Grammatical Aspects of Language Syntax: The Sentence Patterns of Language

Syntax “Then you should say what you mean,” the March Hare went on. “I do,” Alice hastily replied, “at least—I mean what I say—that’s the same thing, you know.” “Not the same thing a bit!” said the Hatter. You might just as well say that ‘I see what I eat’ is the same thing as, ‘I eat what I see’!” “You might just as well say,” added the March Hare, “that ‘I like what I get’ is the same thing as ‘I get what I like’!” You might just as well say, added the Dormouse... that ‘I breathe when I sleep’ is the same thing as ‘I sleep when I breathe’!” “It is the same thing with you,” said the Hatter. --Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1865

Syntax Take this sentence: The man walked down the street. Rewrite the sentence five times, adding a phrase each time. Try adding phrases in the middle of the sentence, not just at the end or beginning.

Syntax Any speaker of any human language can produce and understand an infinite number of sentences –The cat chased the mouse. –The cat chased the mouse that ate the cheese. –The cat chased the mouse that ate the cheese that came from the cow. –The cat chased the mouse that ate the cheese that came from the cow that grazed in the field.

Syntax You can continue creating a new sentence by adding more phrases, adjectives, etc. This is called recursion. There is no limit to how long a sentence can be. Recursion is like the old lady who swallowed a fly. Sentences can’t be stored in our heads like morphemes can. Instead, our brains store –Pieces of sentences –Rules for how those pieces can be combined

Sytax Syntax is the knowledge of sentences and their structures. The rules of syntax combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences. They specify the correct order of words.

Syntax English is a subject-verb-object language –The President appointed a new cabinet member. –President a new cabinet member a nominated. You know which sentence is correct because you already know the rules for how sentences should come together.

Syntax Syntax also tells us how the meaning of a sentence depends on its arrangement. –I mean what I say. –I say what I mean. –Your dog chased my cat. –My cat chased your dog.

Syntax Syntax gives us rules for how words have to be arranged. –The boy found. –The boy found quickly. –The boy found in the house the ball. –The boy found the ball in the house. Your knowledge of syntax told you that something needs to follow found, and that it needs to be whatever the boy found.

Syntax Sentences can be arranged correctly but still have two different meanings: –For sale: an antique desk suitable for a lady with thick legs and large drawers. –We will oil your sewing machine and adjust tension in your home for $100. This is called structural ambiguity.

Grammar Remember that grammar is the shared knowledge that people have about their language, and the rules about that knowledge. An ungrammatical sentence is one that breaks the shared rules about how language is used. –Suzy slept the baby. –Suzy green beans with fork ate a.

Grammar Colorless green ideas sleep furiously. Enormous green crickets in pink socks danced at the prom. A verb crumpled the milk. –Grammatically correct sentences with no meaning.  Syntax contributes to meaning, but it’s not the whole story.

Grammar ‘Twas brilling, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe. --Lewis Carroll, “Jabberwocky” Grammaticality doesn’t depend on words making sense. Grammaticality doesn’t depend on truth (otherwise, it would be impossible to lie) Grammar rules are unconscious rules that we’re never taught and don’t even know we know.

Universal Grammar Universal Grammar (UG) –the rules that all languages share –Biologically programmed into every speaker of a human language Think of it like a new housing development: –Every house has the same layout –Individual owners can make choices about flooring, curtains, cabinets, furniture, etc. Languages conform to a basic design, but there are variations.

Universal Grammar For example, all languages have heads and complements –Head: the central word of a phrase the man who came to dinner wrote a letter to his mother very bright red –Complement: the parts of a phrase that aren’t the central word the man who came to dinner wrote a letter to his mother very bright red

Universal Grammar All languages have movement rules: how words move around to change the meaning of a sentence: –Suzy rode her bike. –Which bike did Suzy ride? –Dutch: Femke veel boeken leest. (Femke reads many books.) –Leest Femke veel boeken? (Does Femke read many books?)