Hand Out Mata Kuliah

SYNTAX

Session 1:
Differentiating the terms syntax, grammar, and structure by looking at several
definitions.
a. Syntax is the study of the patterns by which words are combined to make
sentences (Stryker, 1969: 21).
b. Syntax is the study of how words combine to form sentences and the rules
which govern the formation of sentences (Richard, 1985: 285).
c. Grammar is a description of the structure of a language and the way in
which linguistic units such as words and phrases are combined to produce
sentences in the language. It usually takes into account the meanings and
functions these sentences have in the overall system of the language. It
may or may not include the description of the sounds of a language
(Richard, 1985: 125).
d. A grammar is most widely defined as ‘the study of sentence structure’. A
grammar of language, from this point of view, is an account of the
language’s possible sentence structure, organized according to certain
general principles (Crystal, 1987: 88).
e. Structure refers to a sequence of linguistic units that are in a certain
relationship to one another, in a linear way. For example, one of the
structure of a Noun Phrase can be: “article + adjective + noun” as in the
friendly ape (Richard, 1985: 276-77).
f. From the definition above, we can infer that syntax is the study of
linguistic elements grouped to form syntactic structures according to the
rules or approaches of syntactic analysis.
g. Grammatical categories (in Traditional grammar) refer to Parts of
Speech, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,
intensifiers, numbers, pronouns, articles, and interjections, etc.
h. Construction is the grammatical structure of a sentence or any smaller
units, represented by a set of elements and relations between elements.
There are 3 head words to understand the concept of syntax: (1) pattern/ rules/
syntactic approach, (2) sentences/ syntactic structures, (3) words combination/
phrases/ linguistic units.
Using simple understanding, that is meant by linguistic elements here refer to
words, phrases, and clauses; syntactic structures refer to groups of words as
phrases or sentences; rules or approaches refer to the underlying linguistic
theories or procedures used to analyze language, such as structural linguistics or
transformational linguistics.
Examples:
That the man holds the key is cheerful.
The main clause is “The man is cheerful”
The sub clause is “that the man holds the key”

Session 2:
Three main kinds of Grammar we are going to discuss here: Traditional,
Structural, and Transformational Grammar
a. Traditional Grammar or Prescriptive Grammar
It is a grammar which is usually based on earlier grammars of Latin or Greek
and applied to some other language, often inappropriately. It is also called
prescriptive grammar because it tells us (prescribes) what we should say, should
write, and what we should not say or do or write. It prescribes what people
should not do with language... according to some ‘authority’. It gives us a set of
norms to follow, and tells us which “errors” to avoid. It tells us that something is
“bad” and some things are “good”. Thus. There is such a value judgement of
language whether correct or incorrect.
The term “Parts of Speech” is used to refer to the classification of words and
usually the words can be defined based on the function. They are:
1) Noun
2) Verb
3) Adjective
4) Adverb
5) Preposition
6) Article
7) Conjunction
8) Pronoun
9) Intensifier
10) Interjection

Syntax in this sense is usually referred to sentence analysis. Analyzing sentence

is based on the function such subject, prediacte, object, and complement. So, the
result of analysis of sentence is as we recognize as basic sentence patterns. The
patterns are: S-P, S-P-O, S-P-C, S-P-O-C, S-P-IO-DO, S-P-DO-(prep)-IO.
1. S-P : the criteria of P is intransitive verb
2. S-P-O, the criteria of P is transitive verb
3. S-P-O-C, the criteria of P is transitive verb
4. S-P-IO-DO, the criteria of P is transitive verb
5. S-P-DO-IO: the criteria of P is transitive verb
6. S-P-C: the criteria of P is linking verb or to be
Exercises:
1. The boys standing there hold the key.
S - P - O
2. He saw a man who is crossing the street.
3. He saw a man in the classroom.
4. He saw a man standing there
5. He saw a man striken by his opponent.
6. That a girl is pretty always amuses the guys.=S-P-O
7. We have elected the chairman of this class a boy.=S-P-O-C
8. We have painted the house green. =S-P-O-C
9. We have used the device for cutting.
10.We have remained here.=S-P-C
11.They have stood idly across the road.

