TOPIC 5: SYNTAX

Discuss the rules of Syntax and generate five well-formed sentences. Are there sentences that can be generated from these rules that are ill-formed? Provide examples to illustrate your discussion. According to Bruce M. Rowe and Diane P. Levine (2006), word syntax is actually derived from Greek elements which Syn means together while Tax means arranging. In the other word, Syntax can be defined as the level of grammar that is specifically refers to the arrangements words and morphemes in construction of the sentences. (Rowe B.M, Levine D.P. (2006)). Syntax also can be defined as the part of grammar which shows the level of competency of English speaker in construction of the sentence. What are the rules of syntax? There are several rules of syntax. Syntax rules concern on the completeness of the sentence. Most of the languages in the world are in complete form. A complete sentence should consist of verb, noun and other word classes. Bruce M. Rowe and Diane P. Levine stated that all English sentences include a verb. This means that verb is very important element in order to construct a complete sentence. For example; She looks dirty. That sentence is correct because it has verb (looks) which complete its meaning. If the verb is omitted, the sentence will be incomplete and awkward. Syntax rules also mention that some words need to be occurred with another word so that it can be a complete sentence. According to Victoria Fromkin, Robert Rodman and Nina Hyams (2011), syntax rules specify that transitive verb requires direct object. For example; The man buys a cigarette. The verb buys is a transitive verb. It needs to be followed by the direct object (a cigarette). The sentence will be ungrammatical if we change the direct object with expressions such as adverbial phrase, prepositional phrase and also an adverb.

TOPIC 5: SYNTAX

For example; The man buys in that shop. The sentence is not complete because its meaning is not clear. The sentence makes the reader wonder what actually the man wants to buy. Hence, by putting direct object after transitive verb, the sentence becomes complete. Next, syntax rules also stresses on word order. Word order is very important in the construction of the sentence. According to Fromkin, V. , Rodman, R. and Hyams, N. (2011), they stated that syntax rules specify the correct word order for a language. Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) words order is used in the English sentence. Once again, Fromkin, V. , Rodman, R. and Hyams, N. (2011) stated that English is a SVO language. This means most of the English sentences follow the SVO words order. For instance; Peter Nimble

/ steals / the magic box.

In above sentence, we can see that it follows the correct other which Peter Nimble is subject of the sentence, steals is a verb and the magic box is an object of the sentence. Hence, that sentence is grammatical. However SVO words order cannot be describe all types of the sentences. It can only describe Declarative sentence (DS), and not other sentence such as interrogative sentence (question) (IS). For interrogative sentence, we can use another word order which is linear word order. Bruce M. Rowe and Diane P. Levine (2009) defined linear word order as specific sequence that different types of words (lexical categories) follow. For example; (1) She saw a ghost. (Declarative sentence)

(2) Did she see a ghost? (Interrogative sentence) The examples above show that the difference of word order had been used. In the first sentence we can see that it uses SVO word order. In order to change DS into IS, an auxiliary verb (Did) need to be placed in front of the sentence. Hence,

TOPIC 5: SYNTAX

it follows linear word order because the word sequence changes due to the verb in front of the sentence so that it can form a question. In this syntax rule also mention about case. It indicates the function of nouns, pronouns and also adjectives within a sentence and the relationship between these words with the verbs and other words within the sentences (Rowe B.M., Levine D.P (2009)). This means that case shows the relationship between subject and direct object within a sentence. For example: (1) Jack kills the European girl. (2) The European girl kills Jack. In the first sentence, we can see that Jack functioned as subject of the sentence because its place is before the verb while the European girl is an object of the sentence due to its position which is after the verb. The second sentence shows that the function of the words is changing when its position has changed. Now, the European girl is a subject and Jack is the direct object of the sentences. Hence, we can see that syntax rules shows that sentences can be grammatically related as to provide the information that who is actually doing what to whom. Syntax also talks about the grammaticality judgments about word combinations. In English language, some words can come together or can be combined and some cannot be combined. According to Rowe B.M., Levine D.P (2009), it stated that articles a, an, and the do not occur before verbs. For example, a speak. The phrase is incorrect because the article a cannot occur before verb and the correct phrase is a speech. Speech is a noun. Hence, the articles a can occur before it. The articles can occur before nouns and gerund. Other word combinations rule is an adverb cannot be used to modify a noun. For example, the gracefully girl is dancing. The adverb gracefully cannot modify the noun (girl) because adverb only can modify verb. Hence, the sentence is incorrect.

TOPIC 5: SYNTAX

Syntax rules also stress that Intransitive verb does not require direct object to follow it. However, it can be occurred with an adverb, adverb phrase and also prepositional phrase. For example; The babies sleep. The intransitive verb (sleep) can stand on its own and it does not require direct object because the meaning of the sentence is already complete. The babies sleep + <soundly>. The above sentence is correct because the adverb (soundly) modifies the verb (sleep). Hence, we can see that intransitive verb can be followed by adverb, adverbial phrase and prepositional phrase which make the sentence more specific. Lastly, syntax rules also allow ambiguity in the sentences. According to Fromkin, V., Rodman, R. and Hyams, N. (2011), stated that syntax rules explain how words can form groups in a sentence or arranged with respect to one another. For example; Tajima eats all hot burgers and hotdogs. The sentence above is ambiguous because the phrase hot burgers and hotdogs can be interpreted in two ways. The first interpretation is Tajima eats all hotdogs and hot burgers. This means the hotdogs that Tajima eats are not hot as burgers. Hence, we can see that the adjective hot only modifies the noun (burgers) and not the noun (hotdogs). The second interpretation is Tajima eats all hot burgers and hot hotdogs. From that sentence, we can see that adjective hot modifies both nouns (burgers and hotdogs). This ambiguity is called as structural ambiguity because there is a difference in the sentence structures.

TOPIC 5: SYNTAX

One of the purposes of learning syntax is to detect whether the sentences are well-formed or ill-formed. Well-formed sentence is a sentence that obeys and conform the rules of syntax. It is also known as grammatical sentence. For examples; 1) The baby looks cute. The sentence is grammatical because it is complete meaning and it has verb. It follows the rules of syntax.

2) The man sells a car. The sentence is grammatical because the direct object comes after the transitive verb.

3) Peter Nimble steals the magic box. The sentence is grammatical because it follows the SVO order.

4) A jogging exercise is good for health. The article a can come before a gerund so the sentence is grammatical.

5) That poor old man died. The intransitive verb does not require direct object. Hence, the sentence is grammatical.

TOPIC 5: SYNTAX

On the other hand, ill-formed sentence is a sentence that disobeys and do not conform the rules of syntax. For examples; 1) That big man sick The sentence is ill-formed because its meaning is not complete which it doesnt have verb. 2) Patrick met in the hall The verb (met) is transitive verb and it requires direct object. The sentence above does not have direct object. So, it is ill-formed sentences. 3) a cake my mother bakes The sentence is obviously ungrammatical because the word order is incorrect. 4) The gorilla sings her baby. The verb (sings) is intransitive. So, it doesnt require direct object. Hence, the sentence is ill-formed. 5) A swim is very interesting sport The article a cannot occur before a verb (swim). Hence, the sentence is ill-formed sentence. In conclusion, syntax rule is very important because it shows the level of knowledge of an English speaker in construction of the sentences. Syntax enables the speaker to detect whether the generated sentence is well-formed or ill-formed. Hence, it is true that there are sentences that can be generated from the rules that are ill-formed. This is due to the lack of knowledge in syntax. (1495 words)