1、Chapter FourFrom Word to Text1.第1頁，共76頁。Syntax is the study of the rules governing the ways different constituents are combined to form sentences in a language, or the study of the interrelationships between elements in sentence structures.2.第2頁，共76頁。Syntactic relations can be analysed into three ki

2、nds:relations of positionrelations of substitutabilityrelations of co-occurrence1. Syntactic relations syntactic relations3.第3頁，共76頁。1.1 Relations of PositionFor language to fulfill its communicative function, it must have a way to mark the grammatical roles of the various phrases that can occur in

3、a clause. The boy kicked the ball NP1 NP2 Subject Object4.第4頁，共76頁。Positional relation, or WORD ORDER, refers to the sequential arrangement of words in a language. If the words in a sentence fail to occur in a fixed order required by the convention of a language, one tends to produce an utterance ei

4、ther ungrammatical or nonsensical at all. For example,5.第5頁，共76頁。The boy kicked the ball*Boy the ball kicked the*The ball kicked the boyThe teacher saw the studentsThe students saw the teacher6.第6頁，共76頁。Positional relations are a manifestation of one aspect of Syntagmatic Relations observed by F. de

5、 Saussure. They are also called Horizontal Relations or simply Chain Relations. 7.第7頁，共76頁。Word order is among the three basic ways (word order, genetic and areal classifications) to classify languages in the world: SVO, VSO, SOV, OVS, OSV, and VOS. English belongs to SVO type, though this does not

6、mean that SVO is the only possible word order. 8.第8頁，共76頁。1.2 Relation of Substitutability The Relation of Substitutability refers to classes or sets of words substitutable for each other grammatically in sentences with the same structure. The_ smiles. man boy girl9.第9頁，共76頁。It also refers to groups

7、 of more than one word which may be jointly substitutable grammatically for a single word of a particular set.strong manThe tallest boy smiles.pretty girl yesterday.He went therelast week. the day before.10.第10頁，共76頁。This is also called Associative Relations by Saussure, and Paradigmatic Relations b

8、y Hjemslev. To make it more understandable, they are called Vertical Relations or Choice Relations. 11.第11頁，共76頁。1.3 Relation of Co-occurrence It means that words of different sets of clauses may permit, or require, the occurrence of a word of another set or class to form a sentence or a particular

9、part of a sentence. For instance, a nominal phrase can be preceded by a determiner and adjective(s) and followed by a verbal phrase. 12.第12頁，共76頁。Relations of co-occurrence partly belong to syntagmatic relations, partly to paradigmatic relations. 13.第13頁，共76頁。2. Grammatical construction and its cons

10、tituents 2.1 Grammatical Construction Any syntactic string of words ranging from sentences over phrasal structures to certain complex lexemes.an appleate an appleMary ate an apple14.第14頁，共76頁。2.2 Constituents and Phrase StructureConstituent is a part of a larger linguistic unit. Several constituents

11、 together form a construction: the girl (NP)ate the apple (VP)the girl ate the apple (S)15.第15頁，共76頁。Immediate Constituent Analysis(IC Analysis)The girl ate the apple16.第16頁，共76頁。Phrase StructureTree diagram S NP VPDet N V NP Det NThe girl ate the apple17.第17頁，共76頁。Word-levelPhrasalN=nounA=adjective

12、V=verbP=prepositionDet=determinerAdv=adverbConj=conjunctionNP=noun phraseAP=adjective phraseVP=verb phrasePP=preposition phraseS=sentence or clause18.第18頁，共76頁。BracketingBracketing is not as common in use, but it is an economic notation in representing the constituent/phrase structure of a grammatic

13、al unit. (The) (girl)(ate)(the) (apple)SNPDet TheN girlVPV ateNPDet theN apple19.第19頁，共76頁。2.3 Endocentric and Exocentric Constructions Endocentric construction is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent to that of one or more of its constituents, i.e., a word or a group of words, which se

14、rves as a definable centre or head.Usually noun phrases, verb phrases and adjective phrases belong to endocentric types because the constituent items are subordinate to the Head. 20.第20頁，共76頁。21.第21頁，共76頁。Exocentric construction refers to a group of syntactically related words where none of the word

