Seminar 7

1. General outline of Syntax.

Syntax, on the other hand, deals with the way words are combined. It is concerned
with the external functions of words and their relationship to other words within
the linearly ordered units – word-groups, sentences and texts. Syntax studies the
way in which the units and their meanings are combined. It also deals with
peculiarities of syntactic units, their behavior in different contexts.

2. Main syntactic theories. Provide examples.

Kinds of syntactic theories.
Transformational-Generative Grammar. The main point of the Transformational-
Generative Grammar is that the endless variety of sentences in a language can be
reduced to a finite number of kernels by means of transformations. These kernels
serve the basis for generating sentences by means of syntactic processes. Different
language analysts recognize the existence of different number of kernels (from 3 to
39).
Constructional Syntax. Constructional analysis of syntactic units was initiated by
Prof. G.Pocheptsov in his book published in Kyiv in 1971. This analysis deals with
the constructional significance/insignificance of a part of the sentence for the
whole syntactic unit. The theory is based on the obligatory or optional environment
of syntactic elements. For example, the element him in the sentence I saw him
there yesterday is constructionally significant because it is impossible to omit it.
Communicative Syntax. It is primarily concerned with the analysis of utterances
from the point of their communicative value and informative structure. It deals
with the actual division of the utterance – the theme and rheme analysis. Both the
theme and the rheme constitute the informative structure of utterances. The theme
is something that is known already while the rheme represents some new
information.

3. Basic syntactic notions.

The syntactic language level can be described with the help of special linguistic
terms and notions: syntactic unit, syntactic form, syntactic meaning, syntactic
function, syntactic position, and syntactic relations.
Syntactic unit is always a combination that has at least two constituents. The basic
syntactic units are a word-group, a clause, a sentence, and a text. Their main
features are:
 they are hierarchical units
  as all language units the syntactic units are of two-fold nature
 they are of communicative and non-communicative nature – word-groups
and clauses are of non-communicative nature while sentences and texts are
of communicative nature.
Syntactic meaning is the way in which separate word meanings are combined to
produce meaningful word-groups and sentences.
Syntactic form may be described as the distributional formula of the unit (pattern).
John hits the ball – N1 + V + N2.
Syntactic function is the function of a unit on the basis of which it is included to a
larger unit: in the word-group a smart student the word ‘smart’ is in subordinate
attributive relations to the head element. In traditional terms it is used to denote
syntactic function of a unit within the sentence (subject, predicate, etc.).
Syntactic position is the position of an element. The order of constituents in
syntactic units is of principal importance in analytical languages. The syntactic
position of an element may determine its relationship with the other elements of
the same unit: his broad back, a back district, to go back, to back sm.
Syntactic relations are syntagmatic relations observed between syntactic units.
They can be of three types – coordination, subordination and predication.

4. Types of syntactic relations. Examples.

1) Agreement
This contest these contests
2) Government
Collected test papers (the verb is always used with some extension)
3) Adjoining (the extension is used for emphasis)
He nodded. He nodded his head.
He noded silently.
He nodded his head silently.
4) Accumulation
The word order is fixed. We can't say "important these facts" or "these and
important facts". Three types of syntactic connections can be singled out:
coordination, subordination and accumulation.
5. Definition and general characteristics of the word-group.
The word group is a combination at least two notional words which do not
constitute the sentence but syntactically connected.
Word groups are nouns which refer to groups of people, animals, or things.
There are special group words for combinations of people, animals, and things:
word group.

6. Classification of word-groups.
English has four major word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
They have many thousands of members, and new nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs are often created.
Nouns are the most common type of word, followed by verbs. Adjectives are less
common, and adverbs are even less common.
English has four major word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
They have many thousands of members, and new nouns, verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs are often created.
Nouns are the most common type of word, followed by verbs.
Adjectives are less common, and adverbs are even less common.

