Definition
 Syntax
is the grammatical arrangement of words
in a sentence.
It
concerns both word order and agreement in
the relationship between words.
Syntax
is primarily concerned with structure of
sentences.
Examples
The
following statements follow normal English word order:
- The cat sat on the mat.
- My old brown leather suitcase.
The
following statements do not follow normal English word order:
- The cat on the mat sat.
- My brown leather old suitcase.
Use
Word
order is very important in English, because the language is no
longer inflected. That is, individual words do not have endings
to show which parts of speech they represent.
Changes
to conventional synatx are often used to create dramatic, poetic,
or comic effect. For
instance, poets and song lyricists often change syntactic order
to create rhythmic effects:
"I'll sing to him, each spring to him
And long for the day when I'll cling to him,
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I."
[COLE PORTER]
A
normal sentence in English usually contains at least three elements: subject, verb,
and object.
Subject |
Verb |
Object |
The cat |
eats |
the goldfish |
John |
likes |
football |
Mary |
chose |
the wallpaper |
Every
language has rules of syntax, and to the linguist the essential
rules are descriptive. They are the rules which underpin the life
of the language and which are extremely slow to change.
These
are not to be confused with the presecriptive 'rules' of traditional grammar [For
instance, 'Never end a sentence with a preposition'].
An
example of a descriptive rule of English syntax is that in the
imperative in English, the verb takes the
initial position in the sentence, usually
directly before the noun which is the object.
- Put those books on the table.
- Take the lid off after half an hour.
- Remove all packaging before heating the soup.
- Isolate the switch in case of fault.
It
is important to make a distinction between grammar and
syntax, and to realise that syntax is a component of grammar.
The
term 'grammar' refers to the whole structure of
the language including the naming of its parts, its rules of tense,
and its sound system. It is a comprehensive term.
Syntax
only refers to the relationship between the grammatical components
of language in use. In other words it is the nature, quality or
type of relationship between terms in any given statement which
is the province of syntax.
The
construction of the passive voice is a syntactic issue, as it involves
word order. The following statement is in the passive voice:
- A woman was run over in central London today by a vehicle
travelling at high speed.
If
we transfer this to the active voice, we have:
- A vehicle travelling at high speed ran over a woman in central
London today.
The
semantic content is similar in the two statements, but the emphasis
is changed according to whether it is expressed as active or passive.
The
difference between the two versions is dependent on the positioning
of the subject and the object in the sentence.
In the passive version, the object takes the initial position.
This is a syntactic principle. |
