The Study of Language

(SYNTAX)
Presented by:
GLADYZ ARTJANE Q. FLORES
ENGLISH SYNTAX

Theoretical Grammar

Definition of syntax

Structural Grammar

Definition and types of Grammar

Phrase-Structure Grammar

Generative Grammar

Generative Grammar

Deep and Surface Structure

Transformational Grammar

Structural Ambiguity

Stratificational Grammar

Tree Diagram

Communicative Grammar

Symbols used in Syntactic Analysis

Phrase structural rules

Lexical rules

Movement rules

Complement phrase

Recursion
SYNTAX

Greek word syntaxis which means

arrangement.
It studies combinations of words including wordstructure and sentence-structure.

GENERATIVE GRAMMAR

A set of formal rules are used to generate or

define the membership of an infinite set of
grammatical sentences in a language.

This grammar attempts to produce all and only

grammatical sentences of language.

Consider these sentences:

(1) You close the door.

(2) The door is closed by you.
(3) Close the door!

GRAMMAR

SURFACE STRUCTURE defined as the syntactic

form they take as actual sentences.

Greek word Grammatika or Grammatkia which

may be translated as the art of writing.

DEEP STRUCTURE underlying abstract

representation of the sentence.

Incorporated the whole study of language.

Consider these sentences:

TYPES OF GRAMMAR

Annie bumped into a man with an umbrella.

Traditional Grammar

I saw a man with a Telescope.

Prescriptive Grammar

Annie bumped into a man with an umbrella.

Descriptive Grammar

Possible Meanings:

Sentence-Interpretative Grammar

1. Annie had an umbrella and she bumped into a

Sentence-Producing Grammar

Reference Grammar

2. Annie bumped into a man when he happened to be

carrying an umbrella.

Contrastive Grammar

I saw a man with a Telescope.

man.

Possible Meanings:

1. I saw a man using a telescope.

Phrase Structure Rules

2. I saw a man holding a telescope.

Structural Ambiguity

Distinct underlying interpretations that have to be

represented differently in deep structure.

Tree Diagram

A tree diagram is a way of representing the

hierarchical nature of a structure in a graphical
form.

Tree diagram provides us a visual representation

of the constituents of the corresponding
expression.

E.g. A child can kick a football.

Lexical Rules

As we know, phrase structure rules generate

structures. To turn those structures into recognizable
English, we also need lexical rules that specify which
words can be used when we rewrite constituents such as
N.

Symbols used in Tree Diagram

Movement rules

It is easy to represent Declarative forms in tree diagrams.

S - Sentence

NP- Noun Phrase

PN- Proper Noun

N-Noun

VP-Verb Phrase

Adv-Adverb

V-Verb

Adj-Adjective

Prep-Preposition

Art-Article

Movement rules

It is easy to represent Declarative forms in tree diagrams.

e.g. You will help Mary.\

Movement rules
You will help Mary.

Will you help Mary?

Recursion

Examples:

John believed that Cathy knew that Mary helped

George

a. ab
b. aabb
c. aaabbb
a. The man [who the girl saw is my friend
b. The man [who the girl [who sneezed] saw] is
my friend.
c. The man [who the girl [who Peter [who knows] met]
saw] is my friend.

Consider the sentences

Mary helped George.

Cathy knew that Mary helped George.

John believed that Cathy knew that Mary helped

George.

Recursion

The rules of grammar will also need the crucial

property of recursion. In this, we can put
sentences inside other sentences and these
sentences can be generated inside another
sentences.

Complement Phrase

Mary helped George.

Cathy knew that Mary helped George.

John believed that Cathy knew that Mary helped

George.

Complement Phrase