1. Task: Identify the NP constructions and identify/mention what forms of

the modifiers within the NP.

Example:
The NP construction is:
1. He saw a man who is crossing the street.
2. He saw a man in the classroom.
3. He saw a man standing there.
4. He saw a man striken by his opponent.
Head Modifier
Noun 1) Adjective clause/relative clause
2) PP
3) Present participle phrase
4) Past participle phrase
5) ...etc..(continue by yourselves)

Possible titles for a research paper is

a) “The Study of the Forms and the Distribution of English
Adjectivals in ....(certain magazine)”
b) “Syntactic Analysis of the English Structure of Complementation
in ...”
c) “The Forms and Distribution of the English Adverbials of
Students’ Composition”

b. Structural Grammar or Descriptive Grammar

It is a description of language based on structural linguistics. Structural
linguistics is an approach in linguistics which stresses the importance of
language as a system and which investigates the place that linguistic units such
as sounds, words, sentences have within this system.
As a system, syntax in this sense, is mainly referred to the analysis of sentence
or any other syntactic construction using the principles: (1) English syntax is a
many-layered organization of relatively few types of basic units, (2) every
structure may be divided into its immediate constituent (often abbreviated IC’s),
almost always two, each of which may in turn be divided and subdivided until
the ultimate constituents (:words) are reached. Further, the result of analysis will
be shown as in the basic types of syntactic structures.
• This notion was proposed by the American linguist Leonard Bloomfield in
his Language, first published in 1933.
• The approach to divide a sentence up into its immediate constituents by
using binary cutting until obtaining its ultimate constituents is called
immediate constituent analysis.
• IC analysis is a hierarchical analysis showing the different constituents at
different structural levels based on the distribution of linguistic forms.

IC’s of sentence or any other grammatical units is firstly appeared within the era
of Post-Bloomfieldian. Usually native speakers’ basis of recognizing or dividing
the two immediate constituents is by intuition. The application of IC’s of
sentence into smaller units can be shown by using devices such as: chinese box,
tree diagram, or bracketing.
Examples:

c. Transformational Grammar or Generative Grammar or TGG

It is a theory of grammar which was proposed by the American linguist
Chomsky in 1957. It has since been developed by him and many other linguists.
Chomsky attempted to provide a model for the description of all languages. It
tries to show, with a system of rules, the knowledge which a native speaker of a
language uses in forming grammatical sentences.
The linguists in this period believe that the proper object of linguistic study is
the knowledge that native speakers possess, which enables them to produce and
understand sentences. This knowledge is called “competence” which is
contrasted to “performance”. That is meant by competence is ‘he speaker-
hearer’s knowledge of his language’, while performance is ‘the actual use of
language in concrete situations’.
They first study “competence”, the underlying language system. They define it
in terms of the rules a native speaker follows in producing and understanding
sentences. The rules describing competence account for all possible examples of
performance. A rule is a direction for forming a sentence or a part of a sentence,
which has been internalized by the native speaker. The linguists are interested in
constructing a grammar that will generate the structure making up an
individual’s linguistic competence. In constructing the grammar, they rely on
deduction and intuition, although the results are tested against actual samples of
language. In this view, syntax is the most basic level of analysis.
Chomsky was interested in generative systems, procedures by which a
mathematician starts with “primitive” (basic postulates) and can “generate”
(produce) proofs by combining the primitives of the system by means of the
rules of the system. Chomsky thought that languages might be generated from a
few basic principles in a similar manner. Chomsky followed the structuralists in
maintaining that phonology and syntax should be described as purely formal
systems without reference to meaning or semantics. In his view, the linguist
should attempt to formulate the rules or principles which enable a native speaker
to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences.
After investigating a finite state model from communications theory, a “finite-
state Markov process”, Chomsky investigates a “phrase structure grammar”. A
Phrase Structure Grammar or Rules (PS-rules) provides rewriting rules for
the expansion of constituents (such as sentence, noun phrase, verb phrase, etc).
For example:
S  NP + VP
NP  Det + N
VP  V + NP … etc.
Examples:

