SYNTAX

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 CHAPTER ONE

DEFINITION OF SYNTAX

Syntax is a branch of Linguistics which, scientifically, studies sentence

patterns in a language. Every language has a pattern. It is this pattern
that is studied and explained in syntax. As a result of this, it is possible
to talk about the syntax of X- language or the syntax of Y-language. For
example, we can talk of the syntax of English, the syntax of Yoruba, the
syntax to French, the syntax of German, and so on. Syntax (which
literally means 'arranging together') is conceived as an aspect of
grammar that is concerned essentially with the native speaker's
competence along the dimension of sentence gen- creation and
comprehension (see Yusuf and Oyebade 1989:69). This branch of
Linguistics has been perceived differently by linguistic scholars. But all
of the perspectives seem to point to one basic fact - that syntax studies
how sentences are constructed and understood. Thus, in Babatunde
(1997:13) syntax is presented as that branch of Linguistics which

..accounts for the structure of the units of

grammatical analysis that are larger

than the word: phrases, clauses and sentences.

According to him, Syntax studies the rules which an individual using a

language must internalize for him to generate meaningful utterances in
the language. Lyons (1968:375) asserts that Syntax describes:
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...a set of rules which accounts for the distribution of word-forms
throughout the sentences of the language in terms of the permissible
combinations of classes of word-forms.

It is implied in Lyons' definition that the words constitute significant

units in sentence formation. The reference made to rules in the
definition implies that words are not haphazardly combined while
constructing sentences. Different forms of words are relatively
distributed according to the rules that govern the language. All these
facts have been established in earlier works of linguists like Chomsky
and Stock well.

Chomsky (1957) asserts that syntax is the study of the principles and
processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages.
He goes further to claim that the syntactic investigation of a given
language has as its goal the construction of a grammar that can be
viewed as a device of some sort for producing the sentences of the
language under analysis.

Stock well (1975) claims that syntax studies the various aspects of how
sentences are formed and how they are understood (i.e. interpreted
semantically) in particular languages. From the foregoing, it can be seen
that the definitions especially the last two are complementary. While
the former emphasizes construction (i.e. now different words are
systematically combined to form a structural string), the focuses the

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process of sentence formation and meaning. The following deductions
can be made from the various definitions:

a. the scope of syntax is not limited to sentence construction,

words are not arbitrarily combined in the process of sentence
formation,

b. meaning is an essential aspect of syntax,

c. every language has its own syntactic structure, and syntax is all
about rules.
d. Let us consider the following structure:
i. Peter bought a pen
ii. Bought pen a peter
iii. A pen was bought by Peter.
iv. It was a pen that Peter bought.
v. It was Peter that bought a pen
All, except (ii) above, are English sentences. Structure (i) seems to be
the most basic. It follows the canonical word-order (S + V+0) i.e. Subject
+ Verb + Object, in English. Sentence (ii) is not an English sentence. Its
structure violates the rule(s) of sentence formation in English. It is, of
course, a meaningless string. This further confirms our earlier assertion
that words are not arbitrarily combined while constructing sentences.
In fact, no language allows sentences to be formed without recourse to
the rules of the language.

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Sentences (iii -v) are all grammatically well - formed, and meaningful.
They are related to sentence (i); the sentences are actually derived from
sentence (i) through certain syntactic processes. Thus, sentence (ii) is a
passivized version of (i) while (iv) and (v) are topicalized versions of
the same sentence i.e. sentence (i). In sentence (iv), the object i.e. a pen
is focused while in sentence (v) the subject i.e., 'Peter' is focused so as to
emphasize what is bought, and the performer of the action, respectively.
The effort is really to emphasize that 'it was a pen (not a pencil) that
Peter bought and show that "it was Peter (not James) that bought a pen.
It can be Seen that syntax studies forms and meaning of sentences i.e.
how sentences are produced and interpreted. Syntax provides the
mechanical device for analyzing and interpreting structures such as the
ones given in (i-v) above.
At this juncture, it is pertinent to distinguish between Syntax and
Grammar .The two have been interchangeably used in some quarters.
The two are not the same. One is subsumed in the other. Syntax can be
regarded as an aspect of grammar.
Grammar is the study (or an embodiment) of all the rules that govern
the combination of- sounds, formation of words, construction of
sentences, interpretation and understanding of utterances in language.
From this angle or perspective, it can be inferred that Grammar is
simply a kind of omnibus term employed to refer to series of activities,
and all the rules required in generating utterances in a language.
Sentence construction is just a component of the entire rule-system of a
language. And, sentence construction is a linguistic enterprise as
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accounted for by syntax, It, therefore, seems illogical to equate Syntax
with Grammar.
We notice, through Syntax, that the native speaker of a language has
ability; he can produce and understand sentences that have never been
said or heard before. The native speaker is able to determine the
grammaticality or correctness of a sentence. He is able to discern
contradictions, ambiguities and other structural anomalies.
Syntax can simply be conceived as the study of rules that govern how
different words are combined to form structural strings otherwise
called sentences. Let us consider yet another set of structures to further
demonstrate the relevance of Syntax.
vi. Go.