7. Peculiarities of noun-phrases.
A noun phrase always includes a noun, which is a person, place, or thing; or a
pronoun, which takes the place of a noun.
This pronoun can be a subject pronoun or an indefinite pronoun.
Noun phrases also include words that modify the noun, or set it apart, so we know
which noun we are talking about.
A noun phrase consists of the central noun or pronoun and all its modifiers,
including determiners, adjectives, and adjective clauses.
The order of constituents in the noun phrase structure is as follows: possessor +
nominal modifiers + head noun and appositive modifiers + adjectives +
determiners + relative clause.
4 Types of Noun Phrases:
 Regular noun phrase.
  Gerund phrase.
 Infinitive phrase.
 Appositive phrase.

8. Classification of verb-phrases.
Verb phrases generally are divided among two types:
finite, of which the head of the phrase is a finite verb; and nonfinite, where the
head is a nonfinite verb, such as an infinitive, participle or gerund.
A verb phrase consists of a verb plus another word that further illustrates the verb
tense, action, and tone.
The other word or words tied to a verb in a verb phrase are its dependents, which
can be adverbs, prepositional phrases, helping verbs, or other modifiers.
Phrases can be divided into three main categories: noun phrases, verb phrases, and
modifying phrases.

Sentence and its parts

1. Main characteristics of the sentence.
An important structural feature of the sentence is its entirety, that is, no word of the
given sentence can be the head or a dependent element relative to words that stand
outside this sentence.
So, the sentence can be defined as an immediate integral unit used in speech
communication, built up of words according to a definite syntactic pattern and
characterized by predication. It possesses the following properties:
The sentence as a linguistic expression of extralinguistic reality must be actualized.
Actualization of the sentence content makes predicativity an inseparable property
of every sentence.
The sentence occupies the highest hierarchical position relative to other structural
language units since the final purpose of all structural language units is to build
sentences. Unlike the sentence, the text does not have accurate and unambiguous
structural characteristics. There are no universal structural schemes of the text.
None of semantico-structural means used to join sentences is specific to the text.
Therefore, the text cannot be considered a structural language unit.
2. Different approaches to the study of the sentence.
a) Principal and secondary parts of the sentence.
b)Immediate constituents of the sentence. IC analysis.
To grasp the real structure of the English sentence, one must understand not only
words that occur but also the principles of their arrangement.
Each language has its own way of structural grouping. English has dichotomous
phrase structure, which means that the phrase in English can always be divided
into two elements (constituents) until we get down to the single word. All groups
of words are arranged in levels. The name given by linguists to these different
levels of relationship is immediate constituents.
c) Oppositional analysis.
The oppositional method in syntax means correlating different sentence types: they
possess common features and differential features. Differential features serve the
basis for analysis.
E.g. two member sentence :: one member sentence (John worked:: John! Work! Or:
I speak English :: I don’t speak English.
d) Constructional analysis.
According to the constructional approach, not only the subject and the predicate
but also all the necessary constituents of primary predication constitute the main
parts because they are constructionally significant. Therefore, the secondary parts
of the sentence are sometimes as necessary and important as the main ones. If we
omit the object and the adverbial modifier in the following sentences they will
become grammatically and semantically unmarked: Bill closed the door; She
behaved well.

3. Classifications of simple sentences

Definitions.
1. Logical: A sentence is a proposition expressed by words. A proposition is the
semantic invariant of all the members of modal and communicative
paradigms of sentences and their transforms. But besides sentences which
contain propositions there are interrogative and negative sentences. Speech
is emotional. There is no one to one relationship. Then a sentence can be
grammatically correct, but from the point of view of logic it won’t be
correct, true to life (Water is a gas). Laws of thinking are universal but there
are many languages. Grammar and Logic don’t coincide.
2. Structural: A sentence is a subject-predicate structure. Grammatical subject
can only be defined in terms of the sentence. Moreover the grammatical
subject often does not indicate what we are “talking about” (The birds have
eaten all the fruit. It is getting cold). Besides, this definition leaves out
verbless sentences. There are one-member sentences. They are non-
sentences? Conclusion – a sentence is a structural scheme.
3. Phonological: A sentence is a flow of speech between 2 pauses. But speech
is made up of incomplete, interrupted, unfinished, or even quite chaotic
 sentences. Speech is made up of utterances but utterances seldom
correspond to sentences.
Principles of classification of simple sentences.
According to the purpose of the utterance: declarative, interrogative, imperative,
exclamatory. Prof. Ilyish: before dividing sentences into 3 classes we should divide
them into emotional and non-emotional and within emotional we can establish 4
classes.
As to their cathegories.
According to the grammatical (syntactical) cathegory of presentation: statement,
question.
According to the cathegory of information: affirmation, negation.
According to the cathegory of expressiveness: emphatic, non-emphatic.