Although a Phrase Structure Grammar is more powerful models of description

than finite state grammars, it cannot economically describe processes such as
inversions, substitution, relations between sentences that are paraphrases of each
other (such as actives and passives), and relations between discontinuous
elements. All of these processes and relations can be described more effectively
in a transformational grammar. In his Syntactic Structures, Chomsky defines a
grammatical transformation as a rule that “operate on a given string … with a
given constituent structure and converts it into a new string with a new derived
constituent structure.” For example, the transformation process from an active
into a passive sentences “Bill will buy a book” becomes “A book will be bought
by Bill” can be described as:
NP1 + Aux + V + NP2 ==> NP2 + Aux + (be+-en) + V + by NP1.
The structural change indicates that the passive transformation reverses the
subject and object noun phrases, places “by” before the subject NP, and adds
“be” plus the past participle ending to the auxiliary. A double-shafted arrow is
used to show that a rule is a transformational rule rather than a phrase structure
rule.
In Chomsky’s second book “Aspects of the Theory of Syntax” (1965), he states
that “ the interrelation of semantic and syntactic rules is by no means a settled
issue” and that “there is a quite a range of possibilities that deserve serous
exploration”. That issue of the relation between syntax and semantics has
resulted in a split within the ranks of the transformationalists. Followers of
Chomsky such as Jerrold Katz and Ray Jackendoff, assert that there is a
separated semantic component in a transformational grammar whose role is
mainly interpretive. However, linguists who have developed the theory of
generative semantics assert that syntax cannot be separated from semantics and
that the role of transformations is to relate semantic representations to surface
structures. Leaders of the school of generative semantics include George Lakoff,
John Ross, and James Mc Cawley.
Today, transformational theory is in a state of flux. Consequently, different
models of transformational grammar are presented in different books and
articles. One of Chomsky’s progress of ideas can be seen as in the revelation of
the theory of government and binding, the theory of X-bar, the minimalist
theory, and so on.

Examples:

Session 3:
There are four basic types of syntactic structure: (1) syntactic structures of
modification, (2) syntactic structures of predication, (3) syntactic structures of
complementation, and (4) syntactic structures of coordination.
(1) syntactic structures of modification
The two components are the head and modifier/s, whose meaning serves
to broaden. The relationship of the two components is indicated by an
arrow (). The arrow point to its head, so the arrow may either direct to
the left or the ringt, depending to which head to direct. For example,

hungry  people work  hard 

M H H M
The head can be the parts of speech or the word classes (N, V, Adj, Adv)
while the modifier can be certain function words. The head and modifier
can be single word or group of words.
The two elements forming NP vary, such as; Adj + N, N + Adj, N + N, V
+ N, N + Adv, or N + PP.

1. Syntactic Structure of Modification

NOUN AS HEAD
The types of modifiers are:
a. Adj + N (as head)
Barbed wire
The gloomy room
Both remarkable tales
b. N (as head) + Adj
A figure vague and shadowy
A man taller than I thought
The adj following the N by the conditions: (1) that it occurs in a fixed
phrase, or as a technical vocabulary (eg. Court-martial, grace abounding,
darkness visible, fee simple), (2) the adjective is not the solitary modifier.

c. N + N (as head)
To be the head in the construction N + N is the last N, but to be the head
in the construction N + of + N + of N... is the N before the first of. To be
the modifier in this type is possessive and/ or noun-adjunct.
A child’s play
Child psychology
A dog’s life
The dog days
That women’s doctor
That woman doctor
Compare to:
Students of English of the six semester of class E
The six semester students of English

d. Ving/-ed(v3) + N(as head)

The criteria of V as the modifier of N should be participle (it can be
present/ V-ing or past/ V-ed)
A pleasing table
A rotten table
 A dining table
A leading man
To prove the modifier, we can add the word very before
participle.
A very pleasing table
*a very dining table, so dining in a dining table is neither adj
nor verb, but as a noun.
e. N (as head)+ Adv
People here
Students over there
f. N (as head)+ PP
Students in the room
The government of Indonesia
g. N (as head) + present participle/pastparticiple verb
The crouds walking there
A book owned by my friend
h. Etc.....
To conclude, in syntactic structures of modification, if the head is noun,
the forms of modifiers are ten, they are: (1) Adjective/AP, (2) Possesive,
(3) Noun Adjunct, (4) Appositive, (5) Present participle/ Present participle
phrase , (6) Past participle/ Past participle phrase , (7) to Infinitive/ to
Infinitive, (8) Adverb/ Adverbial phrase, (9) PP, and (10) Adjective
Clause. The distribution of ....