vii. *I am go.

viii. I am going.

ix. *She loved himself.

x. a. The hunter killed a goat.

b. A goat was killed by the hunter.

xi. *The man who died last year will address a press
conference tomorrow.

xii. All students should submit the assignment which they

have done in my office.

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Syntax explains that what we have in (vi) above is not really a word. It
is, after all, a sentence derived from the under lying structure You go'.
The subject "you' has been deleted through a syntactic process leaving
behind the word 'go, Structure (vii) is ungrammatical. The (+ing]
morpheme expected to be suffixed to the main verb is missing but this
is provided in (viii). The structure in (ix) is anomalous in that the
subject pronoun does no agree with the object pronoun (not in terms of
number or person) as far as gender is concerned. The subject is
feminine while the object is masculine. The correct form is 'She loved
herself.

The structures in (xa) and (xb) are grammatical and meaningful. (xb) is
a transform of (xa). The structure in (xi) entails some degree of
contradiction; a dead person cannot or should not be expected in a
press conference. Sentence (xii) is ambiguous; it is susceptible to two
interpretations as:

a. Submit the assignment to my office

b. Submit the assignment done in my office (possibly in contrast to

the one that was done in the class).

All these insights and structural analyses are accomplished through the
study of Syntax.

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CHAPTER THREE

SYNTACTIC THEORIES

A theory is a model that explains the principle underlying an art,

concept or science. it is a well-thought out position usually articulated
and put forward to systematically explain the facts surrounding an art
or concept. A theory can be seen as a kind of compendium of rules set to
explain a particular system. Theories are expected to be systematic and
scientific. A given theory should be explanatorily and descriptively
adequate in dealing with issues, concepts or an art. With particular
reference to language, a theory should be able to account for the system
and entire rules that govern the structure and usage of language.

There are different syntactic theories or models. They include

Traditional Grammar, Structural Grammar, Systemic Grammar and
Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG). This chapter reflects on
the nature and philosophical orientation of each of the theories.

Traditional Grammar

Traditional Grammar is otherwise referred to as Classical Grammar,

Historically, this model can be traced to the period of the Greeks of the
5th century B.C. At that period, grammar was conceived not necessarily
as a linguistic concept but as part of philosophy.

There are two major schools of thought, namely the naturalists and
conventionalists. The former believe that the words in a language
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naturally represent the objects they stand for. The latter oppose the
view (of the naturalists) claiming that there is no (natural) relationship
between the word of a language and what it stands for. In this latter
belief is that meaning is conventionally imposed on words.

In Traditional Grammar, methods of analysis are premised largely on

the system and rules of the classical languages such as -Latin and Greek.
At that period, the English language was made to follow the rules of
Latin.

Traditional Grammar is inflexible. It places absolute premium on

established norms relating to what is adjudged right or wrong.

Traditional Grammar is essentially basic. I is the foundation or

springboard for the development of other theories.

Traditional Grammar cannot explicitly or adequately account for the

numerous ways in which the systems of natural languages function.

In Traditional Grammar, much emphasis is placed on meaning.

Grammatical concepts are defined notionally. The Grammar is not
scientific in its investigations.

Structural Grammar

Structuralism developed between 1930 and 1950, Structural Grammar

was expounded by an American linguist-Leonard Bloomfield, a
structuralist.

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Structuralism is about the belief that language is composed of
morphemes in a sequence. In structuralism, it is believed that the
grammar of a language is constructed from its own systems, not from
the facts of another language. This is major reaction against the view of
the Traditional Grammarians.

