Syntax

The Study of Language by George Yule (2006)

New words
Syntax (syntactic structures): (the analysis of) the structure of phrases and sentences
Generative grammar: a set of rules defining the possible sentences in a language
Surface structure: the structure of individual sentences after the application of transformational rules to deep structure
Deep structure: the underlying structure of sentences as represented by phrase structure rules
Transformational rules: rules that are used to change or move constituents in structures derived from phrases structure rules
Phrase structure rules: rules stating that the structure of a phrase of a specific type consists of one or more constituents in a particular order
Structural ambiguity: a situation in which a single phrase or sentences has two ( or more) different underlying structures and interpretations
Recursion: the repeated application of a rule in generating structure
Tree diagram: a diagram with branches showing the hierarchical organization of structures
Lexical rules: rules stating which words can be used for constituents generated by phrase structure rules
Complementizer (C): a word such as that in introducing a complement phrase
Complement phrase (CP): a structure such as that Mary helped George used to complete a construction beginning with a structure such as Cathy knew
Auxiliary verb (Aux): a verb such as will used with another verb

Study questions
1 The ‘all and only’ criterion means that the grammar must generate sentences and only the grammatical sentences.
2 a) The parents of the bride and (the parents of the) groom or the parents of the bride and (the) groom (without his parents)
b) a teacher of English history or a person from England who teaches history
c) planes that are flying or being the person who flies a plane
d) the students complained that they couldn’t understand to everyone or the students complained to everyone whom they couldn’t understand
3 Phrase structure rules represent deep structure.