VERB AS HEAD
The types of Modifiers are:
a. Adverb eg. ...walk slowly/ usually comes
b. PP eg. ...are writing in the class
c. NP eg. ...eat a bit/ ..run a while/ ..run step by step
d. Adjective eg. ...ran wild
e. Ving/ infinitive V eg. ...stop walking/ want to know

To conclude, ....
ADJECTIVE AS HEAD
The types of Modifiers are:
a. Intensifier/ qualifier eg. ..fairly pretty, very hard
b. Adverb eg. ...extremely regrettable, ..far away,
c. Ving/V3/to infinitive verb eg. ...pleasing dark/ exhausted
slow/laugh to sneeze
 To conclude,...

ADVERB AS HEAD
The types of Modifiers are:
a. Qualifier eg. ...more quickly, ...sharply closed, very easily
b. PP eg. ...away for a week, as fast as a train,
c. Adverb eg. ..far away, uncertainly badly
d. Noun eg...some way up, a foot away
To conclude, ...

FUNCTION WORD AS HEAD (baca p. 323)

The type of Modifier is: qualifier
Eg, ...very much more/ ....rather too strong / ....not quite well
To conclude, ....

PREPOSITION AS HEAD (baca p. 324)

The types of Modifiers are:
a). Qualifiers eg. almost beneath notice
b) adverbs eg. slightly off pitch
c) nouns eg. a bit under the weather
To conclude, ....

(2) Syntactic Structures of Predication

The two components are the subject and predicate. The relationship of
the two components is indicated by P. Tanda P bisa menghadap ke kanan
atau ke kiri, yakni menghadap ke Predicate.
The commonest subjects are nouns or noun-headed structures of
modification. Single noun subject can be: adj, adv, Ving, Vo, respectively
as in the examples: handsome is as handsome does, now is too soon,
working is pleasant, to sleep is my ambition.
Subject in phrases or clauses, for examples: To South America is a long
trip, sailing a boat is my favorite hobby, food and drink can be got here,
that he did it at all has not been proved, whatever is right.
The predicate is usually a more or less complex structure or structure of
structures, with the verb at its core. The predicate can be SS of
complementation, SS of modification, or SS of coordination. Examples:
the snow was cold, the sun sets in the west, we walked and talked.
The classification of English verbs is based on: (1) person, (2) tense, (3)
phase, (4) aspect, (5) mode, (6) voice, and (7) status.
 1. Person: Except modal auxiliary, verbs have two persons: common and
third singular. There is a correlation between the subject and its verb as
this reveals in the case of concord or agreement.
eg.: he sleeps, my mother sits, as compared to: they sleep, my mother
and father sit.
2. Tense: present and past. Examples, ....
3. Phase: simple and perfect. Examples, ....
4. Aspect: simple, durative, and inchoative
Examples, simple: They walk to school, I ask you to keep silent
Durative: he is talking, she was swimming, we ought to be working
Inchoative: We got talking, let’s get going, we ought to get working
5. Mode: (1) It is formed by modal auxiliaries with the base form of the
verbs, and (2) it is formed by certain other auxiliaries with the
infinitive form of the verb. Examples,
Modal aux.: he can go, you will come, you need not worry, etc.
Other aux.: they have to go, he was going to speak, I never got to
see, etc.
6. Voice: active and passive. Examples, ....
7. Status: affirmative, interrogative, negative, and negative-interrogative.
Examples, ...

Task 2: Analyze the following constructions using chinese box.

