Ahmad Ismail

3571-FLL/BSENG/S23

MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX

Chapter 7 :- GRAMMAR
We’ve examined two levels of language description: phonetic and morphological. At the phonetic level, we represent
linguistic expressions as sequences of sounds, analyzing their features, such as voiced fricative, voiceless stop, and
diphthong. At the morphological level, we break down expressions into sequences of morphemes, categorizing them
into functional, lexical, derivational, and inflectional types. By combining these two levels of description, we can
characterize all words and phrases of a language in terms of their sound (phonology) and structure (morphology).

Grammar

Grammar is not just about combining words to convey meaning, but also about following specific rules that govern
how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences. In English, for example, there are strict rules for
combining words into phrases. The phrase “the lucky boys” is well-formed, but the phrases “*boys the lucky” and
“*lucky boys the” are not. This illustrates that English has a specific order for combining words, such as article +
adjective + noun.

The process of describing the structure of phrases and sentences in a way that accounts for all grammatical sequences
and rules out ungrammatical ones is a key aspect of defining grammar. This definition is assumed when comparing
the grammar of different languages, such as English, Swahili, Tagalog, and Turkish. Each language has its unique ways
of forming grammatical phrases and sentences, as illustrated in Chapter 6. Studying grammar in this way has a long
tradition, and it is essential to understanding the complexities of language.

Traditional Grammar

The terms used to label grammatical categories, such as “article,” “adjective,” and “noun,” originate from traditional
grammar, which was developed to describe languages like Latin and Greek. When analyzing “newer” languages like
English, scholars adopted these existing categories, applying them to the study of English grammar. This approach
was influenced by the fact that Latin and Greek were the languages of scholarship, religion, philosophy, and
knowledge, making their grammar the model for other languages.

The traditional grammar framework has had a lasting impact on the way we describe language, with terms like “parts
of speech” becoming an integral part of linguistic analysis. Despite its origins in the study of classical languages, this
framework continues to shape our understanding of language structure and grammar.

The parts of speech

The parts of speech, also known as word classes, are the basic categories of words in a language. These categories
are used to label forms in the language and provide a way to describe their functions and properties.

The lucky boys found a backpack in the park and they opened it carefully. “The” is an article. “Lucky” is an adjective
modifying the noun “boys”. “Boys” is a noun. “Found” is a verb. “A” is an article. “Backpack” is a noun. “In” is a
preposition. “The” is an article. “Park” is a noun. “And” is a conjunction. “They” is a pronoun. “Opened” is a verb.
“It” is a pronoun. “Carefully” is an adverb modifying the verb “opened”.
Nouns are words used to refer to people, objects, creatures, places, qualities, phenomena, and abstract ideas. They
are used to represent these concepts as “things.” For example, “boy,” “backpack,” “dog,” “school,” “roughness,”
“earthquake,” and “love” are all nouns.

Articles are words used with nouns to form noun phrases. They classify or identify the noun as already known. There
are two types of articles in English: indefinite (“a” and “an”) and definite (“the”). For example, “You can have a banana
or an apple” uses indefinite articles, while “I’ll take the apple” uses a definite article.

Adjectives are words used to provide more information about the nouns they modify. They typically appear before
the noun and give additional details about its qualities, properties, or characteristics. For example, “happy people,”
“large objects,” and “a strange experience” all contain adjectives.

Verbs are words used to refer to actions, states, and events involving people and things. They can express various
kinds of actions, such as “go” or “talk,” and states, such as “be” or “have.” Verbs are essential in forming sentences
and conveying meaning. For example, “Jessica is ill and has a sore throat, so she can’t talk or go anywhere” contains
several verbs.

Adverbs are words used to provide more information about verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They typically
modify verbs and give additional details about the manner, time, place, frequency, or degree of the action or state.
For example, “slowly,” “yesterday,” “really,” and “very” are all adverbs.

Prepositions are words used with nouns to form phrases that provide information about time, place, and other
connections involving actions and things. They typically indicate relationships between entities, such as location,
direction, or manner. For example, “at five o’clock,” “in the morning,” “on the table,” and “with a knife” all contain
prepositions.

Pronouns are words used in place of noun phrases, typically referring to people and things already known. They can
replace nouns in sentences, making them more concise and efficient. For example, “She talks to herself” and “They
said it belonged to you” both contain pronouns.

