Questions tagged [syntax]
The study of the internal structure of expressions, especially between words and phrases, and the principles and processes that determine it. This includes words order, but also the grammatical relations that hold between words, as well as structural ambiguity, binding, reference, and similar issues. Common approaches are numerous phrase structure grammars (GPSG, HPSG, LFG, G&B, X-bar, Minimalism, ...) and, on the other hand, dependency grammars.
1,032
questions
-2
votes
0
answers
21
views
Caleb might appear to have lost his mind (but he hasn’t!) [closed]
I Dont get this tree because it’s passive and raising. I am meant to Draw a tree diagram for the sentence in (1), below. DO NOT INCLUDE THE PART IN BRACKETS (this is included just to make the meaning ...
5
votes
2
answers
399
views
What is dependency grammar and what are the possible relationships?
I have just started studying dependency grammar and I am really struggling with the relationship types and trees. I have only ever drawn classic syntactic trees so I keep getting confused. Could you ...
- 51
0
votes
0
answers
64
views
Unusual categorization of slang terms in parts of speech ("cap")
I am not educated in syntax (or any formal linguistics really), so my hypotheses and observations in this question may not be super high-level.
I am a young American English speaker from the Midwest. ...
- 301
3
votes
2
answers
81
views
Grammatical function of a word
(Asked by a layman. Also, if it is asked already, please kindly mentiion as such so that I delete the question.)
To my exceedingly limited understanding, there are three ways to determine the ...
- 313
3
votes
1
answer
65
views
What is the name for the phenomenon where an English verb that takes a clausal complement either does or does not mark the infinitive with "to"?
Let them go home.
*Let them to go home.
*Allow them go home.
Allow them to go home.
Make them go home.
*Make them to go home.
*Force them go home.
Force them to go home.
What is the reason that &...
- 39
2
votes
2
answers
56
views
Is it possible to have a repeated node appear under the same node? (Syntax Tree) [illustration provided]
Please help me understand these syntax trees (French and English).
For context we are learning about the representation of movement in syntax trees.
From my understanding, we'd have to use an X' under ...
- 21
1
vote
0
answers
48
views
Paralinguistic features
If pragmatics deal with how the extralinguistic environment affects the interpratation of an utterance, which branch of linguistics deals with how the paralinguistic environment affects the ...
0
votes
0
answers
26
views
Grammatical case in terms of ER-model
Question. Can grammatical cases be modeles in terms of predicate logic of ER-nodel or UML?
Relevance.
I have always struggled to understand grammatical categories of my native language, they always ...
- 101
0
votes
0
answers
32
views
Can a nominalized clause contain a topic and a focus?
one: I’ve heard about foci in sentences—the new information typically shown in the predicate. For instance, in the sentence “Reece turned out to be the mysterious super-hero,”
...
“Reece” is the ...
- 8,589
4
votes
0
answers
62
views
Why are reflexives prohibited in partitive constructions?
In a partitive construction, reflexives do not usually occur:
Julie and Bob are talking about the two of them/*themselves.
The following example is from COCA:
The men, all of them, stared into ...
- 663
2
votes
1
answer
112
views
Why are these adjectives being presented as adverbs in syntax tree (Carnie, 3rd Edition)?
I am in a Syntax class where we use the textbook Syntax: A Generative Introduction, 3rd Edition by Andrew Carnie.
There is a tree presented in the chapter on x-bar theory that indicates that the words ...
- 23
2
votes
1
answer
87
views
Syntax tree software
Does anybody know a good software for creating syntax tree diagrams like this ?
3
votes
0
answers
45
views
syntactic analysis under Split INFL Hypothesis
I'm a beginner in linguistics, and so here is my problem under the early theory of Split INFL Hypothesis (Pollock, 1989; Belletti, 1990; Haegeman, 1994).
Here are the sentences.
a.They must have been ...
- 31
2
votes
0
answers
44
views
What is the semantic difference between a relational noun that is used predicatively and one that is not used predicatively?
A relational noun such as father can take two arguments, e.g.
(1) a. Bill is Jane’s father.
(2) a. Jane’s father is friendly.
It is, I believe, natural to view the relational noun father in (1) as a ...
- 663
5
votes
1
answer
422
views
What does 'overt NP' mean?
I just started studying syntax, and I am a little lost in terminology. Would someone please explain to me what does overt NP stand for?
8
votes
2
answers
195
views
How do syntacticians explain object pronouns in the subject position ("Me and him" or "Lui et moi")?