Structural Grammar places premium on the spoken form at the expense

of the written form of language. The Grammar is essentially descriptive
as against the Classical Grammar which is prescriptive, It is scientific in
its investigation

Transformational Generative Grammar

The beginning of Transformational Generative Grammar can be traced

to Noam Chomsky in 1957. Tue theory was developed to serve as a
reaction to the tenet of structuralism. Citing Lyons (1968:1 55). Eka
(1994) characterizes the Grammar as a theory

..which describes a corpus of sentences by projecting them upon,

or treating them as a sample of larger set of sentences

The Grammar is not only generative (i.e. speakers are capable of

producing a large number of sentences in a given language) but also
transformational (i.e. basic structural or sentence patterns, through re-
arrangement, adjustment or movement, can undergo changes). For
example the sentence Chioma killed a goat" has the basic pattern
Subject + Verb + Object (SVO). This sentence is in the active voice. This

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sentence can be transformed into a passive voice 'A goat was killed by
Chioma'. In that case, the basic pattern has been reversed and changed
to Object+ Verb + Subject (OVS). In this conversion process, the object
has been moved to the subject position, and the subject to the object
position. As a by process, an auxiliary 'was' and the word by are
introduced to give effect to the structural change.

The elements are introduced specifically to make room for cohesive

grammatical relationship among the word. After all, if we allow 'A goat
killed Chioma' to stay, it will not serve as the correct paraphrase or
transformed version o: the rather basic sentence Chioma killed a goat' If
it is A goat killed Chioma", then it is another sentence. It is not the same
thing as 'Chioma killed a goat

Transformational Generative Grammar recognizes the following levels

of representation: Deep Structure(DS), Surface Structure (SS) and
Transformational Component (TC). The two levels, Deep Structure and
Surface Structure, have been explained clearly in Eka (1994: 21)
According to him:

The term surface structure refers to those aspects of sentences which

can be determined through an examination of the ways they (the
sentences) are spoken or writ ten Falk (1978) explains that surface
structure is made up of concrete syntactic form the form in which
constituents occur in actual utterances.

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The deep structure on the other hand refers to the basic (underlying,
remote source or original) meaning of the structure of given sentence.

Eka claims further that the meaning of a sentence is got from its deep
structure; the form of a sentence is derived from its surface structure. It
is, however, important to add that the deep structure and surface
structure are related through a number of transformational syntactic
rules contained within the Transformational Component. The foregoing
information can be represented diagrammatically as follows:

Transformational
Component

Deep Structure
Surface Structure

(Basic/Source) (Actual Utterance)

The three levels can be illustrated using the sentence "Peter trusts
himself”

DS: Peter trusts Peter

(The two nouns (Peter), one in the subject position and

the other in the object position, are co-referential. That is,
they are the same. The have the same reference).
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TC: Peter trusts him

(The noun (Peter) in the object-position is converted to a

pronoun). Hence, the structure Peter trust him'.
Thereafter, the reflexive morpheme (self) is attached to
the object pronoun. Hence, 'Peter trusts himself’.

SS: Peter trusts himself.

(actual utterance)

The transformational component is handled extensively in Chapter

Four.

Phrase Structure Grammar (PSG)

Phrase Structure Grammar is all about the recursive rule -system that
re-writes abstract classes as a sequence of sub-classes and that each of
these sub-classes is re-written as a sequence of its sub-classes until the
level of actual words is reached or attained.

Phrase Structure Grammar regarded as an improvement on the

inadequacies of Traditional Grammar, is also considered to be relevant
in' Transformational Grammar.

This type of Grammar employs phrase markers and tree diagrams in its
explanations of sentence structures. The phrase markers (P-markers)
include:

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S (Sentence)

NP (Noun Phrase)

VP (Verb Phrase)

PP (Prepositional Phrase)

Adj (Adjective)

Det (Determiner)

N (Noun)

VB/V (Verb): MV (Main Verb)

P (Preposition)

Aux (Auxiliary)

Art (Article)

Gen (Genitive)

Quant (Quantifier)

IP (Infinitive Phrase)

TA (Tense-Aspect)

Perf (Perfective)

Prog (Progressive)
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 Poss (Possessive)

Dem (Demonstrative)

All of these are given considerable attention in Chapter Five. The

starting point for the rule-system is the largest abstract class the one
that includes all others. Tree diagrams are also employed to graphically
represent the hierarchical relationship among the words in the
structure, The phrase markers which serve as category symbols are
hierarchically positioned at various nodes showing immediate
constituents, intermediate constituents, contiguity and principle of
dominance, For example, the sentence 'Chris ate bread' can be
presented on a tree as in (a) below:

In (a) above, 'S dominates all of NP, AUX and VP: VP in turn dominates
Vb and VP, and NP dominates N. NP and VP are sister-nodes. They are
immediately dominated by 'S'. Let us consider yet another sentence.
The sentence is "The teacher loves his student'. This sentence contains
more words. The tree diagram is as shown in (b):

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16
 CHAPTER FOUR

SYNTACTIC TRANSFORMATIONS

Transformation means ‘change'. Transformation, a prominent

component of the Transformational Generative Grammar, refers to the
conversion of structures or elements from one level (or state) to
another. Transformation, according to Crystal (1991: 357) is:

…...a formal linguistic operation which enables two levels of structural

representation to be placed in correspondence, A transformational rule
(T- rule) consists of a sequence a sequence of symbols
which is re- written as another sequence, according to certain
conventions

Transformations generally have the following patterns or mani

festations:

a. Movement of structure(s), word(s) or element(s) from on e

position to another

Example:

i. That It is certain // that he will come.

ii. It is certain// that he will come

Sentence (ii) above is a paraphrase of sentence (i) by the simple

movement of hat he will come' from the sentence-initial position to the

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sentence-final position. In addition, a house- keeping pronoun It is
inserted in the subject position.

b. Insertion of new structure(s), word(s) or element(s) in a

sentence.

Example:

iii. I will go.

iv. I will not go.

Sentence (iii) is transformed to sentence (iv) by the insertion of the

negative clement (Neg-element), that is not.

c. deletion of certain words(s), or clement(s) from a sentence.

Example:

v. Get out

Sentence (v) above is transformed from You get out'. By implication, the
underlying 'You' which is the subject of the sentence has been deleted.

d. Replacement of some words(s) or element(s). This is other-wise

called substitution.

Example:

vi. Steve is dancing.

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 vii. He is dancing.

In sentence (vii) above, the subject pronoun He' is used to replace Steve
which appears in Sentence (vi).

All (a)-(d) above can be summarized as: (a) Movement, (b) Insertion, (c)
Deletion and (d) Substitution.

Syntactic transformations are essentially the various mechanical

processes of usage exploited by speakers or users of a language. These
processes are accounted for or represented by syntactic rules. For ease
of reference, the syntactic rules are called by the names of the syntactic
processes they represent. For example, the syntactic process of
reflexivization is accounted for by the transformational rule known as
Reflexivization Rule.

All the rules reside within the transformational component. This

component is very powerful in TGG because it is capable of changing
words, elements or structures. The well-known transformational rules
include:

1. Passivization

2. Reflexivization

3. Pronominalization

4. Relativization

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 5. Extraposition

6. Topicalization

7. Subject-Auxiliary Inversion

8. Dative Shift

9. Imperative Deletion

10. Agent Deletion

11. Equi-NP Deletion

12. Comp. Deletion

13. Do-Insertion

14. Neg. Insertion

15. To-Insertion

16. Preposition Deletion

17. Expletive It-insertion

In the subsequent discussions, we reflect on the nature and functions of

some of these rules, They are also illustrated.

Passivization

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This is the rule that converts a sentence from the active voice to a
passive voice. In doing this, there is a kind of structural change which
moves the subject to the object position, end the object to the subject
position. Certain elements like 'by' and 'aux' are introduced.

Example:

1. The police arrested the thief. (active voice)

2. The thief was arrested by the police. (passive voice)

Sentence (i)is converted through pasivization rule to sentence (ii).

Reflexivization

This rule applies to object-pronoun. This specifically affects the object

pronoun that is.co-referential with, the subject-NP. Reflexivization
makes the object pronoun to reflect the subject pronoun, And, it does
this by simply adding self- morphemne to the object pronoun. Such a
reflexivized pronoun becomes recapitulatory.

For this rule to apply, there must be two NPs that are co-referential in
the structure. The second of the two co-referential NPs must be a
pronoun. This implies that the rule of rule, of reflexivization is
immediately preceded by the rule of pronominalization.

Example

i. Davis praise Davis (Deep Structure)

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 ii. Davis praised himself. (Surface Structure)

Sentence (IV) is derived from (iii).