Conjunctions are words used to make connections and indicate relationships between events, clauses, or phrases.
They can join words, phrases, or clauses together, forming more complex sentences. For example, “and,” “but,”
“because,” and “when” are all conjunctions.

While these basic definitions are useful for identifying parts of speech, they are not completely reliable. Different
approaches and definitions may be necessary to accurately describe the properties and functions of words in a
language.

Agreement

Traditional grammatical analysis provides various categories to describe language structure, including number,
person, tense, voice, and gender. These categories are crucial for understanding agreement in language.

The category of person distinguishes between first person (the speaker), second person (the hearer), and third person
(any others). English pronouns can be described in terms of person and number. For example, “I” is used for first
person singular, while “he,” “she,” “it,” or names like “Cathy” are used for third person singular.

In addition to person and number, the form of the verb must also be described in terms of tense. The verb “loves” in
the sentence “Cathy loves her dog” is in the present tense, distinguishing it from the past tense “loved.” The sentence
is also in the active voice, describing the action performed by Cathy.
The final category is gender, which helps describe the agreement between “Cathy” and “her” in the example
sentence. In English, gender is primarily based on natural gender, derived from biological distinctions between male
and female.

Grammatical Gender

Grammatical gender is a linguistic concept that classifies nouns into masculine and feminine categories, unrelated to
biological sex. This distinction is common in languages like Spanish, German, and French, where articles and
adjectives change form to “agree with” the noun’s gender. For example, in Spanish, “el sol” (the sun) is masculine,
while “la luna” (the moon) is feminine.

It’s essential to note that grammatical gender is not based on biological sex. A noun’s gender is determined by its
classification, not its meaning. For instance, the German noun “das Mädchen” (the girl) is grammatically neuter,
despite referring to a biologically female person. Similarly, the French noun “le livre” (the book) is grammatically
masculine, without implying the book is biologically male. This distinction highlights the importance of understanding
grammatical gender in languages where it applies.

Traditional analysis

Traditional grammar books have often presented English verb forms in tables modeled after Latin grammars.
However, this approach has its limitations. The Latin verb “amare” (“to love”) has distinct forms for each person and
number, whereas English verb forms remain largely the same, with only one exception. This highlights the potential
inadequacy of applying Latin descriptive categories to English.

In Latin, verb forms change according to person, number, and voice. For example, the verb “amare” has different
forms for “I,” “you,” “she,” “we,” and “they.” In contrast, English verb forms do not exhibit significant changes based
on person and number. Instead, these categories are more relevant for describing English pronouns. The influence
of Latin on English grammar underscores the importance of considering each language’s unique characteristics when
developing grammatical frameworks.

The Prescriptive Approach

The adoption of Latin grammatical labels to categorize English words led some influential 18th-century English
grammarians to claim that English sentence structure should mirror Latin. This approach, known as the prescriptive
approach, views grammar as a set of rules for the “proper” use of language. Proponents of this approach established
rules for English usage, such as not splitting infinitives or ending sentences with prepositions.

Examples of Prescriptive Rules : Traditional teachers would correct sentences like “Who did you go with?” to “With
whom did you go?” to avoid ending with a preposition. Similarly, “Mary runs faster than me” would become “Mary
runs faster than I.” Other corrections include changing “Me and my family” to “My family and I.” Additionally, starting
a sentence with “and” is considered improper in formal writing. These rules are often seen as essential for good
writing and are sometimes referred to as “linguistic etiquette.”

Origins and Application of Prescriptive Rules : While following these rules may be valuable for social and educational
purposes, it is essential to consider their origins and whether they are appropriately applied to the English language.
For instance, the rule against splitting infinitives has been questioned, and its relevance to English grammar has been
debated. By examining the origins and validity of these rules, we can better understand their role in shaping our
language and make informed decisions about their application.

Captain Kirk’s infinitive

The English infinitive is composed of two words: “to” and the base form of the verb, as in “to go.” An adverb like
“boldly” can be used with the infinitive, creating a split infinitive, as seen in Captain Kirk’s famous phrase “To boldly
go…” This construction would have been considered incorrect by some grammarians, who would have preferred “To
go boldly” or “Boldly to go.” However, this rule originates from Latin, where infinitives are single words and cannot
be split.