Me and a lot of other native English speakers sometimes use object pronouns as the subject of sentences if there's an "and" in the subject. This has been mentioned on Stack Exchange before ...
- 226
0
votes
0
answers
86
views
We call the shots as we see them
I was invited to ask here.
I sometimes hear the sentence "we call the shots as we see them." I want to ask whether the as-clause modifies "shots" (just like "as we know it&...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
96
views
Judgment about obligatory de se reading
(1) John himself said he hates himself.
(2) John said he hates himself.
In sentence (1), does he obligatorily refer to John? Or it can refer to other people as well like in sentence (2).
In more ...
- 391
1
vote
2
answers
100
views
Any examples of Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo in other languages?
I would like to know if there exist any examples of homonyms and homophones being used to create complicated linguistic constructs through lexical ambiguity.
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
127
views
What is the nature of punctuation marks, are they paralinguistc features; where are they studied?
I am not sure I understand the distinction between paralinguistic and extralinguistic.
Let's eat, grandma. Here, grandma is the adressee of the message, the actor (invited). Grandma is the one to eat.
...
3
votes
1
answer
95
views
tree diagrams, X-Bar theory
can TP dominate CP, for example: BILL WANTS ROBERT TO BOLDLY EAT THE CHILI-PEPPER. That's a CP embedded in a CP or a TP? in other words, is the maximal projection 'CP' or TP.
- 65
3
votes
0
answers
63
views
Conditional followed by imperative
In English, we have often sentences like so:
If you are interested, send me a message
WHEN you are ready to do it, start with the laundry
To my understanding these are a conditional followed by an ...
3
votes
0
answers
64
views
Can clauses with transitive verbs that stand for experiences be passivized across the attested languages that have passive voice?
In English, verbs that stand for experiences (e.g. see, hear, sense, notice, realize) can occur in passive forms and clauses as we see in these examples:
"Tommy sees the baby sloth." --&...
- 8,589
3
votes
0
answers
52
views
How do languages without passive voice foreground constituents that don't stand for agents?
one: Passive voice can be used to foreground noun phrases that don't stand for agents by putting those noun phrases in subject position. e.g., in English,
"The man bit the dog." --> &...
- 8,589
0
votes
1
answer
58
views
What are the structure and meaning of this sentence a lie is a lie is a lie is a lie?
There is a special sentence in English, e.g. a lie is a lie is a lie, or a dollar is a dollar is a dollar. This kind of structure does not have a verb center. that a dollar is a dollar is a dollar ...
- 211
1
vote
1
answer
36
views
Meaning of the X-bar item in X-bar theory?
In X-Bar theory, what meaning do the X' nodes themselves represent?
I (believe I) understand the meaning of the XP items: they are the constituent syntactic category phrases. The constituents of a ...
- 941
1
vote
0
answers
18
views
Does PRO satisfy binding condition A?
My assignment requires me to analyze two sentences (* denoting ungrammaticality):
*David realized that they have been spreading lies about himself
David has tended to spread lies about himself
The ...
- 11
1
vote
0
answers
36
views
Across languages, what are the most common syntactic constructions that are used to form alternative questions?
For those who came in late, an alternative question is one that asks the listener to identify a subset of two or more alternatives named in the question. For example:
“Would you like the shrimp ...
- 8,589
7
votes
3
answers
110
views
What is the most commonly accepted synonym or synonymous phrase in linguistics for "wh-question"?
The term "wh-question" seems transparent enough for English speakers, but reeks of English language chauvinism. I have heard such questions referred to as "information questions,"...
- 8,589
3
votes
1
answer
80
views
What should we do to disagreements on sentence judgments
I am currently working on a project about pronouns and reflexives. I have encountered something very confusing. Sometimes it is claimed to be coreferential, whereas, in other literature, it is not.
...
- 391
1
vote
0
answers
43
views
Why can't pronouns inside of a coordinated NP refer to -human
Anna Cardinaletti and Michal Starke (1999)'s paper discusses the fact that it is always true that a coordinated personal pronoun cannot refer to a non-human entity.
My question is why it is true.
I ...
- 391
4
votes
1
answer
286
views
Do predicates always map to truth values in formal semantics?
I have been informed here What is the difference between function and predicate? that in formal semantics, predicates are always functions that map from individuals (i.e. arguments) to truth values. ...
- 663
2
votes
2
answers
164
views
How are cleft sentences different from normal structures
I am always curious about it-cleft sentences. How do you draw trees using binary branches and how is it different from normal structures: "It is .... that...."
