X-Bar Syntax and Its Contribution to the Linguistic Theory 'X-bar syntax, as a theory of phrase structure grammar, makes a significant contribution to both the descriptive and the explanatory adequacy of Linguistic Theory.' The aim of a theory of language is to describe a speaker's linguistic competence. (Class notes) In order for a grammar to be satisfactory it must satisfy two main conditions: descriptive adequacy and explanatory adequacy. A grammar that satisfies descriptive adequacy "describes the grammatical sentences of a language in such a way as to uncover deeper principles and rules, which capture in a more satisfactory way the intuitions of the native speaker. A grammar which is formulated in accordance with the principles and conventions of a general i.e., universal linguistic theory with explanatory power is said to meet with explanatory adequacy." (Class notes) During the first half of the term, we were introduced to a theory of phrase structure grammar (PSG) which includes two levels of categories: word-level (N, V, A, P, etc.) and phrase-level (NP, AP, VP, PP, etc.). However, this is not a satisfactory method of classification because it does not include a description for a string of words that is neither a full phrase nor a word; therefore failing to satisfy descriptive adequacy. Furthermore, it does not satisfy the condition of explanatory adequacy because it does not enable us to state general principles that are valid across different grammatical categories within a language, i.e. category neutral. Moreover, a grammar with two levels of categories is not powerful enough to state principles that hold true universally. In this essay, I will demonstrate how the X-bar theory of phrase structure grammar c... ... middle of paper ... .... Thirdly, it introduces prime or bar notation, which allows us to capture the distinction between categories formally, i.e. using N", N', and N. X-bar theory adds to explanatory adequacy because it allows us to state general principles that apply across categories, and are therefore category neutral. These principles are universals and apply across languages. In order to account for differences in languages, the theory introduces two parameters. Due to the fact that this theory is simple and universal, it helps us to explain the problem of learnablility, therefore contributing to greater explanatory adequacy (Class notes). Bibliography: Haegeman, L. 1994. (2nd ed.) Introduction to Government and Binding Theory, Oxford, Blackwell. Radford, A. 1988 Transformational Grammar: A First Course. Cambridge, CUP. (Chapter 4)
All languages could be successfully analyzed in terms of mathematical equations. In this sense, language is mathematics. This thesis enables us to explain why languages usually have different word orders, and why any language could be highly flexible.
Fromm, Erich. “The Nature of Symbolic Language.” Class Handout: English 101. Cerro Coso Community College, 2010. 121-26. Print.
The Life of Language: Papers in Linguistics in Honor of William Bright. Berlin [etc.]. Mouton De Gruyter, 1998. Print. The.
Rizzi (1997) depends on a few features, that syntactic movement is “last resort” or that it must be a necessary “quasi-morphological” requirement, and that these requirements are Criteria requirements, “the presence of a head entering into the required Spec-head configuration with the preposed phrase”. Criteria requirements, unlike feature checking, will not disappear. Finally, Rizzi must also assume within the relativized minimality theory, Empty Category Principle (ECP), and the Head Movement Constraint (HMC) and therefore head government. The rele...
The theory of descriptions is Russell's solution to the problem's caused by the interpretation of denoting phrases.
From what I have discussed above, I assert that a phrase is not only composed by two subphrases sometimes. In addition, a group of subphrases form a higher hierarchical phrase should has the functional utilities. The functional utilities could be accorded with either the process of the development of the music, or echo of two portions. Last but not least, the composer through elaboration, rhythmic diminishing, and overlapping to form phrases to a higher hierarchical phrase.
2) Syntactical features may help tease apart difficult relations. They are more useful in cases where
Russell’s Theory of Definite Description has totally changed the way we view definite descriptions by solving the three logical paradoxes. It is undeniable that the theory itself is not yet perfect and there can be objections on this theory. Still, until now, Russell’s theory is the most logical explanation of definite description’s role.
It is useful to have a clear idea about the concept of cohesion and precisely ellipsis among other standards of textuality in text linguistics. Text linguistics took as the objective of its studies the text beyond the sentence which became its end focus before dissatisfaction with sentence based grammar was expressed. The analyses of language were targeted to study communication rather than language far from its pragmatic
Cohesion refers to the relations of meaning within a text and determines it as a text or not. Moreover, cohesion is divided into grammatical and lexical cohesion. Firstly, the grammatical cohesion refers to the role played by grammar in linking sentences and clauses together. Grammatical cohesion is classified into reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunctions. Furthermore, reference is when certain items have the property of reference refer to something or someone for their interpretation. (salkie, 2001, p.64). Moreover, reference is classified into exophoric and endophoric. In addition, endophoric is subdivided into anaphoric and cataphoric. There are three types of reference: personal, demonstrative and comparative. Substitution is when one item is replaced by another in the text. It is divided into three types: nominal, verbal and clausal. (Brown and Yule, 1989, p.201). Moreover, Ellipsis is the omission of parts of the structure which are replaced by nothing. It has three types: nominal, verbal and clausal. (McCarthy, 1991, p.46). Conjunction signals the way the writer wants the reader
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., Svartvik, J. (1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Essex: Longman Ltd.
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. An Introduction to Language. 8th ed. Boston: Thomson, 2007.
which is more redundant than the SL text.” By “more redundant”, she means that the level of cohesive explicitness of the TT is higher than that of the ST. Blum-Kulka views the explicitation as inherent in the process of translation and calls this argument as “exploitation hypothesis” (Blum-Kulka, 1986: 299,300). As such, there are two types of cohesive markers shifts: obligatory and optional. Obligatory shifts are those that occur due to the grammatical differences between languages, while the optional ones are those that occur due to stylistic preferences. Blum-Kulka stresses that only optional shifts of cohesion should be taken into consideration because they can be used as “evidence for showing certain trends in shifts of cohesion through translation” (p.312).
Syntax is the study of how words are combined to create phrases and causes in the sentences of a specific language (Freeman and Freeman, 2014). Syntax helps us to make clear sentences that “sound right,” where words, phrases, and clauses each serve their function and are correctly ordered to form and communicate a complete sentence with meaning. The rules of syntax combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences. Not only does it focus on the correct word order for a language, but it also helps show the relationship between the meaning of a group of words. Without proper syntax, a sentence can be meaningless. It is key to understand that while every language does have certain syntax, the syntax does vary from language to language. It
In many languages, linguistic expressions we would want to identify as words are in fact structurally complex.