In the deep structure, Davis' in the subject-position is co-referential

with 'Davis' in the object position. With the application of
pronominalization rule, 'Davis' in the object position becomes 'him'. At
this stage, we have an intermediate structure Davis praise him'. We
cannot stop at this stage of the analysis because him', as it stands, aoes
not seem to share the same reference with 'Davis-the subject: If it is left
like this, it could be interpreted that "him' refers to another person.

But with the application of reflexivization, the self- morpheme is

suffixed to him' thereby rendering it as himself. Hence, the surface
structure reading Davis praised himself" which is actually derived from
the deep structure 'Davis praise Davis".

Agent Deletion

The rule of Agent Deletion deletes the subject of a sentence in the object
position. For this rule to apply, there must have been passivization
which, of course, makes it mandatory for subject and object to swap
positions such that we have the subject (i.e., agent) located in the object'
position. Agent Deletion rule, therefore, deletes the subject that situates
in the object position. The output structure looks as if the sentence does
not have an object, and the object that' resides in the subject position
looks like the subject of the sentence.

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Example:

The thief had been arrested'. This structure is derived from the
underlying 'Somebody had arrested the thief.

The intermediate structure achieved through passivization, and before

Agent Deletion is ‘The thief had been arrested by somebody' With the
application of Agent Deletion, the structure 'by somebody' is deleted.
Hence, the surface structure which reads: The thief had been arrested'.
This is to say that from:

VA. Somebody had arrested the thief,

VB. The thief had been arrested by somebody

VC. The thief had been arrested….

structure (vi) The thief had been arrested is derived through (vb) and
(vc).

Imperative Deletion.

This is very similar to the rule of Agent Deletion in that it is also about
subject deletion process. But the environment of the application of the
rule is quite different from that of Agent Deletion. In the case of
imperative Deletion, the subject of a sentence is deleted in the subject
position. The output structure is a command or imperative. For
example, the surface structure sentence 'shut the door' is actually
derived from the deep structure. You shut the door". With the
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application of the rule, ‘You’ which is the underlying subject of the
sentence, is dropped, leaving out a command: shut the door.

Hence, from:

vii. You shut the door,

viii. Shut the door

is derived. Sentence (viii) is derived from (vii).

Extraposition

Example:

From:

Extraposition is all about movement. A part of a sentence is moved and

attached to another, part. It happens usually to a sentence having an
embedded structure. The embedded structure can be detached, and
attached to the other part of the sentence. For example, it can be from
the end to the initial part of a sentence.

ix. That the team lost the match // pained me.

x. It pained me // that the team lost the match

is derived. Sentence (x) is derived from (ix).

Subject-Auxiliary Inversion

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This is a question-formation rule. In the process, subject and auxiliary
swap positions such that the subject moves to the auxiliary position and
vice versa.

Example:

From:

xi. He can go.

xii. Can he go?

Negative Insertion

This is a rule that inserts NEG-element, NOT, and attaches it to the

auxiliary.

Example:

From:

xiii. I will go,

we can derive, through a rule that inserts NEG under the auxiliary

xiv. I will not go.

is derived, through subject- auxiliary inversion rule.

Sentence (xiv) is derived from (xiii).

Equi-Np Deletion
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This is fully expressed as Equivalent NP Deletion. This is a deletion rule,
a two-clause or multi- clause rule that deletes the second of two equal
NPs.

Example:

From the deep structure:

xv. He try // that he invite John,

we derive:

xvi. He tried to invite John.

In (xv) above, there are two underlying co-referential NPs he split by an

introduced complimentizer (comp) represented by that'. The second of
the two equal NPs is normally deleted. This rule is sequel to the
application of the rule of complimentizer deletion (Comp- Deletion). It
should be noted, however, that the three relevant rules that apply in the
derivation of (xvi) from (xv) are:

a) Comp-Deletion

b) Equi-NP Deletion

c) To-insertion

Topicalization

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This rule is employed to bring a particular word or element of a
sentence into focus.

Example:

The sentence:

(xvii) James bought a car'

can, through topicalization, give rise to

(a) It was James that bought a car.

(i.e. it was James, not Dan that bought a car).

James' is under focus.

(b) It was a car that James bought.

(i.e. it was a car, not a bicycle, that James bought).

'Car' is under focus,

In the remaining segment of this chapter, some sentences are presented

to illustrate the application of some of the rules. In doing this, we
employ the following keys:

SD: Structural Description, i.e. input

SC: Structural Change, i.e. output

The following sentences are presented for illustration:

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 (a) Musa was slapped by Shehu

(b) He was murdered.

