CHAPTER
I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
Syntax is the
grammar, structure, or order of the elements in a language statement.
(Semantics is the meaning of these elements.) Syntax applies to computer
languages as well as to natural languages. Usually, we think of syntax as
"word order." However, syntax is also achieved in some languages such
as Latin by inflectional case endings. In computer languages, syntax can be
extremely rigid as in the case of most assembler
languages or less rigid in languages that make use of "keyword"
parameters that can be stated in any order.
C.W. Morris
in his Foundations of the Theory of Signs (1938) organizes semiotics,
the study of signs, into three areas: syntax (the study of the interrelation of
the signs); semantics (the study of the relation between the signs and the
objects to which they apply); and pragmatics (the relationship between the sign
system and the user).
CHAPTER
II
DISCUSSION
1.
Heads,
modifiers and arrangements of words
Heads and modi
fiers tend to occur next to each other. For instance, in English, nouns can be
modified by various types of words and phrases – adjectives, prepositional
phrases and relative clauses, not to mention words such as a, the, this and
some. Examples are given in (1).
(1) a. the
house
b. the splendid house
c. the house on the hilltop
d. the house which they built out of
reinforced concrete
In (1a), house
is modified by the definite article the; in (1b) it is modified by the definite
article and by the adjective splendid. The definite article, the indefinite
article a and demonstratives such as this and that precede their head noun, but
certain modifiers follow their head noun. Examples are the prepositional phrase on
the hilltop in (1c) and the relative clause which they built out of
reinforced concrete in (1d).[1]
Returning to
English, we see that in certain declarative clauses the modifiers of
prepositions follow their head preposition. Example (3a) shows the typical
pattern, with the preposition into
followed by the kitchen; (3b)
shows an impossible example, with into
at the beginning of the clause and the
kitchen at the end; and (3c) shows the correct structure.
(3) a.
Jeeves shimmered into the room.
b. *Into Jeeves shimmered the room.
c. Into the room shimmered Jeeves.
In some other
English clauses, the noun-phrase modifier of a preposition can be separated from
its head preposition. Example (4a) is the typical way of questioning room in
(3a). In it, which room is at the front of the clause, and into is ‘stranded’
at the end of the clause. Example (4b) is also acceptable but is mainly used in
formal writing.
(4) a. Which room
did Jeeves shimmer into?
b.
Into which room did Jeeves shimmer?
We can note in
passing that similar stranding is found in clauses introduced by which or who. In formal writing, a preposition plus which/who turns up at the front
of the clause, as in the room into
which Jeeves shimmered. In informal writing and in informal speech, the
preposition is left behind at the end of the clause, as in the room which Jeeves shimmered into. Verbs can be
modified by a number of items.
Example (5)
shows the order of modifiers in a neutral clause, that is, a clause in which no
particular word or phrase is emphasised.
(5) Barbara
handed the results to Alan on Tuesday.
Barbara, the subject noun phrase, precedes the verb, but the
other modifiers follow it the noun phrase
(direct object) the results, the prepositional phrase (oblique object) to
Alan and the prepositional phrase (adverb of time) on Tuesday.
In (5), the subject
Barbara and the direct object the results are next to the verb. In other
languages, the verbs and modifiers are arranged in patterns that put all the
modifiers either before or after the verb.
2.
Tests
for phrases
In fact, it is
not always clear how the words in a given phrase are arranged or how the
phrases are arranged in a given clause. Fortunately, tests have been developed
to help analysts.
2.2.1. Transposition
This transposition indicates that the
three separate words combine into a larger block, a phrase. Transposition also
applies to phrases without prepositions. The words the results in (5) can be moved to the front of the
clause to give the
results Barbara
handed to Alan on Tuesday, a clause that is
appropriate if the speaker or writer continues, for example, the actual scripts she
kept until Friday.
The above
examples of transposition have to do with a sequence of words being moved from
one position in a clause to another position without any other changes in the
clause. Transposition is one of the tests that reveal whether a given sequence
of words make up a phrase or are just words that happen to come one after the
other.
The test of
transposition is also applied in a slightly different fashion. Consider the
active clause in (6a) and the passive clause in (6b).
(6) a.
The pupils in this maths class gave cakes to Margaret every Friday.
b. Cakes were given to Margaret every
Friday by the pupils in this maths class.
The phrase the pupils in this maths class
is at the beginning of the clause in (6a) and refers to the people doing the
giving. The same sequence is at the end of the clause in (6b) and is the
complement of the preposition by.
Example (6a)
contains gave, while (6b)
contains the words were and given. Example (6b) also contains the
prepositional phrase by the pupils in
this maths class, whereas (6a) has no prepositional phrase.
When we use
‘transposition’ with respect to examples such as (6a) and (6b), we are talking
about sequences of words that turn up in a particular order in one position in
one construction and about the same sequences of words turning up in the same
order in another construction.
The test of
transposition applies to other sequences of words, as shown by (7).
(7) a.
This parcel is very heavy.
b. This very heavy parcel was delivered
yesterday.
c. Very heavy, this parcel!
d. What this parcel is is very heavy.
