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SYNTAX
STUDY OF
SENTENCE
STRUCTURE
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Chapter 5
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Syntax: Study of Sentence Structure
Grammarian and the Rower
When people were carried in rowing-boats across Boğaziçi in Istanbul in the 18th century, a
grammarian embarks one of these boats to cross from Kadıköy to Eminönü. With pride
and prejudice, grammarian wants to know how much grammar the rower knows:
“Evlat, do you know any grammar?”
“No” replies the rower bluntly. The grammarian then promptly makes the comment:
“You see, evlat, you’ve wasted HALF of your life!”
As the journey continues in the rougher part of the Bosporus, the boat begins to show signs of
capsizing. So the rower asks the grammarian:
“Do you know how to swim, Baba?”
“No” replies the worried grammarian. And the rower puts the final touch to the conversation:
“Baba, you’ve wasted ALL of your life!”
What to find in this chapter






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Competence and Performance
Deep and Surface Structures
Phrases and Sentences
Word Order
Constituent Structure
Phrase Structures
Generative Grammar
Transformational Rules
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5.0 Introduction
The aforementioned funny story that took place in 18th century Istanbul
reveals notable information on how language studies are perceived by the schooled
as well as the unschooled. Literate or illiterate, professor or student, every speaker
of a language possesses a working knowledge of language. What the grammarian,
or the linguist, knows in addition to what everybody else does is the formal ways of
studying, explaining and naming of the phenomena involved in language.
We started off by examining the individual sounds (Chapter 2) and the way
these sounds interact to form syllables (Chapter 3). This is followed by the study of
morphemes (Chapter 4.) In the present chapter we move one step forward and
examine how morphemes (words) are combined to form larger chunks such as
phrases and sentences. What this chapter basically studies is the area covered by
the grammar.
We set out to look at the difference between competence and performance,
and surface and deep structures. Next, types of phrases and sentences as well as
the notion of basic word order are discussed. The concept of constituent structure,
which plays an important role in phrase structure and transformational grammar, is
studied later. Later, generative and transformational grammars are introduced, with
the tree diagrams to explore the syntactic structures of sentences, especially in
relation ambiguous sentences. Finally, two features of transformational grammar,
namely dependency and extra-positioning, are explained and exemplified.
5.1 Syntax
Syntax, or the more popularly known expression ‘grammar’, has enjoyed
popularity in all nations all over the world throughout history. Fascinated by the
challenge and complexity of it, older generations have unfailingly imposed the study
of syntax on younger generations, who have almost always considered it a bore. As
a consequence, the study of grammar has been far from easy and rewarding. The
following satirical expression reveals the hopeless situation that exists in Turkish
educational culture.
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
Benim oğlum bina1 okur, döner döner, yine okur!
o “My son studies grammar; with no success in sight, he comes back
to study it over and over again.”
What this saying implies is that one can never be sure of her knowledge of
grammar no matter how painstakingly or how long one studies it. Nonetheless, as
fluent speakers of at least one language, we possess a functioning grammatical
knowledge of our languages although we may not know or recall the terms,
classifications, rules, and descriptions used in linguistic studies.
Recall that the previous chapter examined words, more specifically
morphemes, and the ways they come together to form larger and complex words.
‘Syntax’ examines the ways words come together to form phrases and consequently
sentences. Many definitions can be offered for syntax. The following is a routine
one:
Syntax is the study of how words are combined to produce phrases and sentences.
When syntax is combined with morphology, the resulting area is called
‘grammar’. In this sense, the present chapter complements the study of grammar.
The etymology of the term ‘syntax’ goes back to ancient times. It originates
from Ancient Greek: syn meant “together” and tax meant “sequence” or
“arrangement.” The original meaning of the term must have been something like
“arrangement of the items (words) occurring together.” Despite
the distinction between syntax and grammar, the study of
structure of sentences can also be referred to as ‘grammar’ by
many linguists. Therefore, in what follows, terms like ‘syntactic’
and ‘grammatical’ will be used interchangeably.
The terms syntax and grammar in language related
studies inevitably conjures up a name: Noam Chomsky. Though
he has not published the highest number of articles or books, his
1
The word bina means “structure”, or “grammar of a language” in Arabic.
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works have been cited more than any other modern name in any discipline including
Karl Marx, Adam Smith, and Emile Durkheim. He continues to fascinate generations
of researchers who have something to say about how language operates.
His name became popular when he published his first serious work, a book
called Syntactic Structures in 1957, in which he proposed that language is a unique
innate faculty for humans and that it is a creative one. He further proposed that
language is rule-based and thus the most interesting and important aspect of
language is its grammar or syntax as it provides a systematic and concise
description of a language. To him, grammar is a formal device that is capable of
producing infinite number of grammatically correct sentences by using a finite
number of rules. His central idea of what language is has remained the same
despite the modifications he has made since then.
5.2 Competence and Performance
As we grow up to become adults, we pass through many stages of
comprehending the messages we hear from others. As we listen to the instances of
language input, our minds start inferring a set of rules and thereby construct a
system by which we could understand the sentences we hear. The rules acquired
through comprehending the utterances also enable us to produce sensible
sentences, which are understandable and grammatical to others. The intuitive
knowledge of rules that every speakers has about the language she speaks is called
‘competence’.
Drawing upon these acquired rules, our minds are constantly busy with
ensuring that every sentence they process is well-formed, not ill-formed. The ability
to decide the grammaticality of sentences is also part of language users’
competence. Now let us reflect on some examples of sentences to check our
competence in English grammar:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Şahsenem is difficult to love.
It is difficult to love Şahsenem.
Ömer is anxious to leave.
*It is anxious to leave Ömer.
What he did was climb a tree.
*What Özge thought was want a sports car.
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7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
*Ali wanted Özlem go.
*Ali heard Işıl to go.
*Ali put the bread.
*Ali was crying the baby.
*Ali walked the hill up.
*Who owned the cat that Nur kissed the little old lady. 2
The question “How do we come to process and produce sentences?” has
been intriguing for many a scholar since the early 20th century. There have been two
basic responses to this question: the first is the Behaviorist explanation while the
second, which we briefly touched upon above, is the Cognitive explanation.
For the advocates of Behaviorism, learning a language is not much different
from learning any other behavior of human beings. Language learning is considered
to be the matter of establishing right habits, which is considered to be acquired
through imitation, repetition, memorization and rote learning. As such, language
learning is conceived to be a totally mechanical activity detached from the mental
faculties and all types of cognitive processes. This view, expounded by Skinner and
many others from 1910’s till 1950’s, was criticized on several grounds, the most
important of which is that it fails to account for the way language learners manage to
produce unheard, unread, novel, and original sentences.
Creativity is a human inventive quality that generates novel grammatical relationships using
existing grammatical arrangements.
As for the Cognitive view, supported by a more rational school of thought in
linguistics, it argues that human beings possess a unique linguistic capacity, unlike
animals, to deal with infinite number of possible sentences. Only with the help of this
capacity can humans produce and comprehend conventional sentences (heard or
read) as well as innovative sentences (never used). The originator of this view,
