SYNTAX
- Definition of syntax
Syntax is a
central component of human language. Language has often been characterized as a
systematic correlation between certain types of gestures and meaning. It is not
the case that every possible meaning that can be expressed is correlated with a
unique, unanalyzable gesture, be it oral or manual. Rather, each language has
stock of meaning-bearing elements and different ways of combining them to
express different meaning, and these ways of combining them are themselves
meaningful.(Robert and Valin, 2001). Syntax can thus be given the following
characterization, taken from Matthews (1982:1) the term ‘syntax’ is from the
Ancient Greek syntaxis, a verbal noun
which literally means ‘arrangement’ or ‘setting out together’. Traditionally,
it refers to the branch of grammar dealing with the ways in which words, with
or without appropriate inflections, are arranged to show connections of meaning
within the sentence. Similar to the explanation of Matthew, Robert and Van
Valin (2001) expresses the essence of itself as the following syntax: “First
and foremost, syntax deals with how sentences are constructed, and users of
human language employ a striking variety of possible arrangements of the
element in sentences”.
Syntax is the study of the principles
and processes by which sentences are constructed in particular languages.
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.
(Chomsky, 2002)
The study of syntax is the study of how
words combine to from phrases and ultimately sentences in languages. Because it
consists of phrases that are put together in a particular way, a sentences has
a structure. The structure consists of way in which the words are organized
into phrases and the phrases are organized into larger phrases. The study of
phrases and sentences structure is sometimes called grammar. (Tserdanelis and
Wong, 2004)
The syntax of a language is the set of
properties which determine the construction of sentences in that language. If a
sentence is constructed according to those properties it is well formed or
grammatical. If a sentence is constructed
in violation of those properties it is ill-formed or ungrammatical. The
study of syntax involves uncovering those properties of language which are
involved in the construction of grammatical sentence in particular languages.
(Hawkins, 2001)
Syntax is the system of rules and categories
that allows words to be combined to the form of sentence. The data that
linguists use to study syntax consists primarily of judgments about grammaticality
of individual sentence. Roughly speaking, a sentence is considered grammatical
if speakers judge it to be a possible sentence of their language. (O’grady, at
all.,1989)
Syntax
is that part of our linguistics knowledge which concerns the structure of
sentences. Knowing a language also means being able to put words together to
form sentences to express our thoughts. (Fromkin and Rodman,1983)
From the experts’ explanation
above we can conclude that syntax is the study of internal structure of
sentences. In this case, it explains how words are arranged become phrases and
clauses for constructing sentence. It is commonly we call structure. Structure
manages how words can be combined with another for creating good sentence.
- Basic idea of syntax
1. Word
ordering and meaning
The order of words in a sentences or
phrases is connected to its literal meaning. The basic underlying word order in
an English sentence is subject-verb-object (S-V-O). (Murcia and Freeman,1999). Consider
the English sentences :
a. Joe
writes poetry
The factors determines the meaning of
sentences: (1) the selection of words plays a role in determining the literal
meaning of the sentences, (2) the orders of words play a role the literal
meaning of the sentences. (Tserdanelis and Wong, 2004). See the two examples:
a. The mat is on the cat
b. The cat is on the mat
2. Ambiguity
As we have studied before, there is factor
determining what a sentence means. Consider the following examples:
a. Can
you tell me the time?
b. We
had the president for dinner.
c. We
need more intelligent administrators.
d. Pat
shot the soldier with a telescope.
All three sentences are ambiguous-that
is, they have more than one meaning. The first sentences is ambiguous because
it can be used either as a straightforward question (“ are you able to tell me
the time?”) . we call this pragmatic ambiguity. The second sentence is ambiguous because the expression have for dinner can mean either “ host
for dinner” or “ have for dinner”. This type of ambiguity is called lexical ambiguity. The third sentence ,
this sentence also has two meaning. On one meaning, we need administrators who
are more intelligent. On the other meaning, we need a grater number of
intelligent administrators. The type of ambiguity is called structure ambiguity. (Tserdanelis and
Wong, 2004)
- Phrase Structure
a. Lexical
categories
In
English the main categories are Nouns(N), Verb(V), Adjectives(A),
Prepositions(P), and Adverbs(Adv).
b. Phrasal
categories
The phrasal categories are built up from
the lexical categories (their head) in the ways that we have already
illustrated. The phrasal categories are NP(noun phrases), VP(verb phrases),
AP(adjective phrases), PP(preposisition phrases) , AdvP(adverb phrase). (Tserdanelis
and Wong, 2004)
References
Chomsky, N. (1957 & 2002). Syntactic Structures.
Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmBH.
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman. (1983). An Introduction
to Language. New York: CBS college publising.
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, Nina Hyams. (2007). An
introduction to Language. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.
Hawkins, R. (2001). Second Language Syntax: A Generative
Introduction. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers .
Murcia,M.C and Diane Larsen Freeman. (1999). The Grammar
Book: An ESL/EFL teacher's course. Boston: Internasional Thomson Publising.
