2. Three fundamental ideas in syntax
1. Sentences have parts, which may themselves have
parts – the basis of constituent structure analysis
2. The parts of sentences belong to a limited range of
types – the root of the concept of syntactic
categories
3. The parts have specific roles or functions within the
larger parts they belong to – grammatical functions
3. Constituent structure
Sentences contain parts called constituents.
Those constituents often have constituents themselves,
and those are made up of still shorter constituents and so
on.
This hierarchical composition of wholes from parts is
called constituent structure.
(1) A bird hit the car.
In the first instance – divided into two parts: subject (a
bird) and predicate (hit the car)
The phrase a bird: a and bird
Hit the car: hit and the car
The car: the and car
4. Constituent structure
The parts of the sentence shown at the first level
down, a bird and hit the car – immediate constituents
of the sentence;
Similarly – hit and the car are the immediate
constituents of hit the car;
The words are the ultimate constituents of the
sentence.
5. Constituent structure
The evidence that this is the correct analysis of the
sentence comes from the whole of the rest of the
grammar, all of which provides the evidence that the
lines of separation have bee drawn in the right place.
Example of how other parts of the grammar can
provide supportive evidence by considering where we
can insert adverb, e.g. apparently.
In simple clauses like in our example, an adverb can
be anywhere in the clause it modifies, provided it
does not interrupt a constituent.
6. Constituent structure
Example:
(2) (a) Apparently a bird hit the car.
(b) *An apparently bird hit the car.
(3) (a) A bird apparently hit the car.
(b) *A bird hit apparently the car.
(4) (a) A bird hit the car, apparently.
(b) *A bird hit the apparently car.
7. Constituent structure
Breaking the sentence into constituents in exactly the
way we have done, we are able to make a general
statement about where an adverb like apparently can
be positioned in it: such an adverb must not
interrupt a constituent of the clause.
8. Syntactic categories
The tree diagram is only the starting point for a
description, identifying the constituents that have to
be described.
The next step is to classify these constituents, to say
what syntactic category they belong to.
For words, these syntactic categories correspond to
what are traditionally called ‘parts of speech’ – lexical
categories: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun,
determiner, preposition, conjunction.
9. Phrasal categories
Phrases – constituents containing one and more than
one word, more specifically, containing a central and
most important word augmented by appropriate
accompanying words that elaborate its contribution
to the sentence.
The lexical categories have corresponding phrase
types that are actually expansions of them.
10. Phrasal categories
Noun phrase (NP):
this clear case of dedication to duty
Verb phrase (VP):
must have been talking
Adjective phrase (AdjP):
very eager for further news
Adverb phrase (AdvP):
Quite separately from this issue
Prepositional phrase (PP):
on the wooden table
11. Grammatical constructions and
functions
Constituents always have particular roles to play in
the constructions (the larger units) they belong to.
We call these roles grammatical functions.
In our example sentence the phrases a bird and the
car belong to the same category, NP, but they have
different functions, subject and object respectively.
(5) A bird hit the car.
car
They belong to the same category because they are
alike in their internal structure, but they have
different functions because they stand in different
relations to the verb.
12. Grammatical constructions and
functions
The opposite type of situation is when the
constituents have the same function (in the example
below the function of subject) but belong to different
categories (NP and clause respectively):
(6) (a) His guilt was obvious.
(b) That he was guilty was obvious.
These constituents have the same function because
they stand in the same relation to the predicate, and
they belong to different categories because the first is
centered on a noun (guilt) whereas the second is
centered on a verb (was).
13. Heads and dependents
There is a set of functions that to a large extent apply in
the same way to all phrasal categories.
The first division is that between the head (upravni član)
and the various dependents (zavisni članovi) that can
combine with it.
The head, normally obligatory, plays the primary role in
head
determining the distribution of the phrase, i.e.
whereabouts in sentence structure it can occur.
Dependents, often optional, are syntactically subordinate
elements. The term ‘dependent’ reflects the fact that in
any given construction what kinds of dependent are
permitted depends on the head.
14. Heads and dependents
For example, too can function as dependent to an
adjective or adverb (too careful, too carefully), but not
to a noun or verb (*their too extravagance, *You
shouldn’t too worry).
Similarly, sufficiently can function as dependent to
and adjective, adverb, or verb, but not to a noun
(sufficiently good, sufficiently often, He practised
sufficiently, *sufficiently reason).
15. Subtypes of dependent
We need to distinguish different subtypes of
dependent according to their more specific relation to
the head.
We distinguish complements, modifiers and
determiners as different subtypes of dependent.
(7) very eager for further news = adjective phrase; very
is a modifier of the head eager, for further news is a
complement of the head eager
(8) the chair by the wall = noun phrase; the is a
determiner in this NP
