Syntax Exercises
Syntax is the study of phrase and sentence structure.
Sentences are not simply linear strings of words but are phrases, which
are linked together in hierarchical structures. Even though sentences are
constructed in specific ways according to each language (language-specific
constraints), there are syntactic rules which apply universally to all natural
languages.
In syntax we use syntactic trees to demonstrate the rules of a
grammar and how these rules combine together to create grammatical phrases and
sentences. These diagrams provide information, not only on the internal
structure of phrases, but on the grammatical and semantic relationships between
words. Different professors may focus on various aspects of tree
structures depending on the amount of class time devoted to the subject and the
depth of analysis.
Most introduction classes do not discuss X bar theory.
Accordingly, the syntax trees are written both in simple
structures on the left and X bar structures on the right.
Terms with which you will want to
become familiar include:
·
Phrase Structure Rules
·
Complements
·
Verbal Phrases
·
Movement/Transformations
·
Deep structure
·
Ambiguity
·
Constituents
·
Transformational Rules
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