Cambridge Encyclopedia :: Cambridge Encyclopedia Vol. 73

syntax

In linguistics, the study of sentence structure; alternatively, the study of how words can be combined into larger grammatical units. A syntax for a language specifies a set of grammatical categories (such as verb, noun phrase, and sentence) and a set of rules which define the ways in which these categories relate to each other.

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In linguistics, Syntax is the study of the rules, or "patterned relations", that govern the way words combine to form phrases and phrases combine to form sentences. The most common are Phrase structure grammars, preferred by Noam Chomsky's MIT school of linguistics, and ID/LP grammars, the latter of which some argue has an explanatory advantage (especially those in opposition to the MIT school of linguistics such as Ivan Sag, and Geoffrey Pullum.) Dependency grammar is a class of syntactic theories separate from generative grammar in which structure is determined by the relation between a word (a head) and its dependents.

Syntactic terms

Adjective Attributive adjective and predicative adjective Adjunct Adverb Appositive Article Aspect Auxiliary verb Case Clause Closed class word Comparative Complement Compound noun and adjective Conjugation Conjunction Dangling modifier Declension Determiner Dual (form for two) Expletive Function word Gender Gerund Infinitive Measure word (classifier) Modal particle Movement paradox Modifier Mood Noun Number Object Open class word Parasitic gap Part of speech Particle Person Phrase Phrasal verb Plural Predicate (also verb phrase) Predicative (adjectival or nominal) Preposition Personal pronoun Pronoun Restrictiveness Sandhi Sentence (linguistics) Singular Subject Superlative Tense Uninflected word Verb Voice Wh-movement Word order

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