4. The utterance. Communicative types of utterances.

Communicative types of utterances: exclamatory, imperatives, interrogatives,
declaratives.
Pragmatic utterance types performatives and constatives (representatives):
performatives are treated as utterances by which the speaker explicitly performs a
certain act, e.g.: I surrender; I pronounce you husband and wife; and constatives
(representatives) as utterances by which the speaker states something, e.g.: I am a
teacher; constatives are further subdivided into minor types, such as promissives
(commissives), e.g.: I will help you; expressives, e.g.: How very sad!; menacives,
e.g.: I’ll kill you!, directives, e.g.: Get out!; requestives, e.g.: Bring the chalk,
please; etc.
5. Informative structure of the utterance.
The structure consists of a set of relations over a set of items.
Each item represents an object such as a word, segment, syllable, etc. while
relations relate these items together.
An item may appear in multiple relations, such as a segment will be in a Segment
relation.
Phonemes, morphemes, and words are all considered "segments" of the stream of
speech sounds that constitute an utterance.
Five common types of language utterances that cause confusion for language-
delayed children are reviewed in this paper.
They are sarcasm, idiomatic expressions, ambiguous statements, indirect requests,
and words with multiple meanings.
6. The main sentence parts: the subject and the predicate, their types.
There are three types of predicates:
 Simple Subject (only subject)
 Complete Subject (subject with a modifier)
 Compound Subject (two or more subject joined with a conjunction)

Predicates can be divided into two main categories: action and state of being.
Predicates that describe an action can be simple, compound, or complete.
There are three types of subjects, these are:
 Simple Subject
 Complete Subject
 Compound Subject.

7. The Secondary Sentence Parts.

The predicate is the second main part of the sentence.
It is the organizing center of the sentence as the object and practically all adverbial
modifiers relate to the predicate and dependent on it.
Primary sources can be described as those sources that are closest to the origin of
the information.
They contain raw information and thus, must be interpreted by researchers.
Secondary sources are closely related to primary sources and often interpret them.

8. Compound Sentences.
A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined by a
coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, or so) and a comma or by a
semicolon alone.
There are three ways of joining independent clauses into a compound sentence:
with a coordinating conjunction; with a semicolon; or. with a semicolon and a
transitional expression.
Semicolons are most often used to connect two independent clauses (full
sentences) that are related in meaning.
Both the words before the semicolon and the words after it must be complete
sentences that could be separated with a period. We could go fishing on Saturday.
Compound sentence contains more than one subject and more than one predicate.

9. Complex Sentences.
A complex sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause (or main
clause) and at least one dependent clause.
Put another way, a complex sentence is made up of a main clause with one or more
dependent clauses joined to it with an appropriate conjunction or pronoun.
There are four types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound
complex. Each sentence is defined using independent and dependent clauses,
conjunctions, and subordinators.
A complex sentence contains at least one independent clause and at least one
dependent clause. Dependent clauses can refer to the subject the sequence/time, or
the causal elements of the independent clause.
The complex sentence is an effective way to show that one idea takes precedence
over another. The idea in the complete sentence base is more important than the
idea in the dependent phrase.

10. Mixed type of composite sentences.

A composite sentence is a higher-order syntactic communicative unit. It includes
two or more predicative units, which are related in meaning, structure and
intonation.
A mixed construction is a sentence containing parts that do not sensibly fit
together.
It may contain phrases or clauses that do not fit together logically or a subject that
does not work grammatically with a predicate.

A simple sentence consists of just one clause.

A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and one or more dependent
(subordinate) clauses.
A compound sentence consists of two or more coordinate (independent) clauses.