It is unnecessary to apply this Latin rule to English, as the two languages have different grammatical structures.
English infinitives are composed of two words, making it natural for adverbs to split them. Rather than considering
split infinitives as “bad” grammar, it is more accurate to acknowledge that English has its own unique structures,
which differ from those found in Latin. Examples like “to solemnly swear” and “to never ever say goodbye”
demonstrate that split infinitives are a common feature of English language use.

The descriptive approach

The descriptive approach in linguistics involves analyzing a language based on its actual usage, rather than trying to
fit it into preconceived grammatical categories. This approach emerged as linguists attempted to describe Native
American languages in the late 19th century and found that Latin-based grammatical frameworks were inadequate.
By collecting language samples and describing regular structures as they appeared, linguists adopted a descriptive
approach that focused on how languages are actually used, rather than how they should be used.

Structural Analysis

Structural analysis is a type of descriptive approach in linguistics that focuses on investigating the distribution of
forms in a language. This method involves using “test-frames” – sentences with empty slots – to identify patterns
and categories in language. By analyzing which forms fit into these slots, researchers can propose grammatical
categories and labels.

Test-Frames and Grammatical Categories : For example, consider the test-frames “The _______________ makes a lot
of noise” and “I heard a _______________ yesterday.” Forms that fit into these slots, such as “car,” “child,” “donkey,”
and “dog,” are likely to be examples of the same grammatical category, which we label as “noun.” However, not all
forms fit into these test-frames. For instance, “Cathy,” “someone,” “the dog,” and “a car” do not fit, indicating that
they belong to a different grammatical category.

Noun Phrases and Pronouns : To identify the category of these forms, we can use different test-frames, such as
“_______________ makes a lot of noise” and “I heard _______________ yesterday.” Forms that fit into these slots,
including “it,” “the big dog,” “an old car,” and “Ani Difranco,” are likely to be examples of the same grammatical
category, which we label as “noun phrase.” This analysis allows us to improve on the older, Latin-influenced analysis
of pronouns in English. Rather than describing pronouns as “words used in place of nouns,” we can more accurately
say that pronouns are used in place of noun phrases.

Developing a Description of Sentence Structures : By developing a set of test-frames and discovering which forms fit
into the slots, researchers can produce a description of aspects of the sentence structures of a language. This
approach enables us to identify patterns and categories in language, ultimately leading to a more nuanced
understanding of language structure and usage.

Constituent Analysis

Constituent analysis is a descriptive approach in linguistics that aims to show how small constituents in sentences
combine to form larger constituents. This approach involves identifying how words group together to form phrases,
and how these phrases then combine to form even larger constituents.
Consider the sentence “An old man brought a shotgun to the wedding.” At the word level, we can identify nine
constituents. However, when we combine these words to form phrases, certain combinations seem more natural
than others. For example, “an old man,” “a shotgun,” and “the wedding” form natural noun phrases, while “to the
wedding” forms a prepositional phrase, and “brought a shotgun” forms a verb phrase.

The constituent structure of a sentence can be represented using diagrams that show the distribution of constituents
at different levels. This type of analysis allows us to identify the types of forms that can be substituted for each other
at different levels of constituent structure. One advantage of this approach is that it highlights the fact that proper
nouns, names, and pronouns, although single words, can function as noun phrases and fill the same constituent
space as longer phrases.

Constituent analysis provides valuable insights into the structure of language. By examining how words and phrases
combine to form larger constituents, we can gain a better understanding of the patterns and relationships that
underlie language use. This approach can also help us to identify the various functions that different words and
phrases can perform in a sentence, and how they contribute to the overall meaning of the sentence.

Labeled and bracketed sentences

An alternative type of diagram uses labeled brackets to show how constituents in sentence structure can be marked
off. The process involves placing brackets around each constituent, and then additional brackets around
combinations of constituents. This method allows us to visualize the different levels of constituents, including word-
level, phrase-level, and sentence-level constituent.

Using abbreviated grammatical terms, such as Art (article), V (verb), N (noun), VP (verb phrase), NP (noun phrase),
and S (sentence), we can label each constituent. By placing these labels beside each bracket, we create a labeled and
bracketed analysis of the constituent structure of the sentence. This visual representation enables us to see the
hierarchical organization of the constituents.

Hierarchical Organization of Constituents : The labeled and bracketed analysis reveals a hierarchical organization of
constituents, where higher-level constituents contain lower-level ones. In the example sentence, the sentence (S) is
the highest level, containing a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP). The noun phrase (NP) contains a noun (N),
and the verb phrase (VP) contains a verb (V) and another noun phrase (NP). This hierarchical organization is a
fundamental concept in grammatical structure, which will be explored further in the next chapter.