Chomsky, reasoned that speakers possess a ‘competence’, an abstract knowledge
of grammatical rules. It is this linguistic knowledge of a speaker that enables him/her
2
The sentences that have an asterisk (*) sign are ungrammatical.
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to produce fresh sentences which are rendered sensible and acceptable by other
speakers. The following reflects his approach to what constitutes speakers linguistic
knowledge:
A speaker’s linguistic knowledge is a grammar that consists of a finite set of rules and
principles that form the basis of the speaker’s ability to produce and comprehend the
unlimited number of phrases and sentences.
In this conception of competence, grammar is an underlying abstract system
which consists of a finite set of rules and principles. By the help of this set of rules,
speakers are able to produce and comprehend unlimited number of phrases and
sentences, using the limited number of elements (words) in a language. This view of
the nature of language has been known as ‘generative grammar’ (see Section 8
below for more). While the knowledge of the rules and the way they are used to
fashion well-formed sentences are included in the area of ‘linguistic competence’,
the actual production of real sentences are considered as ‘linguistic performance’.
The following table encapsulates the general concerns of each area.
Table 5.1 Features of competence and performance
COMPETENCE
PERFORMANCE
Abstract/underlying system
Production of grammatical sentences
Linguistic capacity
Physical limitations like fatigue
Ability to notice ambiguity
Disambiguating ambiguity
Intuitive judgments on grammaticality
Explanation of the rules
As indicated in the last part of table, the competence of the speakers
(educated or uneducated) allow them to make intuitive judgments on the
grammaticality of novel sentences like the following sentence. The following famous
example taken from Chomsky could reveal the point:
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1
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Grammatically well-formed – semantically
anomalous
2
*Green colorless ideas sleep furiously.
Grammatically ill-formed - semantically
anomalous
The intuitive judgment of any native speaker of English, or even an
intermediate learner of English would not hesitate a moment to confirm that
sentence No. 1 is a well-formed and grammatical sentence, but, a weird and odd
one indeed. And they are not wrong in that the weirdness springs from the fact that
the meaning of one word clashes with the meaning of another. That is, the word
green is colorful by definition, so it cannot be modified by colorless. It is therefore
rendered as an ‘anomalous’ (abnormal) sentence Secondly, their intuition will also
state that sentence No. 2 is neither grammatically well-formed nor semantically
sensible on the grounds that green is not a hyponym of colorless and so it cannot
precede it. (This is a subject we elaborate on in the next chapter on Semantics).
The scope of competence is always greater than that of performance (see
Figure 5.1 below to have an idea of how they compare). One confirmation of this can
be seen when second/foreign language learners complain about why they are
unable to speak (performance) as proficiently as they can understand (competence).
Competence
Performance
Figure 5.1 Relative comparison of competence and performance
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5.3 Deep and Surface Structures
Directly relevant to the issues of competence and performance are the
issues of deep and surface structures. When we study the structure of sentences,
we come to notice that some words are dropped out, or missing, which is more in
speech than in written form. For instance, one of the most often used expressions,
Thank you, does not have “I” as the subject of thank, as it is taken for granted.
Therefore, we say that “I” is present in the deep structure (underlying structure is
also used) structure, but not present in the surface structure. Consider other
examples:
Table 5.2 Differences between surface and deep structures
SURFACE STRUCTURE
DEEP STRUCTURE
Sorry!
“I’m sorry!”
Come here.
“You come here.”
Let go!
“You let my arm go!”
I request you to step out of the room.
“I request that you step out of the room.”
It is thrilling to meet you again!
“To meet you again is thrilling.”
The Figure 5.2 below may illustrate some way of how surface structure
relate to deep structure. One simplified example is the deletion of subjects in
imperatives.
Deep Structure
Surface Structure
Structure
Figure 5.2 Relative comparison of deep and surface structures
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Though linguistic communication takes place at the surface level,
expressions and sentences are interpreted according to deep structure since deep
structure is the abstract level of grammatical organization in the mind. To put it
differently, surface structure (the actual sentences produced) reveals the
performance of a speaker while the deep structure is dealt with the competence,
ability to process and judge grammaticality of sentences.
The relationships between and among the components discussed above
can be diagrammatical shown as in Figure 5.3 below:
Surface Structure
Performance
Deep Structure
Competence
Figure 5.3 Relations that hold between constructs
Surface structures are based on the dictates, or patterns of deep structure.
Knowledge of deep structures gets activated when speakers are asked to use their
intuitive judgments. It is through competence that one can exhibit their performance.
Performance, in turn, is revealed in the form of surface structures. We can now turn
to examine the nature of phrases and sentences in terms of how our competence
deals with them.
5.4 Phrases
In a sentence like “Alex watered the flowers”, the noun Alex can be replaced
by other nouns or group of words such as Mary, the old man, the beautiful maid, the
children of our neighbors and so on. The list could go on indefinitely and there is no
limit on the number of the words that could fulfill similar function as Alex does in our
sentences. The group of words that can be substituted one for the other and fulfill
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the same function in a sentence is called a ‘phrase’. In the examples above Alex,
Mary, the old man, the beautiful maid, the children of our neighbors are all examples
of noun phrases. Phrases are not limited to noun phrases of course. There are other
types such as verb phrases, prepositional phrases, participial phrases, and infinitival
phrases. All phrases have one kernel lexical item called ‘head word’3. The way a
phrase is identified as belonging to one type or the other is determined by locating
its head word. The head word is a noun in a noun phrase, a verb in a verb phrase
and a preposition in a prepositional phrase, and so forth. Words other than the head
word only help to say more about the head word. Referring back to our example
above,
1. The children of the neighbors watered the flowers.
children is the head of the noun phrase the children of the neighbors, and watered is
the head of the verb phrase watered the flowers. Examine Table 5.3 for some other
types of phrases and examples.
Table 5.3 Types of phrases in English
Participial Phrase
Thinking the next move
Infinitival Phrase
To complete a hopeless journey
(Subject) Noun Phrase
A terrified old motorist
Prepositional Phrase
Near the cliffs opposite the mountains
Verb Phrase (Phrasal Verb)
Passes out
Adverbial Phrase
Too soon
There are two semantico-syntactic functions a noun phrase can serve:
Subject noun phrase or object noun phrase. The third sentence in the table above is
an example of ‘subject noun phrase’. If a noun phrase follows the verb phrases, it is
called ‘object noun phrase’.
3
The term ‘word’ is used here to mean ‘morpheme’.
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5.5 Sentences
A ‘sentence’ is a group of words in which a comment is made about a topic.
Thus, the distinctive feature of the sentence is the comment it has. In conventional
writing, a sentence begins with a capital letter and the end of it is signaled by a dot
or full-stop [.]. It is self-contained, that is, it does not depend on the words, phrases
or sentences outside of it to be understood. A ‘proper’ sentence has two main parts:
topic and comment, which are known as subject and predicate in syntax. Predicate
contains all parts of the sentence other than the subject. Consider the following
example:
Everybody
has his merits and faults.
Subject
Predicate
Sentences can also appear in Subject + Complement form, with the
complement being either an adjective or a noun. In such a sentence, the stative verb
TO BE is used. Observe the example:
She
is a teacher of English at a School for the Visually Impaired.
Subject
Complement
The subject of a sentence can consist of one word or many (In fact, the
number is infinite but there are practical constraints). Likewise, the predicate of a
sentence can be made of one word or many.
The essential element in a sentence is a finite verb. Examples for the
simplest sentence can be


