简明语言学教程4

.

4. Syntax

1 What is syntax

2 Categories

3. Syntactic category

----a word or phrase that perform a particular grammatical function such as

subject or object. It includes lexical category such as nouns, adjectives, pronouns;

or phrases such as NP, VP, PP etc.

4. determiner

—

deg ree

—

qualifier

Page 49-51

5. phrase category

6. Phrase structural rules

---- a rewrite rule that allows for the possible combination of words to form phrases

and sentences. P46

7. Coordination rule

8. sentence rule

9. transformations

Put the following terms in a tree diagram to show their logical relationship

:

affix

suffix

free root

bound root

derivational affix

inflectional affix

prefix

morpheme

bound morpheme

free morpheme

Match each expression under A with the one statement under B that characterizes it.

A

B

a. noisy crow

1) compound noun

b. scarecrow

2) root morpheme plus derivational prefix

c. the crow

3) phrase consisting of adjective plus noun

d. crowlike

4) root morpheme plus inflectional affix

e. crows

5) root morpheme plus derivational affix

6) grammatical morpheme followed by lexical morpheme

comment on the difference between the morphemes

“

-er

”

in the following two words

Londoner----teacher

Explain

the

difference

between

derivational

morphemes

and

inflectional

morphemes.

Why have prefix and suffix morphemes been called bound morphemes?

What are the

main inflectional

affixes in English? What grammatical

meaning

do they convey?

Explain the differences of the morpheme

“

-er

”

in the following three words.

greater

singer

eraser

List the bound morphemes to be found in the following words:

Misleads,

shortened,

unhappier,

fearlessly

How do you distinguish inflectional affixes and derivational affixes?

1

.Inflectional affixes are affixes (1) attached to the end of words; (2) to indicate grammatical

relationships,

while

derivational

affixes

are

affixes;

(3)

added

to

other

morphemes;

(4)

to

create new words.

True or False

1. Sentences are considered grammatical if they are judged by native speakers, instead of

grammarians, to be well-formed sentences.

structure rules can generate an infinite number of sentences and sentences with infinite

length, due to their recursive properites.

syntactic

rules

of

a

language

are

finite

in

number,

yet

there

is

no

limit

to

the

number

of

sentences that could be produced.

4. A sentence is a grammatical unit that can be endlessly long and at the same time can be realized

by a single morpheme.

5.

Open

class

words

can

also

be

described

as

content

words

while

closed

class

words

function

words.

6.

“

The

student

”

in

the

sentence

“

The

student

liked

the

linguistic

lecture

”

and

“

The

linguistic

lecture

”

in

the

sentence

“

The

linguistic

lecture

liked

the

student

”

belong

to

the

same

syntactic

category.

7.

Sentences

are

not

formed

by

randomly

combining

lexical

items,

but

by

following

a

set

of

syntactic rules that arrange linguistic elements in a particular order.

8.

The

relationship

between

the

embedded

clause

and

its

matrix

clause

is

one

of

a

part

to

the

whole.

9. Application of the transformational rules yields deep structure.

10. Number and gender are categories of noun and pronoun.

11. The relationship between an embedded clause and its matrix clause is one of a part to a whole.

12. Transformational rules do not change the basic meaning of sentences.

13.

S-structure

is

a

level

of

syntacitic

representation

after

the

operation

of

necessary

syntactic

movement.

Multiple Choice

1. Syntax is the study of ______.

A. language functions

B. sentence structures

C. textual organization

D. word formation

2 .Transformational rules do not change the basis _____ of sentences.

A) meaning

B) structure

C) form

D) sound pattern

3. TG grammar is a type of grammar first proposed by ____ in his book language .

A) Sapir

B) Bloomfield

C) Saussure

D) Chomsky

4. I

n the phrase structure rule “S→NP VP”, the arrow can be read as __________.

A) is equal to

B) consists of

C) has

D) generates

5. Hanging at the bottom of the tree diagram of a sentence is ____.

A) finite clause

B) words groups

C) sentence

D) individual morphemes

6. Transformations may be obligatory or optional. An optional rule refers to one which ____.

2