relationships between interlocutors -> Who is talking to whom?
- Mode: nature of the text and role language plays in it -> Which linguistic choices do we make? e.g. word order, spoken or written
## Footnote
Field: who, what, where, when e.g. I, you, get the ball, Tiffany, roll it, it
Tenor: instructions, praise, imperative e.g. I want you, get, sit, roll, she'll push it, There you go
Mode: give structure in spoken text, give structure to sentence e.g. Ok, And, now, I, Roll, And then she'll
51
What is the ideational meta-function?
use language to encode our experience of the world: Who does what to whom?
-> "Field" in parameters of situation
52
What is the interpersonal meta-function?
use language to encode speaker-hearer relationship and how committed we are to propositions
"Tenor" in parameters of situation
53
What is the textual meta-function?
use language to organise ideational and interpersonal aspects into coherent whole
"Mode" in parameters of situation
54
What are examples of the ideational meta-function?
-> linked to field
- processes (walk, seem, say)
- participants (actor, goal)
- circumstances (time, place, manner adverbials)
| I watched Doctor Who over the weekend.
## Footnote
I & Doctor Who = participants
watched = process
over the weekend = circumstance
55
What are examples of the interpersonal meta-function?
-> linked to tenor
- mood = relationship between subject and finite: declarative, interrogative, imperative
- stance = speaker's opinions, how they position themselves: polarity (positive/negative), modality (position between yes & no)
| I may not have watched Doctor Who over the weekend.
## Footnote
I = mood
may = stance -> modality
not = stance -> polarity
56
What are examples of the textual meta-function?
-> linked to mode
- Theme: 'point of departure', beginning of clause
- Rheme: the rest
-> division: at the end of the first group or phrase relevant to ideational function (= participant, process, circumstance)
| I watched Doctor Who over the weekend.
## Footnote
I = theme
watched Doctor Who over the weekend. = rheme
57
What types of themes are there in Systemic Functional Grammar?
- Topical: related to ideational meta-function
- Textual: How does the utterance relate to co-text?
- Interpersonal: indicating e.g. mood, stance
58
What are the key features of Cognitive Grammar?
- role of meaning is central
- meaning of a sentence is more than the sum of its elements
- meanings of separate elements depends on entire configuration
- meaning is holistic
| holistic = not compositional
59
What are other resources for expressing modality?
| other than stance
- mood adjunct
- comment adjunct
60
What is Foregrounding?
basic concept of Cognitive Grammar that
- highlights different aspects of an entity
- highlights the most important participant
## Footnote
He washed the car. He vacuumed the car. He filled up the car.
They helped many people wih this project.
This project has helped many people.
61
What are Frames?
basic concept of Cognitive Grammar that describes that background knowledge associated with a concept is needed to understand the concept
| e.g. to understand knuckle, you need to know what a finger is
## Footnote
Frames provide a connotation
62
What is a Metaphor?
basic concept of Cognitive Grammar that
- conceptualises one domain in terms of another
- source domain: often more concrete
- target domain: often more abstract
## Footnote
e.g. intimacy construed in terms of heat
I couldn't warm to her.
She is such a cold person.
She gave me an icy look.
63
What are the characteristics of spatial prepositions?
- polysemous
- basic meaning
- used for structuring more abstract domains through metaphor
- extended meanings!!
64
What is a landmark?
entity construed as referent point, usually more stable
| important for different perspectives
## Footnote
Some LMs are more natural than others:
The house is on the hill. VS The hill is under the house.
65
What is a Trajector?
Entity construed in relation to referent point, usually more mobile
| important for different perspectives
66
What is important about the spatial preposition 'in'?
- TR is contained within LM
- prototypical meaning: fully contained, clear, physical boundaries
| The cat in the house VS. The flower in the vase
67
What is important about the spatial preposition 'on'?
- TR above LM, physical contact
- prototypical meaning: LM supports TR, LM and TR are separate entities
| the pen on the desk vs. the ring on the finger
68
What is important about the spatial preposition 'round'?
- TR follows boundary of LM
- prototypical meaning: path is external to LM, path encloses LM
| They walked round the lake. VS They sailed round the lake.
69
What is important about the spatial preposition 'over'?
- TR is above LM
- prototypical meaning: TR is proximate to LM, in contact with or within a region of possible contact
| The lamp is hanging over the table. VS The cat is jumping over the table
70
What about the spatial prepositions in a non-spatial use?
- target domain: temporal, emotional, interactional
- metaphorical meanings related to prototype
| more of a metaphorical use
## Footnote
in: it happened in June. He's in love.
over: I'll do it over the weekend. I prefer tea over coffee.
71
What is considered as having meaning in Cognitive Grammar?
- Words (lexical items)
- Grammatical categories
72
What about the grammatical categories of the past tense?
Core meaning: locating an event/state at some point/period in time prior to the moment of speaking
-> temporal (indicating time)
-> deictic (moment of speaking is reference point)
| I met John last week. (= one week ago from moment of speaking)
73
What about other grammatical categories of the past tense?
- non-deictic: temporal use e.g. narratives
- non-temporal use: unreality & pragmatic softener
## Footnote
Unreality: If I had enough time
Pragmatic softener: I was wondering if you could help me -> **past tense = remoteness -> softening**
74
What does Counterfactuality mean?
Something was true in the past implies that it's not true in the present
| If I had enough time ...
