Syntax in Linguistics

Syntax is a branch of linguistics that focuses on grammar. According to Tallerman, "‘syntax’ means ‘sentence construction’: how words group together to make phrases and sentences" (1). It means that the study of syntax is to research into the rules and the function about making a phrase, a clause and a sentence with the words order. Syntax is sometimes said ‘grammar’ but it is too broad, in formal, syntax is only one part of the grammar (Tallerman 1).

The Term ‘Syntax’

Tallerman says,  "the term is also used to mean the study of the syntactic properties of language" (1). Studying syntax includes a constituent: the classification of words, words order, the structure, and the different on languages (Tallerman 1).

Grammatical Terms

When people study syntax, there are many grammatical terms in the text: Noun (N), Verb (V), Preposition (P), Determiner (D), Noun Phrase (NP), Verb Phrase (VP), Preposition Phrase (PP)…. Such terms are used to analyze the sentence and used in tree diagrams (Sobin 34). In addition, when their contents are explained, such terms are used: relative clauses, subject, nominative, subjunctive, passive….

Generalizing Syntactic Rules

Sentence is formed from NPs and VPs. However, they can be separated in small chunk (Sobin 51).

e.g.  S – NP, VP      My sister bought a pen→My sister(NP), bought a Pen(VP)

  NP – D, N        My sister→My(D), sister(N)

       VP – V, NP      bought a pen→bought(V), a pen(NP)

Phrase

Sentences are composed of some phrases. According to All About Linguistics, "There are several different types of the phrase that can be used in a sentence, but the two phrases which must be used in a sentence for it to make sense are a noun phrase and a verb phrase".

Noun Phrase  A noun phrase is composed of a noun. It is usually the person or thing that perform the verb in a sentence.  It may also be the person or thing that the verb is being done to in a sentence. A person acting a verb in a sentence is known as a subject (Aitchison 83), for example ‘Tom.’ Sometimes, a determiner is needed in a noun phrase, like ‘the car.’

Verb Phrase  On the other hand, a verb phrase is usually made up of one word “but not every sentence has basic verb phrase” (All About Linguistics: What is Syntax?) Sometimes, a verb phrase contains another noun phrase. This is a basic verb phrase.

Tree Diagram

The succussive layers of constituents can be shown most clearly on a tree diagram. The source of the name is that its blanches resemble the blanches of an upside-down tree (Aitchison 85). In the tree diagram, a basic sentence type at the top branches downwards in every-increasing complexity.