Where he goes amused us.
P

Exercises:
1) Where he goes amused us.
A sentence “Where he goes amused us” can be analyzed by using the
approach ICs analysis which results in the divisions into two
immediate constituents: “where he goes” and “amused us”.
2) I do not know why he did that.
3) Those who sit in the corner are pretty.
4) A boy sitting calmly during my lecture
5) Does he work?

.............exercises.....

Session 4:
(3) syntactic structures of complementation
The two components are the verbal element and complement. The
relationship of the two components is indicated by C.
There are three main groups of verbal elements: linking (or copulative)
verbs, intransitive verbs, and transitive verbs.
- Linking (copulative) verbs (has complement but no passive): to
be, become, seem, remain, look, sound, taste, feel, etc.
- Intransitive verbs (has neither complement nor passive): run,
stop, sink, rise, walk, sleep, etc.
- Transitive verbs (has both complement and passive): sell, write,
buy, blow, turn, etc.
The verbal elements can be simple verb, verb- phrase, infinitive, structure
of modification, structure of coordination. Respectively they are
exemplified as in: he gives lessons, we are learning grammar, a day to be
thankful for, I never in my life said that..,we caught and ate the fish.

The kinds of complement: subjective complement, direct object, indirect

object, and objective complement. Examples: the woman is a nurse, he
found a friend, he gave his friend two books, they consider the job
finished. Implicitly, if in Traditional approach, the term complement only
refers to a word completing the meaning of noun; however, in Structural
approach, the term complement refers to a word both completing the
meaning of noun and verb.
Exercises:
1) The weather turned cold.
2) The wind blew a gate.
3) The music sounded loud.
4) The earth turns.
5) The wind is blowing.
6) The fire alarm sounded.
7) The car turned the corner.
8) The musician blew the trumpet.
9) The watchman sounds the alarm.

Task 3: Find 5 samples of sentences in any sources and analyze them

based on the concept in ICs analysis, using Chinese Box.

Exercises:
...............
 The first phase is Fortifiying Base with an Aquaffex Complex, with
Ceramide Argan and Jojoba Oil to strengthen and soften the eyelashes. The
second phase is Curling Topcoat with Flex Polymer that can curl eyelashes, with
Water Block Technology that can keep it curled for up to 24 hours.

Task 5: Analyze the constructions (the explanation of differentiating

concepts in “Commonly Misused Words) in the given sheet of paper.

For examples:
1. A spiritual or heavenly being
2. A figure formed by two lines meeting at a common point
3. Quote as an example
4. Clothing, typical style of dress
5. Etc.

(4) syntactic structures of coordination

The two components are the equivalent grammatical units. The
relationship of the two components is joined by a special kind of function
word, such as conjunctions, comma, which is indicated by small open
box.
The joining may be accomplished by: word order and prosody alone, or
with the additional help of a set of function words and phrases which we
can call coordinators. Examples; and,b ut, nor, not, or; rather than, as
well as, together with, along with; not (only)...but (also, either...or,
neither...nor, both...and.

Session 5&6: Analyses & Exercises

Read one article from certain magazines or news papers; then, identify and
analyze the constructions having the kinds of syntactic structures you know well.
Session 7:
1. X-bar theory (brief explanation)
2. Levels of category (lexical, bar , and phrasal)
3. Concept of phrase in TGG (as differentiated from Traditional one)
4. Explanation of key terms (such as: generative, hierarchy, constituents (word/
phrase), obligatory and optional constituents, etc.

Session 8:
1. Phrase-markers
2. Examples of tree diagram and key terms, such as: precedence, dominance,
nodes (terminal and non-terminal), constraint, strings, c-command, etc.
3. Exercises

Session 9:
1. Noun Phrase (full NP and small NP)
2. Evidence of small NP (explaining specifiers, modifiers)
3. Differentiating Complements and adjuncts; ambiguity and semantic identity.
4. Analyses

Session 10:
1. Other phrases (such as AP, PP, VP, and Adv P).
2. Analyses of each kinds.
3. Problems arising…

