KEY TOPICS

• Constituency and hierarchy

• Universal and non-universal aspects of syntactic structure

• Non-verbal predicates

• Operators

• Head-marking constructions

Introduction to syntactic structure

In this chapter we will introduce syntax, the study of how words pattern together in sentences.

So far we have concentrated on the structure of words: morphology. Syntax is the study of the function of words and how they are arranged into groups (constituents) and sentences. We are interested firstly in the types of words we find and their linear order. From there we can look at the structural relationships between constituents; in other words, which constituents are dependent on others. We will also study the hierarchical relationships between constituents; in other words, how units sit inside other units.

To illustrate constituent structure, take a look at the examples in (1) and (2). They are both ambiguous.

1. (1) the tiny elephant hunter

2. (2) Parking attendant attacks rocket.

Both (1) and (2) illustrate structural ambiguity. They have two meanings because we can ‘chop them up’ in different ways, assigning different structures and forming different constituents. (3) and (4) show one way of representing the two meanings and the constituents involved.