In (7a), the
sequence of words/the phrase very
heavy is the complement of is;
in (7b) it is the modifier of parcel.
It turns up at the beginning of the spoken construction in (7c). In (7d) it is
also the complement of is,
but in a special emphatic construction.
Very
can
be replaced by words such as astonishingly,
and the sequence can be made longer – astonishingly
and frighteningly heavy –
but can still be transposed, as shown in This
parcel is astonishingly and frighteningly heavy, this astonishingly and frighteningly
heavy parcel was delivered yesterday, What this parcel is is astonishingly
and frighteningly heavy.
Another
example is given in (8).
(8) a.
We felled the laburnum with this chainsaw.
b. With
this chainsaw we felled the laburnum.[2]
2.2.2
Substitution
The
essential idea behind this test is that a single word can substitute for a
number of words hanging together as phrase. This is demostrated in (9).
(9) a.
Barbara handed the intringuing results of
the latest examination to Alan on Tuesday.
b.
Barbara handed them to Alan on
Tuesday.
Them
in (9b) substitutes for the intriguing result of the latest examination in (9a).
The test of substitution applies to sequences of words
with adjectives, such as those in (7); this parcel is astonishingly and frighteningly heavy or simply. This parcel
is heavy. The single adjectives heavy substitutes for the sequences very
heavy and astonishingly
and frighteningly heavy but
another type of substitution is possible, using the specialized substitution
word so.
Consider the dialogue in (10). (Here capital letters represent different
speakers.)
(10) A. This
large parcel is very heavy.
B.
No it’s not.
C.
It is so.
The test of so-substitution
exemplified in (10) is straightforward in that the sequence very
heavy is removed and so is dropped into the empty slot.
Another type of so-substitution is
rather indirect. Consider (11).
(11) This large parcel is very heavy and so is this small packet.
There is no doubt that so ‘stands for’ very
heavy. The reason for calling
this substitution ‘indirect’ is that so has not simply been dropped into the slot occupied by very
heavy but has been moved to
the front of the clause.
Nonetheless, so-substitution is a good indication
that sequences such as very heavy form large unit.
Substitution can be applied to sequences introduced by
prepositions, as in (12) and (13).
(12) a. Vera is crocheting in the lounge.
b. Vera is crocheting there.
(13) a. Grandma is coming to Mr. Chalky’s school
tomorrow.
b. Grandma is coming here tomorrow.
There
in (12b) substitutes for in the lounge in (12a),
and here in (13b) substitutes for to
Mr. Chalky’s school in (13a).
Examples in which a single preposition substitutes for a whole sequence are
difficult to find. This is mainly because prepositions typically require a complement, but also
because in standard written English there is a contrast between in
for location and into
for movement, and for many speakers there is a contrast between out
of for movement and out for location, as in (14).
(14) a. The cat was sleeping in the kitchen.
b. The cat trotted into the kitchen.
c. The mouse jumped out of the cheese-box.
d. The mouse was out the cheese-box.
In formal spoken English, and certainly in
non-standard varieties of English, in and out express both
location and movement, and (14b,c) can be expressed as (15a,b).
(15) a. The cat trotted into the kitchen.
b. The mouse jumped out of the cheese-box.
These examples can be shortened to those in (16).
(16) a. The cat trotted in.
b. The mouse jumped out.
In these examples, in and out can be treated as
single words substituting for the longer phrases in the kitchen and the cheese-box. However, for the large majority of
prepositions, the substitution of a preposition for preposition plus non phrase
does not work, whether in writing or informal speech, in standard or
non-standard English.
Finally in this section, let us note that all the
above examples show a sequence of words being replaced by one word. The
converse is that single word can be replaced by a sequence of words: cheese
is good can be changed to that
French cheese with the blue veins is good. The latter examples occasionally described in terms of cheese being expanded to that
French cheese with the blue veins,
but it is treated here as a type of substitution.[3]
2.2.3
Ellipsis
Consider the examples in (17)
(17) a. The terrier attacked the burglar. The terrier
savaged the burglar’s ankles.
b. The terrier attacked the burglar and the terrier savaged the burglar’s
ankles.
c. The terrier attacked the burglar and savaged the
burglar’s ankles.
Example (17a) contains two separate clauses. In (17b),
the clauses are conjoined by and;
this gives a single sentence consisting of two clauses, each beginning with the terrier. Example (17c) is produced
by deleting the second occurrence of the
terrier. The square brackets in (17c) mark the site of the missing words,
which are said to have been ellipted. Example (17c) is an example of ellipsis.
The important point about this type of ellipsis is that it applies only to
complete phrases. Sentence such as * The fierce terrier attacked
the burglar and terrier savaged the burglar’s ankles are incorrect, because terrier must be preceded by the. In the latter phrase the
burglar, or rather the
burglar plus the possessive
suffix’s, is replaced by his: The terrier attacked the burglar and she savaged the ankles.[4]
3. Phrases:
words and slots
At this point in the discussion, we need to comment on
the concept of phrase. In everyday usage, the term ‘phrase’ is applied only to
sequences of more than one word. This is easily demonstrated with (5),
reproduced below as (18a) and (18b).