Session 11:
1. SFG (brief everview)
2. Stratifications, genres, context, metafunction, lexico-grammar, phonology-
graphology
Session 12:
Exercises on analysis.
Session 7:
1. X-bar theory (brief explanation)
X-bar theory is a component of linguistic theory which attempts to
identify syntactic features common to all languages. It claims that among
their phrasal categories, all languages share certain structural similarities,
including one known as the "X-bar", which does not appear in traditional
phrase structure rules. X-bar theory was first proposed by Chomsky
(1970)[1] and further developed by Jackendoff (1977) [2].
The letter X is used to signify an arbitrary lexical category; when
analyzing a specific utterance, specific categories are assigned. Thus, the
X may become an N for noun, a V for verb, an A for adjective, or a P for
preposition.
The term X-bar is derived from the notation representing this new
structure. Certain structures are represented by X (an X with an overbar).
Because this is difficult to typeset, this is often written as X′, using the
prime symbol. In English, however, this is still read as "X bar". The
notation XP stands for X Phrase, and is equivalent to X-bar-bar (X with a
double overbar), written X″, usually read aloud as X double bar.
 X’ theory was developed in the 1970s and the proponents of X’ syntax
voice two types of objection to Phrase Structure Syntax. Within Phrase
Structure Syntax, only two types of category are recognized: Lexical and
phrasal categories. In particular, there are no intermediate categories larger
than the word but smaller than the phrase within the system of Phrase
Structure Syntax. For further illustration:
‘this very tall girl’
(read p.92, Transformational Syntax)

2. Levels of category (lexical, bar , and phrasal)

Lexical categories are: N, V, P, A, ADV, Q, AUX, DET, DEG, etc.
Phrasal categories are: NP, VP, PP, AP, ADVP, QP, S, etc.

3. Concept of phrase in TGG (as differentiated from Traditional one)

The term phrase in TGG is used to mean simply ‘a set of elements which
form a constituent’, with no restriction on the number of elements that the
set may or must contain.
4. Explanation of key terms (such as: generative, hierarchy (= in an order),
constituents (word/ phrase), obligatory and optional constituents, etc.
The term generative is taken from generation which is analogous to a
kinship relation, i.e. when there are grand parents, parents, children, and
grand children; there is a generation from the oldest to the youngest.
Sentence becomes the highest level, below is the level of phrase, the lower is
lexicon, and word.

Session 8:
The objectives: besides students are able to make analysis by using phrase
markers (= tree diagram), they are able to make an appropriate linguistic
description of the syntactic analysis.
1. Phrase-markers is a type of graph consisting of a set of points (called
nodes) each carrying a label, with each pair of nodes in the graph being
related either by a precedence relation, or by a dominance relation.
2. Examples of tree diagram and key terms, such as: types of relation (:
precedence, and dominance), nodes (: terminal and non-terminal), constraint
(=well-formed condition), strings, c-command, subordinate, etc.

NP AUX VP
 Det N V NP
Det N

The man will hit the ball

For example:

The AUX node immediately precedes the VP node; it also immediately

precedes the V-node; and it also immediately precedes the word (: the last
string) hit; but it doesn’t immediately precede (though it does precede) the
PP node, or the word ball.

S-node dominates all the other nodes in the tree; but it only immediately
dominates the NP-node, the Aux-node, and the VP-node. The VP-node
doesn’t dominate the NP-node and the AUX-node; it dominates the V-node,
the NP-node, the Det-node, the N-node, the words the and ball, but the VP-
node only immediately dominates the V-node and the NP-node.

C-command…? Read p. 114- …

To say X c-commands Y is to say that X is not subordinate to Y, so that X
does not occur at a lower level in the tree than Y.

3. Exercises on certain constructions

Session 9:
1. Noun Phrase (full NP and small NP)
2. Evidence of small NP (explaining specifiers, modifiers)
3. Differentiating Complements and adjuncts; ambiguity and semantic identity.
4. Analyses on NP constructions.

Session 10:
1. Other phrases (such as AP, PP, VP, and AdvP).
2. Analyses on AP, PP, VP, or AdvP
3. Problems arising…may lead to cases for students’ research.

Session 11:
3. SFG (brief explanations)
4. Stratifications, genres, context, metafunction, lexico-grammar, phonology-
graphology
Session 12:
Exercises on analysis.