LECTURE 1 - examples What we analyze in syntax is a standard

construction – phrase, clause or sentence. The

expression of a complete thought is an utterance if
There are differences between written spoken, or a sentence if written. For the purposes of
communication and spoken communication in this course we will refer to sentences.
any language. We express what we mean by relying
on different mechanisms (compare the use of body Phrase – the unit that is built on syntactic
language, face mimic, gestures, intonation, relationships between a dominant word and its
contraction, hesitation, interruption, repetition, complementation. (NP, VP, AdjP, AdvP, PP)
interjections, onomatopoeia, deictic words, hedges, Clause – the smallest unit that is built on syntactic
Vocatives, bad language, relying on context in relationships around a predication with any verb
spoken interaction, and the use of writing form (finite or non-finite)
conventions such as paragraph, title, footnotes, Sentence – the expression of a complete thought,
cohesive devices, text layout, fixed formulae, page marked by a first word written with a capital letter,
numbers, headers, footers, annotations, punctuation, and punctuation. It contains at least one clause
grammatical organization, graphic elements etc.). whose verb is always finite (matrix clause).
Sentences represent units of complete meaning,
even if the meaning is recovered from ellipsis
Discourse elements: (grammatical omission, missing parts of the
sentence such as parts of noun phrases or parts of
Inserts: yeah, okay, sorry the verb phrase). See Quirk p.260-261.
Deictic elements: pronouns (he, it, they, one etc.),
adverbs (there, around etc.) Ellipsis: _ Can’t come tonight., _ You John?,
Hedges (show the speaker’s preferred vagueness in We do the same as you _, I know who wrote that
intended meaning): like, stuff like that, and that, but not when _., We managed to sail through, _
odd, something, whatever. barely., They are designed to lift cars, but not _
Fragments of utterances/sentences: Really? boats.
Whom to? Nice!
Attention-signaling forms: Hey, hey!, Say, You What we do not analyze is syntactic non-clausal
know, elements – elements whose structure does not
Vocatives (Vocative case): Dad, baby, dude, Sir, resemble a clause with a finite verb (Subject + Verb
Your Highness, dear(est) + verb complementation), whose meaning is
Interjections: oh, wow, ugh therefore not recoverable (that is why we do not
Expletives: damn, hell, my foot analyze them).
Hesitators: er, um
Repeats: I – I, it – it Non-clausal units: anything that does not
Repairs: Call it - Call her Suzy. resemble, have, or belong to, a finite clause (the
Lexical bundles (fixed constructions/chunks): not finite verb must be completely recoverable), such
in the least, Never mind, as:
Prefaces: Suzy, she’s a nice clerk. London, that’s a
nice place. Condensed questions: You, too? More sugar?
Tags: You know him, don’t you? Milk?
Condensed directives: Upstairs! No whining!
Condensed statements: Much better., Too much
sugar.
See above, inserts, hedges, fragments, attention-
signaling forms, greetings, Vocatives,
interjections, expletives, hesitators, repeats,
repairs, lexical bundles, prefaces, tags etc.
We analyze sentences that are complete or have Syntactic types: Regardless of the model (see
fully recoverable elements. Also, we analyze above): Declaratives, Interrogatives, Imperatives,
sentences that are built according to one of the Exclamatives – including irregular sentences
seven canonic patterns – all their components are
obligatory to the meaning of the predication (not Discourse types (purpose): Statements, Questions,
optional elements): Directives, Exclamations

SV It is raining. It has been raining for days. It

rained yesterday. It had been raining for a few hours Irregular sentences are recoverable in meaning,
when we finally decided to find shelter. It will rain therefore analyzable:
tomorrow. If it’s cold enough it will rain even if not
all night. When you turn the knob like this the tap a) Formulaic subjunctive (with or without
leaks behind the sink. If you had been more careful, inversion): Long live the Queen! God forbid!
the tap would not have leaked where you’d just b) Irregular wh-questions: Why me? Where to go
fixed it. We have met. now?
SVO I love books. Since humans cannot rely on c) Subordinate clauses used as sentences
photosynthesis for nourishment, they must eat (exclamations): If only I’d locked the door!, To
whatever the food chain provides. When we were think that he could be our neighbour!, If that isn’t
on our very brief honeymoon we met a lovely Michael!,
couple of artists who agreed to make a portrait of d) Proverbs: The more the merrier., Out of sight,
our daughter. out of mind.
SVC She seems beautiful. (Subject Complement)
Again, you are right. Because water lacked both in
the atmosphere and in the deeper recesses of the
soil, life became impossible on the continent. You Work on the following two texts:
should get serious about your education this year.
SVA I live next door. (Adverbial) As soon as the How many sentences? How many clauses?
clock struck seven we arrived at the gate. Even if
you don’t see the atrium yet, you will get through Which pattern (sentence, clauses) of the seven
the first corridor. above?
SVOO Dennis gave her a ring. More often than
not, children tell their parents lies because they are a) To be honest, I never wanted to buy such a
afraid to lose the treats or privileges they know they lavish, yes, house on the beach. But, no! Your wife
receive for being good. Before you mentioned the wants a beach house, you get her a beach house.
contract you asked me that question about the soil Never mind. I’ll leave it to her in August just
near the beach. enough for me to join my friends in the Amazon.
SVOC We found the hotel rather expensive
(Object Complement) When the committee finished
counting the votes, the board quite predictably b) And then, when you leave the north, turning
declared Michael the new CEO. Having surpassed west, to the wooded lands that rise in the distance,
all the hardships that the dictator put in our to the old motherland of the auroch, then, the
country’s way, this nation has finally elected its deeper you go into a world of legends and strong
beloved son governor and first citizen. In front of scents of the past, the higher that mountain will rise,
the entire clan, the bishop anointed James King and the more often you will hear its name like that
over all the allied clans. of a primordial reality to which all the others relate.
SVOA The machine inserts the filler into the
depressurized cavity. (Object + Adverbial). This car
will get you to Oakwood. Before the barrier goes up
you put the token in the slot in order to identify
yourself.