15、s is functionally equivalent to the group as a whole, that is, there is no definable “Centre” or “Head” inside the group, usually includingthe basic sentence, the prepositional phrase, the predicate (verb + object) construction, and the connective (be + complement) construction.22.第22頁，共76頁。The boy

16、smiled. (Neither constituent can substitute for the sentence structure as a whole.)He hid behind the door. (Neither constituent can function as an adverbial.)He kicked the ball. (Neither constituent stands for the verb-object sequence.)John seemed angry. (After division, the connective construction

17、no longer exists.)23.第23頁，共76頁。2.4 Coordination and Subordination Endocentric constructions fall into two main types, depending on the relation between constituents: CoordinationSubordination24.第24頁，共76頁。Coordination Coordination is a common syntactic pattern in English and other languages formed by

18、 grouping together two or more categories of the same type with the help of a conjunction such as and, but and or . These two or more words or phrases or clauses have equivalent syntactic status, each of the separate constituents can stand for the original construction functionally. 25.第25頁，共76頁。Coo

19、rdination of NPs:NP the lady or NP the tigerCoordination of VPs:VP go to the library and VP read a book Coordination of PPs: PP down the stairs and PP out the door Coordination of APs: AP quite expensive and AP very beautifulCoordination of Ss:S John loves Mary and S Mary loves John too.26.第26頁，共76頁

20、。Subordination Subordination refers to the process or result of linking linguistic units so that they have different syntactic status, one being dependent upon the other, and usually a constituent of the other. The subordinate constituents are words which modify the head. Consequently, they can be c

21、alled modifiers. 27.第27頁，共76頁。two dogs Head(My brother) can drink (wine). HeadSwimming in the lake (is fun). Head(The pepper was) hot beyond endurance. Head28.第28頁，共76頁。Subordinate clausesClauses can be used as subordinate constituents. There are three basic types of subordinate clauses: complement

22、clausesadjunct (or adverbial) clausesrelative clauses29.第29頁，共76頁。John believes that the airplane was invented by an Irishman. (complement clause)Elizabeth opened her presents before John finished his dinner. (adverbial clause)The woman that I love is moving to the south. (relative clause) subordina

23、te clause30.第30頁，共76頁。3. Syntactic Function The syntactic function shows the relationship between a linguistic form and other parts of the linguistic pattern in which it is used.Names of functions are expressed in terms of subjects, objects, predicators, modifiers, complements, etc. 31.第31頁，共76頁。3.1

24、 Subject In some languages, subject refers to one of the nouns in the nominative case. The typical example can be found in Latin, where subject is always in nominative case, such as pater and filius in the following examples.pater filium amat (the father loves the son)patrum filius amat (the son lov

25、es the father) 32.第32頁，共76頁。In English, the subject of a sentence is often said to be the agent, or the doer of the action, while the object is the person or thing acted upon by the agent. This definition seems to work for these sentences:Mary slapped John. A dog bit Bill. 33.第33頁，共76頁。but is clearl

26、y wrong in the following examples:John was bitten by a dog. John underwent major heart surgery. In order to account for the case of subject in passive voice, we have two other terms “grammatical subject” (John) and “l(fā)ogical subject” (a dog). 34.第34頁，共76頁。Another traditional definition of the subject

27、 is “what the sentence is about” (i.e., topic). Again, this seems to work for many sentences, such asBill is a very crafty fellow. but fails in others, such as(Jack is pretty reliable, but) Bill I dont trust. As for Bill, I wouldnt take his promises very seriously. 35.第35頁，共76頁。All three sentences s

28、eem to be “about” Bill; thus we could say that Bill is the topic of all three sentences. The above sentences make it clear that the topic is not always the grammatical subject. What characteristics do subjects have?subject36.第36頁，共76頁。Word orderSubject ordinarily precedes the verb in the statement:

29、Sally collects stamps.*Collects Sally stamps.37.第37頁，共76頁。Pro-formsThe first and third person pronouns in English appear in a special form when the pronoun is a subject, which is not used when the pronoun occurs in other positions:He loves me. I love him.We threw stones at them.They threw stones at