(c) Olu gave Tunde the book.

(d) Chike loves himself.

(e) Mind the glass.

(f) Must you eat everything?

(g) I will not accept it

Let us see how the above structures are derived through syntactic rules,
i.e. how the syntactic rules apply.

a. Musa was slapped by Shehu.

(Rule = passivization)

x NP Aux Vp NP y
SD: 1 2 3 4 5 6 = By passivization
SC: 1 5 3 4 2 6

b. He was murdered.

(Rule = Agent Deletion, preceded, of course, by passivization).

x Np Aux VP NP y
I. SD: 1 2 3 4 5 6 = By
passivization
SC: 1 5 3 4+by 2 6

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II. SD: 1 5 3 4+by 2 6 = By Agent
Deletion
SC: 1 5 3 4 Ø Ø 6
c. Olu gave Tunde the book.
(Rule -Preposition Deletion. preceded by Dative Shift)
x NP Aux VP NP PP NP y
I. SD: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 =
By Dative Shift
SC: 1 2 3 4 7 6 5 8
II. SD: 1 2 3 4 7 6 5 8
=By Prep. Deletion
SC: 1 2 3 4 7 Ø 5 8
d. Chike loves himself.
(Rule = Retlexivization, preceded by Pronominalization)
x NP Aux VP NP y
I. SD: 1 2 3 4 5 6
SC: 1 2 3 4 Pron 6 =
By Pronom.
II. SD: 1 2 3 4 Pron 6 =
By Reflex.
SC: 1 2 3 4 Pron + Self 6
e. Mind the glass.
(Rule = Imperative deletion)
x NP Aux VP NP y
SD: 1 2 3 4 5 6 = By Imp. Deletion
SC: 1 Ø 3 4 5 6

f. Must you eat everything?

(Rule = Subject-Auxiliary Inversion)
x NP Aux VP NP y
SD: 1 2 3 4 5 6 = By Subj-Aux
Inversion
SC: 1 3 2 4 5 6

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 g. I will not accept it.
(Rule - Negative Insertion)

x NP Aux VP NP y
SD: 1 2 3 4 5 6 = By Neg.
Insertion
SC: 1 2 3+NEG 4 5 6

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 CHAPTER FIVE

PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES AND TREE DIAGRAMS

In Chapter Three, we have already alluded to phrase structure rules

(PSR) and the relevance of tee diagram. In this chanter, the phrase
structure rules

Sample tree diagrams of some English structure are indicated below:

S = NP + AUX + VP

NP = (Det) +N

VP = V+(NP) (PP) (Adv)

PP = P +NP

- Article: (definite), a/an (indefinite)

Det =
- Demonstrative: this/these: that/those
- Your, his, mine, their
- Possessive: my.
- Genitival: Jane's, John's, and Tayo’s
- Quantifier: two, three, one, many, more, much, third,
fifth, second etc
- Tense-Aspect (present/past)
Aux = - Modal: can, must, will, would, could, may
- Perfective: have + en
- Progressive: be + ing

In an NP, the head-word, i.e. a noun represented as N is a compulsory

element. In a VP, the obligatory element is the verb, i.e. V. In an Aux, the

31
obligatory element is the Tense - Aspect, i.e. TA. We will endeavor to
present the tree diagrams of some English structures

(a) Those two young boys in the white house

(b) My brother’s many cars

(c) The human language

(d) Joel has arrived

(e) Peter like bread

(f) The small boy have been writing his second exam

(g) Yemi danced

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Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliaries are helping-verbs (to the main verbs). An auxiliary normally

precedes the verbs it helps. This condition, however, is not applicable to
question transformation as in Can you hear me? where the subject and
the auxiliary arc inverted Auxiliaries are divisible into two primary and
modal. For the primary auxiliaries, we have the following: has, have,
had, is, am, are, was, were, do, does and did The modal auxiliaries
consist of: may, can, could., would, should, might, will, shall and ought
to. Note, however, that certain verbs are ambivalent (or suspicious
items). They are so-called because they function as either main verb or
auxiliary verb. Such items include: is, was, are, were, does, do, did, has,
have, and had

Consider the following usages:

i. (a) The man is // was competent (main)

(b) The man is // was asking for more pay (auxiliary)

ii. (a) They have //had the answers to the

problems (main)

(b) They have // had done the assignment (auxiliary)

Dynamic Verbs

Dynamic verbs are those denoting action. They are capable of taking the
'ing' suffix, e.g. jump, dance, sing, write, run, etc.
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Stative Verbs

Stative verbs designate state. They do not take -ing' morpheme.

