SYNTAX

1. Definition of syntax
2. Noun phrase & verb
phrase
3. Phrase structure rules /
Tree diagram

Definition of Syntax
Concerned with the
arrangement/ordering of
words according to the rules
for a particular language

Definition of Syntax
From words, there is a
progression to phrases,
clauses and sentences

Definition of Syntax
Grammar

Morphology
(Form)

Syntax
(Sequence)

Phrase
A word or a group of words used
as a single part of speech
Phrases in English;
Noun Phrase, Verb Phrase,
Adjective Phrase, Adverb Phrase
and Preposition Phrase

Noun Phrase
Basic Structure
Premodifier + Head (Postmodifier)
i.

Head

Cats

ii. Premod + Head

iii. Head + Postmodifier

The cats
Cats from the jungle

iv. Premodifier + head + postmodifier

The cats from the jungle

Verb Phrase
Basic Structure
Aux + Head + (Object/Complement) + (Modifier)
i. Head
He eats (NP VP)
ii. (Aux) + Head
He has eaten (VP)
iii. Head + Object (Complement)
He ate a pie
(Obj. comp. VP)
iv. Head + modifier He ate a lot (Adv. Prep. VP)
v. Combination of the above
Aux + Head + Prep.P.Modifier
She has been speaking on the phone
(Aux Head VP Prep Ph)

Phrase Structure Rules

Phrase-structure rules are a way to describe
a given language's syntax
They are used to break a natural language
sentence down into its constituent parts (also
known as syntactic categories) namely phrasal
categories and lexical categories (parts of
speech)

Phrase Structure Rules

Phrasal categories include the noun phrase,
verb phrase, and prepositional phrase; lexical
categories include noun, verb, adjective,
adverb, and many others

Phrase Structure Rules

A constituent structure of a sentence is its
phrase structure and the rules of the phrase
structure grammar, in their simple form,
may be illustrated as follows:

Phrase Structure Rules

Simple phrase structure grammar rules

(Chomsky 1957:26)

Tree diagram
The derivation of the sentence Nice
dogs like cats can be demonstrated
more clearly by means of a tree diagram
(also

known

presented below:

as

phrase-marker)

as

Tree diagram
A phrase structure tree is a form of
representation of sentences in which
nodes or elements are labeled by syntactic
category (noun phrase (NP), verb phrase
(VP), prepositional phrase (PP), etc.)

Tree diagram

SYNTAX
1.Transformational rules /
operations
2. Clause types
3. Sentence Pattern

TRANSFORMATIONAL RULES

CLAUSE TYPE

SENTENCE PATTERN
Sentence can be categorized into 2 categories;
a)Communicative functions
b)Structural/Construction components

SENTENCE PATTERN
a) Communicative functions
i- Statement/Declarative
ii- Questions/Interrogatives
iii- Commands/Imperatives
iv- Exclamatives

SENTENCE PATTERN
b) Structural/Construction components
i-

Simple Sentence

ii-

Compound sentence

iii-

Complex sentence

iv-

Compound- Complex sentence