30、us. 38.第38頁，共76頁。Agreement with the verbIn the simple present tense, an -s is added to the verb when a third person subject is singular, but the number and person of the object or any other element in the sentence have no effect at all on the form of the verb: She angers him. They anger him. She ang

31、ers them. 39.第39頁，共76頁。Content questionsIf the subject is replaced by a question word (who or what), the rest of the sentence remains unchanged, as inJohn stole the Queens picture from the British Council.Who stole the Queens picture from the British council? 40.第40頁，共76頁。What would John steal, if h

32、e had the chance?What did John steal from the British Council?Where did John steal the Queens picture from?When any other element of the sentence is replaced by a question word, an auxiliary verb must appear before the subject. 41.第41頁，共76頁。Tag questionA tag question is used to seek confirmation of

33、a statement. It always contains a pronoun which refers back to the subject, and never to any other element in the sentence. John loves Mary, doesnt he?Mary loves John, doesnt she?*John loves Mary, doesnt she?42.第42頁，共76頁。3.2 Predicate Predicate refers to a major constituent of sentence structure in

34、a binary analysis in which all obligatory constituents other than the subject were considered together. It usually expresses actions, processes, and states that refer to the subject.The boy is running. (process)Peter broke the glass. (action)Jane must be mad! (state)The word predicator is suggested

35、for verb or verbs included in a predicate.43.第43頁，共76頁。3.3 Object Object is also a term hard to define. Since, traditionally, subject can be defined as the doer of the action, object may refer to the “receiver” or “goal” of an action, and it is further classified into Direct Object and Indirect Obje

36、ct.Mother bought a doll.Mother gave my sister a doll. IO DO 44.第44頁，共76頁。In some inflecting languages, object is marked by case labels: the accusative case for direct object, and the dative case for indirect object.In English, “object” is recognized by tracing its relation to word order (after the v

37、erb and preposition) and by inflections (of pronouns).Mother gave a doll to my sister.John kicked me.45.第45頁，共76頁。Modern linguists suggest that object refers to such an item that it can become subject in a passive transformation.John broke the glass. The glass was broken by John.Peter saw Jane. Jane

38、 was seen by Peter.object46.第46頁，共76頁。Although there are nominal phrases in the following, they are by no means objects because they cannot be transformed into passive voice.He died last week.The match lasted three hours.He changed trains at Manchester. (*Trains were changed by him at Manchester.)47

39、.第47頁，共76頁。4. Category The term category refers to the defining properties of these general units: Categories of the noun: number, gender, case and countability Categories of the verb: tense, aspect, voice48.第48頁，共76頁。4.1 NumberNumber is a grammatical category used for the analysis of word classes d

40、isplaying such contrasts as singular, dual, plural, etc. In English, number is mainly observed in nouns, and there are only two forms: singular and plural, such as dog: dogs. Number is also reflected in the inflections of pronouns and verbs, such as He laughs: They laugh, this man: these men.49.第49頁

41、，共76頁。In other languages, for example, French, the manifestation of number can also be found in adjectives and articles.le cheval royal (the royal horse) les chevaux royaux (the royal horses)50.第50頁，共76頁。4.2 GenderSuch contrasts as “masculine : feminine : neuter”, “animate : inanimate”, etc. for the

42、 analysis of word classes. Though there is a correlation between natural gender and grammatical gender, the assignment may seem quite arbitrary in many cases. For instance, in Latin, ignis fire is masculine, while flamma flame is feminine. 51.第51頁，共76頁。English gender contrast can only be observed in

43、 pronouns and a small number of nouns, and, they are mainly of the natural gender type.he: she: it prince: princess author: authoress52.第52頁，共76頁。In French, gender is manifested also both in adjectives and articles. beau cadeau (fine gift) belle maison (fine house)Le cadeau est beau. (The gift is go

44、od.)La maison est belle. (The house is beautiful.)53.第53頁，共76頁。Sometimes gender changes the lexical meaning as well, for example, in French:le poele (the stove)la poele (the frying pan)le pendule (the pendulum) la pendule (the clock)54.第54頁，共76頁。4.3 Case The case category is used in the analysis of