I see.
Birds fly.
Needless to note that all verbs or verb phrases are also considered
sentences in their own right; e.g. in their imperative forms, as in:




Start.
Come in.
Get on with it.
Get down to it.
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It is safe to state that the rich contextual evidence allows for the omission of
subject noun phrase you in the sentences above. So the imperative sentence Start
could be restated as You start and the sentence Come in as You come in.
While one can find candidates for the smallest sentences with relative ease,
it is thorny to find a candidate for much longer ones. A longer sentence would be as
in the following frame: Can you find the subject and the main verb phrase in this
sentence?
Longest Sentence in English?
Full of quiet dignity, and so obviously an English gentleman of perfect breeding and
impeccable taste, even in the khaki shorts, sun-helmet and old school tie appropriate to the
burning tropical sun, his bronzed clean-cut countenance radiant with the unselfconscious
superiority so much admired - yet so vainly imitated - by less fortunate nations untouched as
yet by the public school tradition, the Civil Engineer, watching the gradual but irresistible
collapse of his new bridge into the brown, swirling waters of the flooded river hundreds of feet
below, and ignoring, with the ease of long practice, the coarse but good-natured badinage of
his workmen and the less friendly, indeed actively hostile, criticism of the representatives of
the local authorities, consoled himself by imagining, with a thrill of anticipatory aesthetic
pleasure, the excellence of the English prose, beautifully phrased and brilliantly punctuated,
soon to be enshrined in his report justifying and explaining this unfortunate contretemps- an
exquisite prose developed through his regular attendance at the admirable lectures on the
Use of English provided, regardless of trouble and expense, though without extra emolument
accruing to the lecturer dedicated to the task, by the benevolent authorities of his old
University.
© John Swannell
Types of Sentences
Sentences in English could be classified into four main types. The most
common used type of sentences in spoken English is called ‘simplex sentence’. A
typical simplex sentence is the one that consist of a noun phrase followed by a verb
phrase. ‘Complex sentence’, the second type, on the other hand, has more than one
noun phrase and more than one verb phrase combined with subordinating
conjunctions. Compound sentences similarly consists of more than one noun phrase
and verb phrases, but they are combined via coordinating conjunctions. The last
type of English sentences is a combination of the last two. The following table
provides examples of the types and the features of sentences:
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Table 5.4 Types of sentences
TYPES OF
SENTENCES
Simplex
Complex
Compound
Compound –
Complex
INDICATORS & EXAMPLES
Subject + Verb + Object
 She teaches English.
Main Clause + Subordinate Clause
o They will leave as they came.
Clause + and, but, so, + Clause
 He warned them so that they could be more careful next time.
All features of the Compound & Complex Sentences combined

As she knew there was nothing else she could do to save her
marriage, she headed for her only refuge, the small attic, where
she could find what her soul was so desperately in need of and
comfort her fragile morale.
5.6 Word Order
Thus far, we have never questioned the order in which words and their
semantico-grammatical functions are sequenced in sentences. A relevant question
in this context is:

Is there a basic word order in the sentences of a language?
Yes, there is. All languages are flexible to allow for different word orders.
However, not all languages have the same limitations on the flexibility of word order.
While English is known to have a very rigid word order, languages like Turkish are
more flexible.
Unmarked Word Order
In word order studies, the question of “Who is doing what?” is important.
The answer to such questions will inevitably call for the employment of concepts
such as Subject, Object, Verb and so forth. Examine Table 5.5.
Table 5.5 Functions of subject, verb and object
SUBJECT
VERB
OBJECT
Agent
Doer
Action
Do
Recipient
Doee
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The unmarked (normal, most frequent) word order in English is Subject +
Verb + Object (SVO). Put differently, in the marked word order of English it is the
position of the word that determines the functions (semantic roles) of words /
phrases. In an unmarked word order, the initial position (position of the subject) has
an agentive function (Doer) while the final position (position of the object) has the
recipient function (Doee). For instance, if the word order in the sentence

The man bit the dog.
is jumbled up in a way to produce

The dog bit the man.
the meaning changes since the positions allocated for subject and object are
decisive for expressing the meaning relations. While the agent of the action in the
first sentence is the man, this role in the second sentence is fulfilled by the dog. The
role of the recipient is also reversed accordingly.
Marked Word Order
There are occasions when the unmarked word order (SVO) changes into
OSV. This is usually done because of the contrastive or emphatic constraints
imposed by the context. The word order observed in such sentences are called
‘marked word order’. For instance, consider the following conversation:
A: I can’t ride a bike!
B: What about a horse?
A: A horse I can ride. (more appropriate than I can ride a horse)
The relocation of the object to the initial position in English, which is also
called ‘topic-fronting’, is one instance of the marked word order in English. Below are
more examples for marked word order:



