Syntax: The analysis of sentence structure

Nur Syakirin Bt Saleh 1429900Aini Syahira Bt Jamaluddin 1426516

Syntax is linguistic structure above the word level (e.g. how sentences are formed). It refers both to particular sets of rules, and also to the academic field that studies those rules

Chomsky, Noam (2002) [1957]. Syntactic Structures. p. 11.

Syntactic Categories (1)

Lexical categories Noun (N) Verb (V) Adjective (A) Preposition (P) Adverb (Adv)

Examples moisture, policy melt, remain good, intelligent to, near slowly, now

Syntactic Categories (2)

Non-lexical categories Determiner (Det) Degree word (Deg) Qualifier (Qual) Auxiliary (Aux) Conjunction (Con)

Examples the, this very, more always, perhaps will, can and, or

Indicate the category of each word in the following sentences.a. The glass suddenly broke.

b. A jogger ran towards the end of the lane.

c. The boy and the girl drink their tea.

Det / N / Adv / V

Det / N / V / P / Det / N / P / Det / N

Det / N / Con/ Det / N / V / Det / N

Phrases NP : Noun Phrase

The car, a clever student VP : Verb Phrase

study hard, play the guitar PP : Prepositional Phrase

in the class, above the earth AP : Adjective Phrase

very tall, quite certain

The main structure rules

1. S NP VP

2. NP (Det) (AP) N (PP)

3. VP V (NP) (PP) (Adv)

4. PP P NP

5. AP A (PP)

Example (1)The children put the toy in the box

V PP

in

NPP

the

Det N

boxThe

N

put

S

NP VP

Det

children

NP

the

Det N

toy

Example ()The old tree swayed in the wind

old

V PP

in

NPP

the

Det N

windThe

N

swayed

S

NP VP

Det Adj

tree

a)The teacher gave homework to his students. Det / N / V / N / Prep / Det / N

b)The sick man died in the street Det / Adj / N / V /Prep / Det /N

c)The boss ate soup at the home Det/ N/ V/ N/ Prep/Det /N

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