45、word classes to identify the syntactic relationship between words in a sentence.In Latin grammar, cases are based on variations in the morphological forms of the word, and are given the terms “accusative”, “nominative”, “dative”, etc. There are five cases in ancient Greek and eight in Sanskrit. Finn

46、ish has as many as fifteen formally distinct cases in nouns, each with its own syntactic function.55.第55頁，共76頁。In English, case is a special form of the noun which frequently corresponds to a combination of preposition and noun, and it is realized in three channels: inflectionfollowing a preposition

47、word orderas manifested inteacher : teacherswith : to a manJohn kicked Peter : Peter kicked John56.第56頁，共76頁。4.4 AgreementAgreement (or concord) may be defined as the requirement that the forms of two or more words of specific word classes that stand in specific syntactic relationship with one anoth

48、er shall also, be characterized by the same paradigmatically marked category (or categories). 57.第57頁，共76頁。This syntactic relationship may be anaphoric, as when a pronoun agrees with its antecedent, Whose is this pen? -Oh, its the one I lost.or it may involve a relation between a head and its depend

49、ent, as when a verb agrees with its subject and object:Each person may have one coin. 58.第58頁，共76頁。Agreement of number between nouns and verbs:This man runs. The bird flies.These men run. These birds fly.59.第59頁，共76頁。SentenceClausePhraseWord5. Phrase, Clause and Sentence 60.第60頁，共76頁。the three talle

50、st girls (nominal phrase)has been doing (verbal phrase) extremely difficult(adjectival phrase) to the door (prepositional phrase) very fast (adverbial phrase)phrase61.第61頁，共76頁。ClauseFiniteNon-finiteInfinitive Participial Gerundial Subject ObjectAdverbialRelativeAppositionalComplement62.第62頁，共76頁。Th

51、e best thing would be to leave early.Its great for a man to be free.Having finished their task, they came to help us.John being away, Bill had to do the work.Filled with shame, he left the house.All our savings gone, we started looking for jobs.Its no use crying over spilt milk. Do you mind my openi

52、ng the window?63.第63頁，共76頁。Sentence: traditional approachsimple Sentencecomplexnon-simple compound64.第64頁，共76頁。Sentence: functional approach Yes/no Interrogative Indicative wh- DeclarativeSentence Jussive Imperative Optative 65.第65頁，共76頁。Basic sentence types: BolingerMother fell. (Nominal + intransi

53、tive verbal)Mother is young. (Nominal + copula + complement)Mother loves Dad. (Nominal + transitive verbal + nominal).Mother fed Dad breakfast. (Nominal + transitive verbal + nominal + nominal) There is time. (There + existential + nominal) 66.第66頁，共76頁。Basic sentence types: QuirkSVC Mary is kind. a

54、 nurse.SVA Mary is here. in the house.SV The child is laughing.SVO Somebody caught the ball. SVOC We have proved him wrong. a fool.SVOA I put the plate on the table. SVOO She gives me expensive presents. 67.第67頁，共76頁。6. Recursiveness Recursiveness mainly means that a phrasal constituent can be embed

55、ded within another constituent having the same category, but it has become an umbrella term such important linguistic phenomena as coordination and subordination, conjoining and embedding, hypotactic and paratactic. All these are means to extend sentences. How long can a sentence be? 68.第68頁，共76頁。Th

56、eoretically, there is no limit to the embedding of one relative clause into another relative clause, so long as it does not become an obstacle to successful communication. The same holds true for nominal clauses and adverbial clauses. I met a man who had a son whose wife sold cookies that she had ba

57、ked in her kitchen that was fully equipped with electrical appliances that were new 69.第69頁，共76頁。Johns sister Johns sisters husbandJohns sisters husbands uncle Johns sisters husbands uncles daughter, etc. that house in Beijingthe garden of that house in Beijingthe tree in the garden of that house in Beijinga bird on the tree in the garden of that house in Beijing70.第70頁，共76頁。6.1 ConjoiningConjoining: coordination. Conjunct