LING 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Inflection, Complementary Distribution, Lexical Verb
Document Summary
Syntax (or grammar) is the system of rules and categories that accounts for phrase and sentence formation in human language; includes the study of phrases, clauses, and sentences. Universal grammar (noam chomsky): the major types of linguistic rules (including syntax) are shared by all languages (not necessarily true, since some languages differ in the details of structure) Sounds and words are memorized, however, people do not memorize phrases and sentences; sentences are generated on the fly. Phrase: a combination of words that form a syntactic unit with the cohesive meaning. Clause: a combination of phrases that has to include a subject and a. However, a sentence can be predicate a combination of clauses. Prescriptive grammars: found in language grammars where particular grammar rules are presented as correct and their violations or deviations from them are considered wrong. Descriptive grammars: attempt to describe what is actually happening in the use of language by native speakers.