Examples include: appear, seem, agree and see.

Pronoun

It is described as a word that replaces or takes the place of noun. Such a

word (i.e. pronoun) must have the same reference (or content) with the
noun it replaces. In effect they must share the same semantic and
syntactic status. Although have described a pronoun as an item
generally replacing a noun, we should note that there are some
pronouns which do not necessarily replace particular (or definite)
nouns. These pronouns include: nobody. none, anything, somebody:
something, etc. They have been referred to alternatively as indefinite
pronouns.

Properties of Pronouns

Pronouns exhibit the following properties- case, person and gender.

a. Case: This has three manifestations - subjective, objective and

possessive, They are represented below:

CASE

Subjective Objective Possessive

I me my

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You you your
We us our
He him his
She her her
They them their
b. Person (with number):- realized as first, second and third person
as shown below:

PERSON

First Person Second Person Thirds Person

Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural

(I) (we) (you) (you) (he/she/it) (they)

c. Gender: this is illustrated below:

GENDER

Masculine Feminine Neuter

(he/him) (she/her) (it)

An alternative classification of pronoun is given below:

a. Personal Pronoun: I, you, they, we, etc.

b. Demonstrative Pronoun: this that, these, those

c. Relative Pronoun: who, which, what, whose

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 d. Indefinite Pronoun: none, anyone, somebody

e. Reflexive Pronoun: yourself, myself, himself

f. Possessive Pronoun: my, your, his, etc.

Adverb

An adverb modifies a verb or a group of words as a phrase or sentence.

Adverbs also express the following relations in a sentence: time, place,
manner, frequency and affirmation.

The Adverb and the Modified Elements

a. John eats quickly (verb modification)

b. James acted foolishly (verb modification)

c. It is very crucial. (adjective modification)

d. My father was really happy to see us. (adjective modification)

e. He almost instantly dropped the ring. (adverb modification)

f. He does things somehow cleverly. (adverb modification)

g. Peter passed nearly all the subjects. (noun phrase modification)

h. Politically, the country is not independent. (sentence

modification)

Adverb and the various Relations

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 a. I to soon rain. (time)

b. They are now available. (time)

c. He was asked to come in. (place)

d. Leave your shirt outside. (place)

e. John conducts his affairs crudely (manner)

f. Mary sings beautifully. (manner)

g. This is too small. (degree)

h. He is very intelligent. (degree)

i. It rains often. (frequency)

j. It rained incessantly. (frequency)

k. Certainly, he would attend the meeting. (affirmation)

l. Undoubtedly, he will go. (affirmation)

Care must be taken so as not to confuse adjectives with adverbs

particularly on the grounds of their endings. Some adverbs do not take
‘-ly' ending e.g. fast, far, verbatim, etc. They are not to be taken as
adjectives. Some adjectives do take -ly' suffix e.g. lovely, friendly,
rascally. They are not to be employed as adverbs.

Preposition

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Preposition can simply be described as the word used to show or
indicate the relationship between substantive noun or pronoun (i.e.
object of preposition) and some other words in the sentence.
Prepositions are usually single but short words. They play crucial role
in the grammaticality and meaning of sentences.

Examples include: by, at, for, before, in, over, until, on, under, near,
from, beside and in front. Their co-occurrence with noun (i.e. object of
preposition) is exemplified below:

(i) until day-break

(ii) beside the tree

(iii) near the house

(iv) in the room

(v) for the man

(vi) before the lunch

(vii) by mid-day

(viii) under the table

(ix) at the village

(x) on the campus

Some of the prepositions are used in context below:

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 (i) It took place on the campus.

(ii) The man stays in John’s house

(iii) He hails from Kano

(iv) James was staying under the tree

(v) His shoe is inside the box

Conjunction

A conjunction is a word that connects words, phrases or clauses.

Examples of such words are: and, for, as, since, or etc. They are
classified as co-coordinating, sub-coordinating and correlative
conjunctions.

Coordinating Conjunction

This type links sentences, clauses, phrases or words. Examples of such

words are: and, but, for, or. They are illustrated below:

a. John and Mary will go.

b. John travelled to Lagos and Mary to Ibadan.

c. It was lost but later found.

d. You may take it or leave it

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