(18) a. Barbara handed the results to Alan on Tuesday.
b. Barbara handed them to Alan on Tuesday.
Examples (18a) and (18b) both contain the phrases (in
the everyday sense) to Alan and on Tuesday. In contrast, Barbara in (18a) and them in (18b) do not constitute everyday phrases because they each
consist of just one word. In syntactic analysis, a distinction between ‘phrase’
and ‘word’ is observed, but it does not match the everyday distinction since
both Barbara and them are treated as
phrases. In both (18a) and (18b), the first phrase consists of a single word, Barbara, but is too an accident of these
examples. Barbara could be
replaced by Margaret’s bard-working colleague. Likewise, the phrase to Alan contains a noun phrase, Alan-just one word, but it could be
replaced by her colleague who was collating the examination marks.[5]
4.
Coordination
Words of the same type can be coordinated, that is,
joined by special words such as and and or. Phrases in the
same type can be coordinated, and clauses in the same type. In this section, we
focus on words and phrases. In the clause john and his energetic wife landscaped the
garden twice last year, John is a phrase consisting of a single word
and his
energetic wife is a phrase consisting of three words. In spite of the
disparity in length, the two phrase the bright and incredibly sharp air over
Doubtful Sound, the one-word
adjective phrase bright is
coordinated with the two-word adjective phrase incredibly sharp. The
fact of the coordination is one of the reasons for recognizing bright as a
phrase.[6]
5. Concluding comments
The
first is simply that the tests of transposition and subtitution apply inside
clauses,although they are often said to apply inside sentences. This is one
reason why the clause is a useful unit for our analysis.
The
second comment concerns the diffrent types of phrase. The labels ’noun phrase’,
‘prepositional phrase’ and ‘adjective phrase’ are in general use. A phrase with
a noun as its head is a noun phrase, for example,ber colleague who was
collecting the exams scripts; a phrase with a preposition as its head is a
prepositional phrase, for example to Alan, a phrase with an adjective as
its head is an adjective phrase, for example exceedingly sorry about the
mistake.sequences such as quikly and unbilievably
quickly constitute adverbial phrase, that is, phrase in which the
adverb-here,quickly-is the head.
The
third comment concerns the fact that phrase can contain other phrases. The
phrase to her colleangue in the extended version of (18a)
discussed in section 2.3 is a prepositional phrase; inside it is the noun
phrase her colleague.the phrase to Alan, discussed just above ,is
also a prepositional phrase containing a noun phrase, which happens to consist
of one word, Alan. The phrase
the rather intriguing result of the
examination is a noun phrase. Its head is results, a noun which is modified by the, by rather intriguing by of the
examination. Rather
intriguing is an adjective phrase whose head is the adjective intriguing. This
adjective is modified by rather.
There are two more phrases inside the large noun phrase.
One
is the prepositional phrase of the
examinatinon, with the prepositional phrase of the examination, with the preposition of
as its head. The other is inside the prepositional phrase and is the noun
phrase and is the noun phrase the examination.
This example is instructive. It shows how a phrase may have more than one
phrase inside it. It shows how a phrase can contain a phrase of the same
type-the noun phrase the examination
is inside the larger noun phrase.
Phrases
can also contain clauses, as in the example in the paragraph following (4) the room which feeves shimmered into.
This is a one phrase with room
as its head. Room is
modified by the relative clause which
feeves shimmered into. In the idea that david hume might wear a toga, the head noun idea is modified by the
noun complement clause that david
hume might wear a toga.
The
fourth comment has to do with the title of this chapter,’Constituent stucture’.
We have talked of words consistituting phrases,and we have also talk of phrases
constituting clause, we can also talk of clauses constituting sentences. Another
way of putting these ideas is to say, for example, that words are the
constituents, or constituent parts, of phrases, that phrases are the constituents
of bigger phrases or of clause and that clause are the constituent of
sentences. The arragement of word into phrases, phrases into clauses and
clauses into sentences is known as constituent stucture.
The
final comment is that very little of the arragement of words into phrases,
phrases into bigger phrases, phrases into clauses and so on is signalled in
either speech or writing.[7]
CHAPTER III
CLOSING
SUMMARY
Heads
and their modifiers are typically grouped together inside clauses. Different
languages have different orders head and modifiers. There arae three tests for
wether a sequences of words forms a phrase: tranporsition, subtitution and
ellipsis. In syntax, the term “phrase “ is applied to single words and to
squences of words. This reflects the view that a single noun such as sand occupies
a slot in which a phrase could occur. An example of slot is _is needed;
into it can go, for example,sand, ass in sand is needed. Phrases
can be extended idenfinitely, different types of phrase have different tyipes
of head, phrases occur in clause, but clause can also occur inside phrase.
REFERENCE
Miller, Jim., Introduction To English Syntax, (United
State:Edinburgh University Press), 2002
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