Constituent analysis is a versatile method that can be applied to languages with grammatical structures different
from English. By using this approach, we can analyze and describe the structure of sentences in various languages,
highlighting the universal principles of grammatical organization.

A Gaelic sentence

A Scottish Gaelic sentence, “Chunnaic an gille an cu dubh,” translates to “The boy saw the black dog.” A notable
difference between this sentence and its English counterpart is the verb’s position, which comes first in the Gaelic
sentence. Additionally, adjectives follow the noun, unlike in english where they precede the noun.

Using a labeled and bracketed diagram, we can represent the structural observations of the Gaelic sentence. The
diagram reveals a V NP NP structure, distinct from the NP V NP structure found in English. This analysis enables us to
explicitly describe the sentence’s structure and compare it to other languages.

By analyzing the structure of sentences in different languages, such as Gaelic, Japanese, and Spanish, we can identify
structural differences. This comparison can also help us understand language learning challenges, like why a Spanish
learner of English might produce phrases like “*the wine red” instead of “the red wine.” This error arises from
applying Spanish structural organization to English, highlighting the importance of understanding grammatical
structures in language learning.

Conducting this type of analysis has practical benefits, such as improving our understanding of how sentences are
constructed in different languages. By recognizing the structural differences between languages, we can better
appreciate the challenges faced by language learners and develop more effective language teaching strategies.

EXERCISE
1 Identify all the parts of speech used in this sentence (e.g. woman = noun): The Woman kept a large snake in a
cage, but it escaped recently

The parts of speech used in the sentence “The woman kept a large snake in a cage, but it escaped recently” are:

- The: article (or determiner)

- woman: noun

- kept: verb

- a: article (or determiner)

- large: adjective

- snake: noun

- in: preposition

- a: article (or determiner)

- cage: noun

- but: conjunction

- it: pronoun

- escaped: verb

- recently: adverb

2 What is the difference between grammatical gender and natural gender?

The difference between grammatical gender and natural gender is:

Grammatical gender refers to the categorization of nouns in a language based on their grammatical properties, such
as agreement with adjectives or verbs. This type of gender may not necessarily correspond to the natural or biological
gender of the referent.

Natural gender, on the other hand, refers to the biological or physical characteristics of a person or animal, such as
male or female.

3 What prescriptive rules for the “proper” use of English are not obeyed in the following sentences and how would
they be “corrected”?

(i) The old theory consistently failed to fully explain all the data.
(ii) I can’t remember the name of the person I gave the book to

The prescriptive rules not obeyed in the given sentences are:

(i) “The old theory consistently failed to fully explain all the data.”

The rule broken is the prohibition on splitting infinitives (“to fully explain”). A “corrected” version might be: “The old
theory consistently failed fully to explain all the data.”

(ii) “I can’t remember the name of the person I gave the book to.”
The rule broken is the prohibition on ending a sentence with a preposition (“to”). A “corrected” version might be: “I
can’t remember the name of the person to whom I gave the book.”

4 What was wrong with the older Latin-influenced definition of English Pronouns?

The older Latin-influenced definition of English pronouns was inadequate because it described pronouns as “words
used in place of nouns.” However, this definition fails to account for the fact that pronouns can also replace noun
phrases, not just single nouns.

5 Given these other Gaelic words, translate the following sentences into English.

Mor (“big”) beag (“small”) bhuail (“hit”) duine (“man”)

(i) Bhuail an gille beag an cu dubh.

(ii) Chunnaic an cu an duine mor.

The translations of the Gaelic sentences are:

(i) “Bhuail an gille beag an cu dubh.”

Translation: “The small boy hit the black dog.”

(ii) “Chunnaic an cu an duine mor.”

Translation: “The dog saw the big man.”

6 Create a labeled and bracketed analysis of this sentence: The thief stole a wallet.

Here is the labeled and bracketed analysis of the sentence “The thief stole a wallet.”:

[S [NP [Det The] [N thief]] [VP [V stole] [NP [Det a] [N wallet]]]]

This analysis shows the sentence as a whole (S), consisting of a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP). The noun
phrase consists of a determiner (Det) and a noun (N), while the verb phrase consists of a verb (V) and another noun
phrase.