O''grady,William,Michael Dobrovolsky,Mark Aronoff. (1989). Contemporary
Linguistics An introduction. New York: Martin's Press.
Robert, D. and Van Valin,J.R. (2001). An Introdution to
Linguistic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tserdanelis,G. and Wai Yi Peggy Wong. (Eds.). (2004). Language
File: Material for an Introduction to Language & Linguistics (9th ed.).
Columbus: Department of Linguistics, The Ohio State University Press.
This writing is so awfull i don't like it
BalasHapusThank you very beautiful Sis Nilam for her comments and suggestions, I will improve the writing of my blog🙏
HapusAssalamualaikum wr.wb sis, as we know syntax is the study of structure and Analysis text, so, my question is : How Many Phrase and Clause in the syntax structure and how the way to determine a characteristics phrase in sentence?
BalasHapusThank you🙏🙏
give me an example of applying the syntax in a sentence
HapusWaalaikumsalam rosita lubis😊 there are five types of phrases: noun pharase, adjective pharase, adverbial pharase, prepositional pharase and verb pharase. then there are also five clauses, namely: playing clause, subordinate clause, clause of comparison, clause of condition, clause of exception.
Hapuspharase is a combination of two or more words but cannot form a perfect sentence because it has no predicate.
The characteristics of phrases are as follows:
1. In phrases must consist of at least two or more words.
2. Occupy or have grammatical functions in sentences.
3. In phrases must have one grammatical meaning.
4. Phrases are nonpredictive.
Thank you Sis, I want to ask again how about the clause, Brother said that there are 5 kinds of clauses, try explaining the meaning of each clause as well as how we distinguish phrases and clauses. thank you
HapusKomentar ini telah dihapus oleh pengarang.
BalasHapusThank rohandi yusuf🙏 Example: Both of them love each other.
BalasHapusExplanation: In this example, the subject is "both of them" (both of them, phrases), the verb is verb 1, namely "love" (love, word), and the object is "each other" ( one with another, phrase). All components of subject, verb, and sequential objects show syntax.
Assalammualaikum I want to asku, please explain to me the example of the syntax you know?
BalasHapusWaalaikumsalam yolanda, syntax means a set of grammar rules for words or clauses in forming sentences. Usually, in written sentences and conversations, we see the syntax element in words or clauses that we usually refer to as subject, verb, and object.
HapusExample: They begrudgingly changed their plans.
Explanation: Even though there is an adverb word "begrudgingly" (by poking, word) in the middle of the subject "they" (them, words) and verb 2 "changed" (changing, the word from the first verb is "change"), it does not change the order of the verb after subject and object (ie the phrase "their plans" which means their plan) after the verb, so that it matches the syntax. Thank you🙏
so according to you how important is syntax in the science of language?
HapusAssalammualaikun sist,i want to ask, mention example of syntax in linguistics?
BalasHapusWaalailumsalam brother, oke example of syntax:
Hapus1. They begrudgingly changed their plans.
Explanation: Even though there is an adverb word "begrudgingly" (by poking, word) in the middle of the subject "they" (them, words) and verb 2 "changed" (changing, the word from the first verb is "change"), it does not change the order of the verb after subject and object (ie the phrase "their plans" which means their plan) after the verb, so that it matches the syntax.
Thank🙏
Assalamu'alaikum kakak...
BalasHapusHow are you?
I want ask for you about your presentasi. .
what is the difference in syntax in the sentence and syntax in the conversation and give an example. Thanks you
Waalaikumsalam siti, im fine, thank you😊
HapusIn general, syntax means a set of grammar rules for words or clauses in forming sentences. Usually, in written sentences and conversations, we see the syntax element in words or clauses that we usually refer to as subject, verb, and object. Subject, verb, and object in syntax rules are always sequential. At the same time, in some cases, syntax rules allow other words or clauses such as adverbs or information that clarify subject, verb, and object to add. example of the application of syntax in sentences: I joined the chat room.
Explanation: This example also shows subject ("I" which means I, word), verb 2 ("joined", join, word which originates from verb 1 "join"), and object ("the chat room", phrase which means chat rooms) are sequential according to syntax rules. After that, there is a word that shows the description of time, namely "yesterday" (yesterday). example of applying the syntax in a conversation:
Cathy: Hey, Hina, do you know where the children are?
Hina: Look over there! * points to the children in the garden * They are playing Frisbees over there.
halo kak, can you give me more example about structure ambiguity? and give an explanation, thankyou
BalasHapusAmbiguity, or ambiguity error, is a word, phrase, or statement that contains more than one meaning. Ambiguous words or statements lead to obscurity and confusion, and form the basis for unintentional examples of humor.
HapusFor example, it is ambiguous to say "I ride a dark horse with red pajamas," because it might make us think that the horse is wearing red pajamas. The sentence became clear when restructured as, "Wearing red pajamas, I ride a dark horse."