John his name is.
Beyond the mountains lies the desert.
Never has the world witnessed a disaster of this magnitude!
‘Clefting’ is another example of how marked word order can be achieved by
rearranging the elements in a sentence. In this type of sentence structure a dummy
subject is used at the initial position of the sentences. The following sentences in
Table 5.6 provide examples of cleft structures derived from the unmarked order.
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Table 5.6 Cleft structures in English
1
They need tolerance.
UNMARKED WORD ORDER
2
It is tolerance that they need.
Marked Word Order
3
Tolerance is what they need.
Marked Word Order
4
What they need is tolerance.
Marked Word Order
Turkish, an SOV language, is a lot freer than that in English. How many
different orders can you produce to write the sentence Ali yumurtayı yedi. “Ali ate the
egg.”? As a matter fact, there are six different ways. Consider Table 5.7, in each of
which the word order is modified to achieve different pragmatic effects:
Table 5.7 Variations in Turkish word order
1
2
3
4
5
6
TURKISH
Ali yumurta(y)-ı yedi
Ali yedi yumurta(y)-ı.
Yedi Ali yumurta(y)-ı.
Yedi yumurta(y)-ı Ali.
Yumurta(y)-ı Ali yedi.
Yumurta(y)-ı yedi Ali.
ENGLISH
TYPE OF ORDER
“Ali ate the egg.”
“It was Ali who ate the egg.”
“Ali did (really) eat the egg. “
“What Ali did was to eat the egg.”
“The egg Ali ate.”
“What Ali ate was the egg.”
Unmarked order
Marked order
Marked order
Marked order
Marked order
Marked order
This was made possible since Turkish language utilizes case marking on
the noun phrases. In the example above, it was the case the case marking –(y)ı that
enabled us to come up with different word orders. The permutation above, however,
is not to say that Turkish word order is totally free. If we take away the accusative
marking –(y)ı, which is essentially used to indicate the objective function of a noun
phrase, the only sensible alternative would be Ali yumurta yedi, which is the basic
word order for Turkish: SOV (see also Table 4.5 in Chapter 4).
When we look at the classification of world’s languages in regards to word
order (Clark and Clark, 1977), we see that SOV is the most common, followed by
SVO. Examine Table 5.8 to get an idea about the distribution of word orders across
the languages of the world:
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Table 5.8 Distribution of word orders across the languages of the world
POSITION No. 1
POSITION No. 2
POSITION No. 3
Subject
Subject
Verb
Verb
Object
Object
Object
Verb
Subject
Object
Verb
Subject
Verb
Object
Object
Subject
Subject
Verb
PERCENTAGE (%)
44 %
35 %
19 %
03 %
00 %
00 %
Having seen that sentences in a language are not randomly and
haphazardly organized, we can now develop certain analytical insights into the
working of sentences as well as phrases.
5.7 Concept of Constituent Structure
It is now clear that sentences possess a word order, more technically, a
‘constituent structure’, which is also known as ‘syntactic structure’. It is through the
constituent structure that words turn into phrases and phrases come together to
form sentences. To explore the formation of all sentences, four basic properties of
constituent structure have been identified. These properties allow us to go about
explaining how the constituents of sentences interact.
Properties of Constituent Structures
1.
2.
3.
4.
Linear order of elements (i.e. numerical positions)
Structural dependency of the elements in the sentence
Labeling of elements into syntactic categories (parts of speech like nouns)
Grouping of elements into structural constituents (phrases)
Linear Order of Elements
According to the Swiss linguist, Saussure, (see the
picture), one of the founding fathers of modern linguistics, the
concept of styntactic structure has two aspects: ‘syntagmatic’
and ‘paradigmatic’. The following figure (original from his
lectures) shows how Saussure conceptualized the
grammatical structure of sentences.
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Syntagmatic
P
a
r
a
d
i
g
m
a
t
i
c
Ahmed
He
I
You
She
…
…
…
…
etc.
+ can
+ will
+ may
+ might
+ could
+…
+…
+…
+…
+ etc.
+ go
+ run
+ sit
+ walk
+ visit
+…
+…
+…
+…
+ etc.
Figure 5.4 Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations
Within a sentence, words have ‘syntagmatic’ relationship with one another in
a linear fashion. That is, words have specific positions in sentences (e.g. Ahmed is
in position No. 1 and can is in position No. 2, and so forth) and one element (word)
has to follow another in a certain fashion (The first element Ahmed is followed by
can, which in turn is followed by go).
Another relationship between phrases is one of ‘paradigmatic’, which means
that phrases have certain functions that allow them to replace one another in the
same position of the sentence. That is, noun phrases can be replaced by other noun
phrases, verb phrases by other verb phrases, and so on (see also section 5.4
above). Below are the definitions of the two concepts i.e. syntagmatic and
paradigmatic:
Syntagmatic rules determine the way constituents in a sentence are ordered in a linear
fashion.
Paradigmatic rules regulate the way different constituents (phrases) are substituted for each
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other.
Structural Dependency
In addition to the information presented above, one fundamental
consideration is the concept of ‘structural dependency.’ Essentially, the concept of
linear order is not sufficient to capture more intricate operations within a sentence.
For instance, according to the concept of linear order, the sentence such as

*I shot me in the leg.
should be grammatical. However, we know that this is not the case, and to render
this sentence grammatical, the pronoun me should be replaced by the reflexive
pronoun, myself:

I shot myself in the leg.
This is mandated by the concept of ‘structural dependency’. That is, certain
elements are dependent on each other no matter where their positions are.
Therefore, speakers have to take note of whether the subject is identical with the
object. In the example above, the subject and the object, I and myself, both refer to
the same person: 1st person singular.
All the same, some examples from informal speech exhibit notable
exceptions to the rule. Compare the following:


Look at yourself!
Look at you!
(grammatical and used)
(ungrammatical but used)
Another interesting but less noticed violation of the principle of structural
dependency can be found in written language. Consider the following sentence, in
which the pronoun it is the same the subject noun phrase generative grammar:

Generative grammar carries with it a commitment to the usefulness.
Labeling of Elements into Lexical Categories (Parts of Speech)
As mentioned above, not all elements in a sentence have the same function.
In other words, the information they give might vary between actions, qualities,
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number, degrees and so forth. Therefore, to have a deeper understanding of the
syntactic (grammatical, constituent) structure, the elements (lexical items, words)
need to be labeled according to the functions they serve in a sentence. Parts of
speech in English can be classified into 9 categories: verb, adverb, noun, adjective,
article, preposition, conjunction, interjection, and pronoun.
Table 5.9 Parts of speech and their functions
PARTS OF
SPEECH
DESCRIPTION OF FUNCTIONS
EXAMPLES
Interjections
Reveal emotional outbursts while speaking.
Goodness!
Pronouns
Represent nouns as given/shared information.
She
Verbs
Used for actions; physical or imaginary.
Read
Articles
Reveal presence or absence of shared information.
The
Adjectives
Used for the quality of these objects.
Pinky
Nouns
Used for objects and concepts; physical or imaginary.
Book
Adverbs
Used for the way these actions are carried out.
Happily
Prepositions
Indicate positional/time relations between actions and
situations.
Out
Conjunctions
Used to connect words as well as clauses.
Before
Forming Yes/No Questions
In Section 5.6 above, the typical (unmarked) word order in English is given
as SVO. It is also noted there that subject and object are represented by nouns
(noun phrases). In what follows, we set out to provide examples on how the
knowledge of parts of speech as well their functions could help us explore the rule
for converting declarative statements into Yes/No questions, following Akmajian et.
al. (1984: 169-172).
Although all native speakers of English as well as any proficient second user
of English could judge whether a sentence is a Yes/No question and how a
declarative sentence is transformed into a Yes/No question, very few of them can
supply a precise rule. This is not surprising though; they know ‘grammar’, but do not
know ‘about’ grammar. To arrive at the Yes/No question formation rule in English we
22
examine some sample sentences, approaching the matter through trial and error
and in so doing we exemplify the way syntactic rules are generally probed and
identified in linguistics.
In the first phase of the attempt to form a Yes/No question from a
declarative sentence, the linear order can be taken into consideration. As a result,
words are supplied with numbers for their positions such as 1, 2, 3, etc.
John could lift 70 kilos yesterday.
1
2
3 4
5
6
Using intuition, when word No.2 is placed at the beginning of the sentence,
the result is a successful Yes/No question:
Could John lift 70 kilos yesterday?
So, Rule 1 can be formed: To form a question, place word 2 at the beginning of the
sentence.
----------------------------------------------One has difficulty, however, in applying the same rule for a sentence like
Yesterday John could lift 70 kilos.
1
2
3
4 5
6
So, Rule 1 needs to be modified to cater for the need arisen with this
problematic sentence. We now have to realize that words of a sentence not only
form a string of words in a linear order, but also but are connected with regard to the
parts of speech they possess in sentences such as subject, verb, objects, etc.
John is a noun, so its placement at the beginning will not yield any Yes/No
question. Instead, could should be placed at the beginning. A better rule, then, can
be expressed as follows:
Rule 2. To form a question from a declarative sentence, place the first verb of the
sentence at the initial position.
-----------------------------------------------
When Rule 2 is applied to a sentence like
23
I know him.
the resulting Yes/No question form would be
* Know I him?
which is clearly ungrammatical. Then, another level of knowledge is needed:
knowledge of auxiliary verbs. English distinguishes between main verbs and
auxiliary verbs. If the auxiliary verb does not exist in the surface structure, then the
appropriate form of the auxiliary should be deduced from the main verb: in this case,
it is do that needs to be used. Then, the previous rule should be revised in a way to
include subcategories of verbs, which now can be stated:
Rule 3. To form a question from a declarative sentence, place the auxiliary verb of
the sentence at the initial position.
-----------------------------------------------
Such a rule may not be able to account for the transformation in a sentence
like
John will have left.
To deal with this, we need to further refine and revise the rule:
Rule 4. To form a question from a declarative sentence, find the first auxiliary verb
of the sentence and place it at the initial position.
-----------------------------------------------
So far, the examples examined all come from simplex sentences. When a
complex sentence containing a relative clause is treated with Rule 4, the resulting
sentence will look ungrammatical again:
24
The students who are sitting in the class will be asked to leave.
*Are the students who sitting in the class will be asked to leave?
The way to solve the problem is to further revise the previous rule in the form of:
Rule 5. To form a question from a declarative sentence, find the first auxiliary verb
of the main sentence and place it at the initial position.
-----------------------------------------------
An application the Rule 5 to a sentence like
Yesterday John, who could lift a car, was here.
will produce
*Was yesterday John, who could lift a car, here?
which is clearly not what the intuition predicts. Then, we need a final revision to the
Rule 5:
Rule 6. To form a question from a declarative sentence, find the first auxiliary verb
of the main sentence and place it to the immediate left of the subject of the main
sentence.
It is clearly seen here that the notion parts of speech as well as the notion of
subject is very important in finding out the rules by which languages operate. As
shown in section 5.5 above, the typical sentence in any language would have to
have a subject and a verb. In addition, subject is important in producing relative
clauses.
What has been done so far in this section was to explore the rule that
accounts for the way Yes/No questions are formed in English following a trial and
25
error approach. What follows next presents another way of looking at how words are
clustered in sentences.
Grouping of Elements into Structural Constituents (Phrases)
A very important step to work out the constituent structure of a sentence is
the decision as to how to group the elements in the language. Again, our intuition
will guide us into the understanding of which particular elements can ‘go with’ which
other elements. How would you group the elements of following sentence into three?

The boy put out the fire.
Indicate your choice by putting check marks in the boxes in Table 5.10.
Table 5.10 Grouping elements in a sentence
HOW TO DO THE GROUPING FOR THE SENTENCE
“The boy put out the fire.”
1
2
3
4
(the boy)
(the boy)
(the)
(the boy put)
(put)
(put out)
(put out)
(out)
Which
one?
(out the fire)
(the fire)
(the fire)
(the fire)
As you might have guessed, the right grouping is the one given in No. 2.
The parentheses are not the only means by which groupings are carried out. A tree
diagram is the established technical way to explain how grouping could be
implemented between and among words. Before exploring this technique, however,
we turn to explain one of the key concepts in linguistics i.e. generative grammar.
5.8 Generative Grammar
While linguists often draw on the intuition of the native speaker to build a
theory of language, designing an all rounded grammar requires more than
speculations. Any scientific theory of language must be able to come up with some
sound theoretical evidence to account for the way language is produced and
comprehended by its speakers and listeners. Linguists need to delineate the system
of rules that reside in the mind of the speakers and render them into competent
26
language users. Moreover they should be able to explain what makes language
users to produce sentences they have never heard or come across before.
It also needs to explain the type of knowledge that enables native speaker
to pass judgments on the well-formedness (grammaticality) of the sentences. These
points are capsulated in the following statement.
“Since a grammar of a language is an explicit characterization of all the rules
of that language, including the rules of phonology, morphology, semantics, and
syntax, it must reflect all aspects of a speaker’s linguistic knowledge. This
requires that it (grammar) specify all and only the grammatical sentences of the
language with descriptions of sentence structures.” Fromkin & Rodman
(1983:222)
A grammar that explicitly specifies the set of rules that enable the language
user to produce new sentences and accounts for grammatical and ungrammatical
sentences in a language is called a ‘generative grammar’. One such grammar is
Transformational-Generative (TG) Grammar as proposed by Chomsky. The
syntactic aspect of TG Grammar includes two rules: Phrase Structure Rules and
Transformational Rules.
Phrase Structure Rules
The rules that determine the deep (underlying) constituent structure of
sentences are called ‘phrase structure rules’, also known as ‘rewrite rules.’ The
phrase structure rules in a language state what each constituent can be composed
of. For example, in English, a noun phrase can be composed of a noun only or in
combination with an article. A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition and a
noun phrase.
To formally express the rules we need to equip ourselves with a
paralanguage or notation. Observe the following abbreviations for the parts of
speech:
Table 5.11 Abbreviations for phrase structure rules
S=Sentence
N=Noun
V=Verb
ModCl= Modifying Clause
Art=Article
Adj=Adjective
Adv=Adverb
Poss=Possessive
P=Preposition
Aux=Auxiliary
Conj=Conjunction
PossP= Possessive Phrase
27
NP=Noun Phrase
VP=Verb Phrase
Comp= Complement
PP=Prepositional Phrase
Armed with these notations, we can now proceed to formulate some phrase
structure rules:
NP → N
NP → Art N
NP → Art Adj N
VP → V
VP → V Prt
VP → V NP
VP → V NP NP
PP → P NP
PossP → Poss NP
S → NP VP
for “apples”
for “an apple”
for “a stunning girl”
for “sleep”
for “write off”
for “skip a course”
for “lend me some money”
for “off the road”
for “his new hair style”
for “She hit the roof.”
(intransitive)
(phrasal verb)
(transitive)
(di-transitive)
These phrase structure rules enable us to analyze each sentence for its
underlying sentence structure. Additionally they can account for the fact that how
English speakers can produce an infinite number of sentences out of the limited
number of rules. For instance, it is the knowledge of NP → Art Adj N that allow
language users to produce ‘a stunning girl’ or similar phrase such as ‘an ugly boy’, ‘a
demanding instructor’ and so forth.
The tree diagram (in fact, an upside-down tree) is the most popular diagram
among linguists with which phrase structure notation can be shown. The following is
an example of how a tree should be drawn and understood.
S
S is divided into NP and VP
/
\
/
VP
/
/
VP is divided into V and NP
\
NP
|
NP
\
|
/ \
/
NP is divided into Art and N
Art N V Art
N
|
|
|
|
|
The boy hit the dog.
28
The following sentences share the same constituent structure as the
sentence above:


The fish ate a shellfish.
The valley hosts a Kangal.
One might legitimately demand an explanation as to why the particular
grouping in English is the way it is. For instance, the reason why a sentence is
divided into NP and VP in the first leg of the tree diagram (S → NP + VP) lies in the
‘information structure’ of English sentences. English sentence structure has to have
a topic (theme) in the initial position, which is the subject NP of that sentence. The
other major constituent of the sentence is the comment part, which is expressed by
the VP. Examine Table 5.12 for the typical features of information structure (see also
5.5 above).
Table 5.12 Information Structures in English
INFORMATION STRUCTURE IN ENGLISH
Topic
Subject
Theme
General
Shared
Comment
Predicate
Rheme
Specific
New
We then need to say that the way sentence structures in English can be
divided into its components is determined by the information structure of English. As
regards the output of constituent structure as tree diagrams, sentences can be of
three kinds:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Simplex sentence
Right-branching
Left-branching
Embedded
We have just examined a simplex sentence structure in the examples
above. So, let us consider others below.
Right-branching Sentences
29
Right branching sentences are the sentences the analysis of which into
constituting phrase structures lead to the right branching of the tree. Consider the
example below where the main sentence ‘branches’ to the right:
S1
S1 dominates S2
/
\
|
VP
|
/
|
\
|
S2
|
|
|
|
/
NP
VP
|
|
|
|
/ \
NP |
|
|
|
NP
|
|
|
|
/ \
|
N V
|
|
/
/
S2 dominates S3
\
\
Comp N V Art N
|
|
| |
|
S3
|
I suppose that John is a student who …
Technically speaking, S1 dominates S2, which in turn dominates S3. Plainly
speaking, the main clause is S1 while S2 is a noun clause of S1. S3 is a relative
clause of the object noun phrase ‘a student’. Consider other examples: see if you
can draw a tree diagram for each.
1.
2.
3.
Temel may think Dursun will say Ali denies …
The house in the farm near corn fields across the hills behind the mountains…
That is the cat
that ate the mouse
that drank the wine
30
Left-Branching Sentences
Left-branching sentences can contain either prepositional phrases or
relative clauses involving Object NPs in the sentences. The following illustrates a
prepositional left-branched phrase.
NP1
/
\
PossP
/
\
NP2
/
N
|
Suffix
\
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Suffix
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PossP N
|
|
|
|
/
|
|
|
|
PossP
/
\
NP3
/
\
\
N
|
NP4 Suffix |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
N
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ali ’s
uncle ’s
father ’s
grandson
See if you can draw a tree diagram for the following sentences.
31



My grandmother’s sister’s grandfather.
Her friend’s father’s yacht.
The world’s richest man’s youngest daughter
Embedded Sentences
The Subject NPs of sentences can have relative clauses in an embedding
fashion. Such sentences are called ‘embedded sentences’. Examine the following:
S1
S1 dominates S2
/
\
NP
/
\
\
\
/
S2
|
\
/
\
\
|
/
|
NP
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
/
|
|
|
NP
NP
NP
/
/ \
/ \
\
\
\
VP
|
|
\
\
\
\
\
\
S3
|
|
\
\
\
\
|
S3 is directly embedded in S2
\
VP
|
| \
VP
|
| NP
|
|
|
V
V
V Art N
|
|
\
Art N Art N Art N
|
S2 is directly embedded in S1
|
/ \
|
|
The rat the cat the dog disliked chased ate the cheese.
Other examples: see if you can draw a tree diagram for each.
1. The student the professor flunked kicked the desk.
2. The girl the child a bird kissed kicked had a red umbrella.
3. The class the students painted could accommodate 69 students.
Ambiguity and Disambiguation
32
Ambiguous sentence are sentences that could be interpreted in more than
one way. In order to work out the intended meaning of ambiguous sentences, tree
diagrams can be used. This is crucial in order to have an insight into the inner
working mechanisms of the mind when it processes the sentences. For this purpose,
let us repeat an earlier sentence:
33
S
/
\
NP
/
\
| \
/
\
|
PP
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Art
N
|
|
\
\
\
NP
\
/
|
\
\
P
NP
|
NP
|
/ \
|
/ \
VP
/
|
\
P Art N Conj Art N Aux V
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Adv
|
|
The mother of the boy and the girl will arrive soon.
When the nodes [ | ] are studied carefully, it is clear that the operative
meaning according to tree diagram is “She will arrive soon”. There is only one NP
that is directly attached to S. Besides, NP includes a PP, which contains “of the boy
and the girl”, acting as a qualifier for the NP “the mother”. Below, the same sentence
is drawn differently: different grouping of the elements results in a different
interpretation:
S
/ \
NP
/
| \
NP
|
/ / \
/
/
/
/
\
\
|
PP
|
\
\
\
|
\
\
|
\
|
|
\
|
|
P
NP
|
NP
|
|
|
/ \
|
/ \
Art
N
|
|
VP
/
|
P Art N Conj Art N Aux V
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
\
Adv
|
34
The mother of the boy and the girl will arrive soon.
According to the above diagram, the operative meaning is “They will arrive
soon.” The reason is that S has an NP that has two sub NPs, connected by ‘and’.
The first head NP is ‘mother’ and the second head NP is ‘girl’. Further, the left-most
NP has a PP; ‘of the boy’.
The ambiguity just examined is about the Subject NP. This time let us
examine a sentence that involves ambiguity for the PP. Look at the sentence:

The cop shot the man in the van.
The question is: What is the scope of in the van? Does it modify only the man or
does it modify shot the man? If we interpret the meaning as The cop shot the man
who was in the van, then we have to draw the following tree diagram.
S
/
\
|
VP
|
/
|
\
/
NP
|
|
|
|
|
|
PP
|
|
|
|
/
\
NP
|
|
|
|
NP
/
|
|
|
|
\
/
|
\
/
\
The cop shot the man in the van.
If we are trying to say that the shooting took place in the van, then the
following diagram is appropriate.
35
S
/
\
/
VP
|
/
|
\
|
|
|
PP
|
|
|
|
NP
V
NP
P
/
|
/ \
| /
\
\
NP
\
The cop shot the man in the van.
Other examples for structurally ambiguous sentences are:


Big cats and dogs should be on a leash.
The man saw the boy with a telescope.
5.9 Transformational Rules
The end product of the phrase structure rules results in deep structure.
Deep structure is the abstract layer where the intended meaning of sentences is
formed by language user. To produce the sentences as they are actually uttered by
the speaker, however, another set of rules are applied to the deep structure to
transform the product of this structure into actual sentences use i.e. surface
structure. The rules that are applied to deep structure to produce surface structure
are called ‘transformation’. The following includes some of the transformations
English has:









Imperatives
Question formation (Yes/No, WH-)
Passive voice
Particle Movement
Fronting
Cleft structures
Causative constructions
Discontinuous Dependency
Extra-positioning modifying clauses
36
Here we will illustrate the last two related transformations, i.e. discontinuous
dependency and extra-positioning as an example.
Dependency and Particle Movement Rule
Some verb stems and their particles in English are dependent on one
another in such a manner that no other element can be permitted between the two.
Such verb phrases are called ‘inseparable verbs’. Examine some of them below:







Rely on
Consist of
Result in
Listen to
Point at
Believe in
I rely on my father for financial support.
well-formed
*I rely my father on for financial support.
ill-formed
In syntax, this type of relationship between the verb stem and its particle
(prepositional adverb) is known as ‘continuous dependency’. On the other hand,
there is another class of verb phrases that permits the placement of NP after the
verb stem. These verb phrases are called ‘separable verbs’. Examine the following:






Give up
Take up
Finish off
Turn down
Put off
Tie up
1
Kim gave up her hope.
well-formed
2
Kim gave her hope up.
well-formed
This flexible relationship between the verb stem give and its particle up is
known as ‘discontinuous dependency’. Furthermore, the process by which the
37
particle up is moved away from the verb stem give is called ‘particle movement rule’.
Let us draw a tree diagram for the sentence No 1.
S
/
\
/
\
/
\
/
VP
|
/
NP
V
|
/ \
\
NP
/ \
N
V Prt Poss N
|
|
|
|
|
Kim gave up her hope.
Now compare the one above with the following, in which the particle up is
moved to the end of the Object NP:
S
/
\
/
\
/
\
/
VP
|
/
NP
V
|
/
| \
NP
\
/ \
\
N
V Poss N
|
|
|
|
Prt
|
Kim gave her hope up.
In this example, the Object NP her hope is moved between the verb stem
and the particle. The Object NP consists of two elements in this example. The
38
question is “What if the O NP includes as many as a dozen words?” Can we do the
same mechanical operation as easily as that in the example above? Let us consider:
Kim GAVE UP all her hopes that she will some day become a pop star.
When particle movement rule is applied, we would have the following
unacceptable sentence:
*Kim GAVE all her hopes that she will some day become a pop star UP.
Neither in spoken nor in written communication could native speakers or
even proficient users of English find this acceptable! Unacceptability appears not to
do with the grammatical structure in which particle movement rule is applied; it is
more to do with what is known as ‘memory span’. In other words, from a listener’s
point of view, it is beyond her cognitive capacity to realize that the particle up at the
end of the utterance is in fact a separable part of the verb stem that is uttered 12
words before.
To make up for the restricted capacity of the cognitive resources of listeners
we need to shift the place of particle once more applying a transformational rule
called ‘extra-positioning’. Extra-positioning refers to the process of placing the noun
clause after the particle leaving the most essential words where they are. Consider
the following:
Kim GAVE all her hopes UP that she will some day become a pop star.
Only after the application of extra-positioning could the sentence become
intelligible for communicative purposes. We now look at another example of
grammatical transformation.
Extra-positioning Modifying Clause
Relative (modifying) clauses in English function like an adjective modifying
an NP. Under normal circumstances, it is accepted that the relationship between the
39
modifying clause and the modified NP is one of continuous dependency. This
practically means that the modifying clause cannot be separated from the modified
NP. Examine the following sentence:
S
/
\
NP
\
/
\
/
Mod Clause
/
/
|
\ \
\
NP
|
|
\
|
|
/
Quant
N
|
\
\
\
|
|
|
\
\ \ \
\
|
\
\
\
Compl Aux Neg
|
\
\
\
\
\
\
VP
\
\
/
\
V
Poss
N
P
N
V
Part
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many students who could not complete their assignments on time dropped out.
There are cases, however, where modifying clause can be detached from its
usual location and placed at the sentence final position. Consider the following
transformation in which the modifying clause is ‘extra-posed’ and compare it with the
one above.
S
/
/
Mod
/
/
|
\
/
/
/ / /\ \ \ \
/
/
/
NP
VP
Quant
\
/
/
/
/
\
/
N
V
|
|
/ / /
/
\
|
|
\
\
/ /
|
|
/
|
|
|
|
|
Prt Comp Aux Neg
|
\ \ \
|
|
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\ \
\
\
V
Poss
N
|
|
|
\
P N
|
|
Many students dropped out who could not complete their assignments on time.
40
Though students are likely to raise objections about the grammaticality of
the sentence, for many native as well as proficient users of English such a syntactic
construction is acceptable and that the only difference between the former and the
latter is a mere matter of transformation: ‘extra-positioning.’ Normally, the
dependency of modifying clause on the ‘modified’ NP is one of ‘continuous’.
However, when a transformation is needed for pragmatic purposes, dependency
becomes one of ‘discontinuous.’ Here again transformation is triggered to make up
for the limited memory capacity of the listeners. To do away with such restrictions,
native speakers draw upon following considerations:


Comment needs to be closer to topic.
Modifying clauses should be kept to minimum if they are to be
comprehensible in their usual locations.
Summary of Transformational-Generative Grammar
Having described some of the phenomena involved in syntax, it is time to
offer a general view, which is a theory, of how deep structure is converted into
surface structure. Based on the work of Chomsky (1965) the so called ‘standard
theory of transformational-generative grammar’ can be diagrammatically shown as
in Figure 5.5. Basically, from deep structure, a surface structure is generated by
application of a series of syntactic processes (i.e. transformations, or
transformational rules).
An examination of Figure 5.5 indicates that knowledge of phrase structure
rules (which words go with which words) forms the basis of deep structure (what
combinations of words can be considered grammatical through intuitive judgments).
Then, by the help of deep structure, necessary transformations (e.g. active or
passive) are decided upon. Once a decision is made, the structure of the
transformation is formed. In uttering the transformed structure, phonological rules
are applied. Application of phonological rules produces a pronounceable sentence.
41
PHRASE STRUCTURE
RULES
S
y
n
t
a
x
Deep Structures
TRANSFORMATIONS
Surface Structures
PHONOLOGY
Pronunciation
Figure 5.5 Standard theory of transformational-generative grammar
5.10 Updating Chomsky: Minimalist Program
As noted earlier on, Chomsky’s views on the nature of language have
largely remained the same. Nonetheless, in his latest publication called ‘Bare
Phrase Structure’ in 1995, he assigned a prominent role to vocabulary which he had
earlier discarded as insignificant in the study of grammar. Chomsky seems to have
realized that abstract and general grammatical rules may fail to explain the
sentences produced by speakers. A good example would be that mentioned in 5.7:
1. Look at you instead of Look at yourself.
To explain this and similar sentences produced in performance, he
introduced Principle of Economy, a concept similar to Least Effort Theory, according
42
to which linguistic representations and processes are economical. Thus the
theoretical and descriptive device necessary to describe language can be
minimized. According to minimalism, lexicon assumes a greater role in explaining
aspects of grammar. For instance, knowledge of how verbs can take on grammatical
functions is stored with particular verbs rather than phrase structure rules.
Synthesizing all said, syntax is not independent of lexicon and it receives great
contribution in its processes from the particular features of lexical items. Therefore,
syntax has to take semantics into account if it is to give a fuller picture of processes
involved in mind of language users.
5.11 Summary
We discussed major concepts in syntax such as competence and
performance, deep and surface structures, emphasizing that all users of language,
schooled or unschooled, are competent speakers of their languages. Languages do
have a basic word order in terms of subject, verb and object no matter how flexible
and free they might appear to the novice student of language. Behind the concept of
word order lies the idea of constituent (syntactic) structure and how that structure at
phrase and sentence levels are represented at the deep structure, an abstract
system, or knowledge of linguistic structures.
Knowledge of deep structure reveals how constituents are grouped to form
meaningful phrases. Constituent structures can formally be expressed through
various notations, the most famous of which is the tree diagram. We identified why a
sentence in English have the immediate constituents as NP and VP. We provided
examples of transformations and how they can be shown to transform through tree
diagrams, and offered some explanation as to the causes of transformations.
5.12 Teaching Grammar
Grammar, as is the case with other aspects of language, can be taught in
two ways:

Rules are given first, followed by examples (deductive; rule-driven),
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
Examples are supplied first, followed by the discovery of the rule (inductive;
discovery-based).
ACTIVITY 1. Teaching passive voice deductively.
In such an activity for intermediate learners, active sentences can be
transformed into passive ones. Teacher writes a sentence on the board:
“The postman delivers the letters.”

Can you substitute “postman” with “someone”?
“Someone delivers the letters.”
Teacher may ask students which part of the sentence is more important for
communication:
“Someone” OR “delivers the letters.”
Teacher may continue to say that when the verb phrase is more important, the same
sentence can written as
“The letters are delivered.”
Finally, teacher explains the rule:

Find the object of the verb and make it the subject of the passive sentence:
“The letters…”

Place an auxiliary very after the subject by considering both the singularplural nature of the subject and tense of the verb: In this case, it is the ARE
of TO BE:
“The letters + are…”

Convert the existing form of the verb into the Past Participle Form (V3)
“The letters + are + delivered.”
In the next step teacher may ask students to convert some example sentences into
passive applying the rules stated above.
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ACTIVITY 2. Teaching adverbs of frequency inductively.
In this activity, teacher helps upper intermediate learners discover the rule of
determining the location of adverbs of frequency. Teacher may prepare a text having
such adverbs for learners to discover.

Read the following text to figure out the rule for the adverbs of frequency.
“Well, you see, I usually get up at seven o’clock if I haven’t done a hell lot of
work the previous night. I hardly have my breakfast at home as I am used to
picking up a simit on my way to the bus stop. Infrequently, however, I may
decide to occasionally drop in a pastry shop to have tea. You may ask me: “Do
you ever have a healthy breakfast?” Such a thing has never happened to me
before, believe me! As a matter fact, once in a blue moon, like the times at
Bayram.”
Students are expected to come up with the following rules:
Rule 1. Adverbs of frequency can occur outside of SVO.
Rule 2. They are always used before the main verb within the sentence.
Rule 3. They precede the finite verb they modify.

Now apply the rules to the following sentences.
Is the word order right or wrong? If wrong, write the correct form.
1. “It is believed commonly that some are gifted language learners.” ………
2. “What usually goes around often comes around.”
………
3. “East and west, always home is the best.”
………
4. “Might doesn’t always make right.”
………
Study Questions
1. What is the crucial difference between a phrase and a sentence?
2. Can you explain re-write rules for phrase structure grammars?
3. Why is the notion of competence important?
4. Can you name three of the properties of constituent structure?
5. Why do languages have transformations (e.g. active-passive)?
6. What is Saussure’s contribution to linguistic studies?
7. Why is the syntax the most important aspect of language for Chomsky?
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8. Do you think syntax alone can account for the way mind processes the
language?
9. How do behaviorists and cognitivists differ considering processing and
producing a language?
10. Why don’t speakers tend to utter or write at deep structure?
11. What is the distinction between competence and performance?
12. What are the types of phrases and sentences? Exemplify.
13. In what ways do we produce sentences in marked word order?
14. How do we disambiguate the sentence “The mother of the boy and the girl
will arrive soon.” using tree diagrams?
15. What seems to be novel in Minimalist Program?
References and Further Reading
Akmajian, A. & Demers, R. A., and Harnish, R. M. (1984) Linguistics: An introduction
to language and communication. (4th ed.) Cambridge: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (1957) Syntactic structures. New York: Holt.
Chomsky, N. (1965) Aspects of theory of syntax. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.
Chomsky, N. (1995) Bare phrase structure. In G. Webelhuth (Ed.), Government and
binding theory and the minimalist program (pp. 383-400). Oxford:
Blackwell.
Clark, H.H. & Clark, E.V. (1977) Psychology and language: An introduction to
psycholinguistics. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Fromkin, V. & Rodman, R. (1989) An introduction to language. New York: Holt.
Thornburry, S. (1999) How to teach grammar. Essex, Harlow: Pearson.
Saussure, Ferdinand de (1916) Cours de linguistique générale. Paris: Payot.