9882 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Independent Clause, Dependent Clause, Noun Phrase
20 Jun 2018
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Week 5 lecture (syntax) – Linguistics for Educators
9882
Tuesday, 13 March 2018
Syntax:
Is part of the grammar that represents a speakers knowledge of the structure of phrases and
sentences.
For example - a person demonstrates syntax when putting a grammatical sentence together.
Syntax rules demonstrate the order of words in a sentence, and the organisation of the
groups of words.
I can create new sentences by using the rules of syntax, e.g. the boy sailed the boat across
the ocean, the boy sailed the boat across the ocean without a life raft, the boy sailed the boat
across the ocean without a life raft surrounded by 30 metre waves.
The rules of syntax combine words into phrases and the phrases into clauses/sentences, e.g.
ladybug… the ladybug was flying in the air.
The rules of syntax differ depending on the language and culture, e.g. the English syntax is
vastly different from Chinese syntax.
It is essential for teachers to understand the rules of syntax in order to correct EAL/D
students who may not be familiar with English, e.g. "oh I see you're doing that, in English we
construct sentences differently…"
The difference between phrases and clauses:
Phrases
Cannot stand alone but can be used as part of a sentence.
Words can be grouped together, but without a subject or verb.
Can be short or long.
For example, "the red balloon" or "waiting for the rain to come".
Clauses
Groups of words that have both subjects and predicate (predicate is saying something about
the subject - e.g. Mary met Steven at the ball in a red dress).
Can act as a sentence.
Can act as an independent clause (the dog barked at him), or a subordinate clause (when
the wind stopped).
Example: the new puppy cried through the night - [the new puppy] <-- subject [cried through
the night] <-- predicate.
*A sentence can have more than one clause - e.g. Mary met Steven at the ball in a red dress.*
Phrasal (lexical) categories: (can be more than one word, also will have a head e.g. the important
word)
Noun phrase - puppies, a man, a good thought
Verb phrase - smiles, often goes to the city
Adjective phrases - very silly, happy
Adverb phrases - brightly, very slowly
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