Likewise, the same words with different meanings can cause ambiguity, as in, "John takes off his pants by the bank." It's funny if we confuse the meaning of "bank," which is a building, with another meaning, namely "The banks of the river." Context usually resolves ambiguity in the case.
Examples of Ambiguity:
Sarah gave a bath to her dog wearing a pink t-shirt.
Ambiguity: Is the dog wearing the pink t-shirt?
I have never tasted a cake quite like that one before!
Ambiguity: Was the cake good or bad?
Did you see her dress?
Ambiguity: Is she getting dressed or are they talking about her clothes?
Hello kak.. How are you? I want to ask you..
BalasHapusThere are two parts of the sentence that are very important in analyzing syntax, namely : phrases and clauses. Please explain these two things. And give the example. Thankyou..
Phrase any eight
Hapus1.Noun Phrases
A noun phrase consist of noun and all its modifies
Example: The Senile old man was confused
2.Verb Phrases
A verb phrase consist of a verb and all its modifies
Example : she was upset when I didn't boil
3.Gerund Phrases
A gerund phrase is simply a noun phrase that starts with a gerund
Example : Taking my dog for a walk is fun.
Example: Walking in the rain can be difficult.
4.Infinitive Phrases
An infinitive phrase Isa noun phrase that begins with an infinitive
Example : Everybody loves to watch movies
Example :I went to Spain to study the language and culture
5.Appositive Phrases
An Appositive Phrase restates a noun and consists of one or more words.
Example : My husband, the love of my life is also my best friend.
6.Participial Phrases
A participial phrase begins with a past or present participle
Example : The lake, frozen over all winter, was finally thawing.
7.Prepositional Phrases
A prepositional phrases begins with a preposition and can Act as a noun, an adjective or an adverb.
Example : The book was other table
Example : I waited for a while.
8.Absolute Phrases
Example : His tail between his legs, the dog walked out the door.
The clause is divided into several types. The following is an example and explanation of the types / types of clauses.
Hapus1. Type of Clause Based on Phrase Categories
Based on the phrase categories that occupy the P function, the clause can be classified as:
1.1 Nominal Clause
Nominal clauses are clauses in which the predicate consists of noun category words or phrases.
Example:
His grandfather is a Batak tribe
S = His grandfather
P = Batak tribe
His mother heads elementary school in Pekanbaru
S = mother
P = elementary school head
Ket. = in Pekanbaru
1.2 Verbal Clause
A verbal clause is a clause in which the predicate consists of verb category words or phrases.
Example:
He helps flood victims.
The young man helped old grandmother.
In grammatical verb clauses are divided into five types, including:
1.The Ajective verbal clause is a clause whose predicate is from the verb group word which belongs to the nature category as its center. For example: The house is very spacious.
2.The intransitive verbal clause is a clause whose predicate is from the intransitive verb class word as its core element. For example: My sister is playing in the field.
3.Active verbal clause is a clause whose predicate is from a verbal group word that is transitive as its core element. Example: My mother is washing dishes.
4.A verbal reflective clause is a clause whose predicate is from verbal words that are classified as reflective verbs.
5.The reciprocal verbal clause is a clause whose predicate is from the verbal group word which includes the reciprocal verb.
1.3 Adjective Clause
Adjective clause is a clause where P is a phrase that belongs to the category of adjective phrases.
Example:
My grandmother is still beautiful
S = my grandmother
P = still beautiful
1.4 Prepositional Clause
Prepositional clause, which is a clause in which the predicate is categorized as a preposition.
1.5 Numeral Clause
A numerical clause is a clause whose P is a phrase that belongs to the numeralia category.
1.6 Pronomia clauses
Pronomial clauses are clauses whose P is in the form of phrases that are included in the pronomial category.
Example:
The judge decided that he was the one who was guilty.
It was decided that your chairman and my representative.
2. Type of Clause based on the presence or absence of Negation Elements
The negation element in question is no, no, no, not yet and not. The clause type is based on the presence or absence of negation elements which grammatically negate P to produce:
2.1 Positive Clause
A positive clause is a clause marked by the absence of a negation element that negates P.
Example
Abdul is the most popular footballer.
The student does the assignment.
They go to school.
2.2 Negative Clause
Negative clause is a clause that is indicated by the existence of a negation element which confirms P.
Example:
Abdul is not the most popular footballer.
The student hasn't done the assignment.
They don't go to school.
3. Type of Clause based on its Potential
The type of clause based on its potential to be a sentence can be distinguished by:
3.1 Free Clause
Free clause is a clause that has the potential to become a major sentence.
Example:
The child is hot, but his legs are very cold.
Our teacher is his house on the Puyuhmas street.
Everyone said that he was the one who was guilty.
3.2 Bound Clauses
Bounded clauses are clauses that do not have the potential to become major sentences, only having the potential to be a minor sentence.
Is your blog commenting this much? hahaha how sorry for you
BalasHapus