Is the difference interpreted ...
- 391
2
votes
1
answer
43
views
Is binding semantic?
Does binding theory occur in syntax or semantics?
Personally, I think the index of the pronouns is semantic because who it refers to is interpreted in the meaning, which should be regarded as ...
- 391
4
votes
1
answer
237
views
What is the difference between function and predicate?
I am currently watching videos on formal semantics in Youtube. I find that the terms function and predicate are used a lot and that what they mean is similar. Functions take one or more arguments, and ...
- 663
2
votes
0
answers
31
views
What is the difference between move and adjoin approach?
In Generative grammar, when it comes to the theories of "move" and "adjoin", I am often confused with the usages of these two different approaches.
My understanding is that for ...
- 391
2
votes
0
answers
70
views
How to find all the features while feature checking?
I am currently reading 'Syntax: A Minimalist Introduction' by Andrew Radford. In chapter 3, they mention the method of feature checking, which is used to determine if the grammatical features carried ...
1
vote
1
answer
66
views
Do Chinese embedded clauses have C head?
It is pointed out that in Huang, Li, Li (2009:35)'s book the syntax of Chinese, the discourse functions that ma/ba/ne perform are only associated with matrix clauses.
Ba is for imperatives, ma for ...
- 391
3
votes
1
answer
139
views
why is this ambiguous sentence disambiguated in its wh-question form?
The sentence 'I saw the man in the room' is ambiguous (either I was in the room and saw a man, or the man was in the room and I saw him)
If we transform it into a wh-question, 'In which room did you ...
3
votes
0
answers
82
views
Inherently reflexive verbs
What is the status of herself in the following sentence?
Mary behaved herself during the class.
Is herself an internal argument? I'm a bit confused.
- 663
3
votes
0
answers
53
views
In X-Bar theory, what could the Specifiers of PPs and AdvPs ever be?
In X-Bar theory, do prepositional phrases, adverbial phrases, adjectival phrases etc. ever have specifiers? What could they be?
The only phrases I know the possible specifiers for are: Noun Phrases, ...
- 941
0
votes
2
answers
103
views
How is topic-prominence different than OSV word order?
I have read that "most East-Asian languages" are topic-prominent languages, which means putting the topic (object) first before the subject, and the verb last, but they never say explicitly ...
- 3,652
1
vote
3
answers
107
views
Why don't topic-prominent languages have articles/determiners?
I just discovered topic-prominence and am curious how it works in Chinese in complex cases. But mainly for this question, wondering what Wikipedia means by:
They do not have articles, which are ...
- 3,652
2
votes
1
answer
56
views
How can I tell if a word like "multiple" is being used as an adjective or determiner?
A new dashboard design, including multiple buttons, ...
Dictionaries I've looked in only list "multiple" as an adjective. It makes sense to me that in the above sentence, it could be ...
- 941
0
votes
0
answers
23
views
How do "transform into" and "turn into" function syntactically?
He turned into a car
He transformed into a car
What are the syntactic categories of "transform", "turn", and "into" in each sentence?
I think that "turned into&...
- 941
0
votes
1
answer
52
views
Can "has been" be copular? Can the perfect tenses be copular?
Do any or all of these conjugations of 'be' count as copulae?
I have been a plumber
I could have been a plumber
I have been startled
I think they might not be, because they aren't really ...
- 941
3
votes
1
answer
87
views
How does an AdvP attach in X-bar syntax?
I am studying Linguistics and for the life of me, I cannot seem to get my head around X bar theory. I have to figure out the X bar sytax tree of this sentence:
"I love the cover of the book very ...
- 31
0
votes
1
answer
81
views
Across languages, do adverbial adpositional phrases ever modify other adpositional phrases?
In English, I've found examples of two consecutive adverbial prepositional phrases both modifying the rest of a verb group, e.g.,
"He won't go out of the town because of the animals."
"...
- 8,589
2
votes
0
answers
78
views
Conditional and interrogative 'if' in Romance languages
In English, the prototypical word for introducing a conditional antecedent is the word if. This word is homophonous with the interrogative word if used in subordinate interrogative clauses:
If Bertha'...
- 3,568
1
vote
2
answers
51
views
What is the most fundamental syntactic unit?
If you were to attempt to define the rules of the grammar of a language, what would be the lowest level “unit” of syntax of which every valid utterance is some subtype?
- 788