Abels, K; (2015) Syntax. In: Cummings, L and Braber, N and Morrish, L, (eds.) Exploring Language and Linguistics. (pp. 137-167). Cambridge University Press

Preview

Text Syntax chapter v1.5.pdf - Accepted Version Download (151kB) | Preview

Abstract

This chapter examines the question of what limits there are in the way in which languages can differ from each other structurally. Whenever we utter a sentence in any language, the words come in a particular order and are grouped into phrases in a particular way. While it is obvious that words in a sentence are ordered, the organization into phrases is less obvious, often imperceptible. This chapter argues that the variation between languages is largely confined to perceptible properties of word order, while the imperceptible organization into phrases is the same – or very nearly so – in all languages. Whether this view is true and, if so, why, is at the heart of some of the most fundamental debates in linguistics with implications for all of cognitive science. The chapter starts by motivating the existence of abstract phrase structure and by outlining what kinds of facts the syntactic description of a language must account for. A sufficiently explicit discussion requires some technical tools and notions, which will be introduced. The chapter then explains the goals of a general syntactic theory: to delimit and explain the range of variation found in human languages. This is followed by a case study of the word order found in noun phrases across languages. The case study focuses on the idea that languages differ in word order but resemble each other in phrasal organization.

Available Versions of this Item

• Syntax. (deposited 03 Nov 2011 07:34)
  • Syntax. (deposited 27 Nov 2017 10:48) [Currently Displayed]

Download activity - last month

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Archive Staff Only

View Item