Download Definition of Syntax and Morphology

The Structure of Grammar
We mainly define three levels of structural grammar.
1. Phonology: the first or lowest level deals with the system of speech
sound employed by native speakers of English.
2. Morphology: the next higher level that is concerned with the meaningful
forms made from the individual speech sound. Generally speaking we
may say that it deals with words and their meaningful parts.
3. Syntax: is the top level that pertains to the ways in which words are
arranged to form phrases and sentences.
1. Definition of Morphology
morphology (mɔːˈfɒlədʒɪ)
n
1. (Biology) the branch of biology concerned with the form and structure of organisms
2. (Linguistics) the form and structure of words in a language, esp the consistent patterns of
inflection, combination, derivation and change, etc, that may be observed and classified
3. the form and structure of anything
morphologic ˌmorphoˈlogical adj ˌmorphoˈlogically adv morˈphologist n
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis, and description of the structure of a
given language's morphemes and other linguistic units, such as root words, affixes, parts of
speech, intonations and stresses, or implied context. In contrast, morphological typology is
the classification of languages according to their use of morphemes, while lexicology is the
study of those words forming a language's wordstock.
While words are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, it is clear that in
most languages, if not all, words can be related to other words by rules (grammars). For
example, English speakers recognize that the words dog and dogs are closely related,
differentiated only by the plurality morpheme "-s", only found bound to nouns. Speakers of
English, a fusional (unification)language, recognize these relations from their tacit
knowledge of English's rules of word formation. They infer intuitively that dog is
to dogs as cat is to cats; and, in similar fashion, dog is to dog catcher as dish is to
dishwasher. These are understood as grammars that represent the morphology of the
language. The rules understood by a speaker reflect specific patterns or regularities in the
way words are formed from smaller units in the language they are using and how those
smaller units interact in speech. In this way, morphology is the branch of linguistics that
studies patterns of word formation within and across languages and attempts to formulate
rules that model the knowledge of the speakers of those languages.
2. Definition of Syntax
(1)In linguistics, the study of the rules that govern the ways in which words combine to
form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Syntax is one of the major components of grammar.
(2) The arrangement of words in a sentence. Adjective: syntactic.
There is a basic distinction in language studies between syntax(which is primarily concerned with the
ways in which words are put together in sentences) andmorphology (which is primarily concerned
with the internal structures of words).
Full Definition of SYNTAX
1
a : the way in which linguistic elements (as words) are put together to form constituents (as
phrases or clauses)
b : the part of grammar dealing with this
2
: a connected or orderly system : harmonious arrangement of parts or
elements <the syntax of classical architecture>
3
: syntactics especially as dealing with the formal properties of languages
Examples of SYNTAX
1. “I saw that she a cookie ate” is an example of incorrectsyntax.
Other Definition
a. The study of the rules whereby words or other elements of sentence
structure are combined to form grammatical sentences.
b. A publication, such as a book, that presents such rules.
c. The pattern of formation of sentences or phrases in a language.
d. Such a pattern in a particular sentence or discourse.
2. Computer Science The rules governing the formation of statements in a
programming language.
3. A systematic, orderly arrangement.
First, language is oral, _it lives on the lips and the ears of its user_ and writing
is a visual symbolization of language itself.
To realize that language is independent of writing, we have to recall the many
tribes, nations and ethnic groups whose members possess no form of writing
but whose language are being avidly studied today by linguistic scientists and
anthropologist.
When we study the grammar of a language through the medium of writing, we
must often supplement the writing with special marks to indicate the stresses,
pitches and break of oral speech; and sometimes we must replace writing with
a different set of symbols to represent the sound of living voice.
Rim
Saw
Bin
See
Sing
Tall
Trim
Pain
wrong