Lexical Aspects of Syntax

Lexical Aspects of Syntax

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Lexical Aspects of Syntax

Subject: World Literature

Topic: Lexical aspects of syntax (Parts of Speech)

Paper details:

As you look at the words which form the parts of the sentences shown in the “Sentences” chapter of “DTV” (The Deluxe Transitive Vampire,” you may notice that each word performs a particular syntactic (grammatical) function within that sentence. We give these functions names. We call these names “parts of speech.” By “speech” here we mean “language.” We divide these parts of speech into two categories. One category is unlimited; that is, we can create more and more words, and we can’t possibly know all the words in those categories. We call this category “content” words. These are the words which give us the meaning (the semantics) of the sentence. The other category is limited; that is, there are not that many words in this category, and we can more or less know just about all of them, and it’s almost impossible to create new ones. We call this category “function” words.

The content category consists of 4 groups: verbs and nouns, which are the “heart” and “soul” of language, and the words which modify–or change, or add, in some way–the meaning of the verbs and nouns. “Adverbs” (easy to remember as “add” to a verb) modify verbs, and adjectives modify nouns. The function category consists also of 4 groups, much easier to know, and you already know 95% of them, if not more. These are the articles, prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions. Articles are the little words which go in front of nouns, and help us understand whether we are referring to a definite noun (a noun which we can both identify), or an indefinite noun (any random thing).

Prepositions (think “pre” = before, and “position” equals a spatial or temporal relationship to a noun, which is the name for a person, place, or a thing, and that “thing” can also be abstract and uncountable) come before nouns (in a minute, before the rain, etc.). Pronouns replace the names of persons, places, or things, when we get tired of repeating them, or when there’s no need. (That’s what I think… “I” is a pronoun replacing “Leor”. “Leor” is the name of the person writing what you are reading. You can figure out who is writing to you, so there is no need for me to tell you my name. I can just use the pronoun “I” and we are on the same page. And conjunctions (such as the “And” which begins this sentence!) connect things to one another… We also have interjections, words we just throw into the middle of a conversation, when we want to express something emotional.

Hey! You know what I mean, right? (Hey! is an interjection, which literally means “between” = inter and “throw” = ject). Sometimes a word which looks the same and sounds the same can function as different parts of speech, depending on its role within a sentence. In order to figure out which part of speech it is, you need to do what we can call both a (1) morphological test (i.e., what does the word look like), and (2) a syntactical test (i.e., how does it behave, what is its function, what is it doing in that sentence… You can figure out on your own what the function of a word in a sentence is, and so you can label it. But it’s not always that easy to figure out on your own. Being able to look in a dictionary and check the different possible functions a particular word can have, can be quite helpful. I would like you to get into the habit of consulting dictionaries not only when you need to find the meaning or the spelling of a word, but also when you need to learn (1) the syntactic function–the part of speech–of a word, in a particular sentence, and (2) the linguistic register–which is the social usage style–of a word.

Dictionaries have different codes to give you this information. The part of speech is listed with a separate entry, and a superscript (a number written slightly above the word, to its right). The register (i.e., style) level is usually written in italics, sometimes abbreviated (fml = formal, “infml = informal, “lit” = literary, etc.). It is very important for you to learn about all the linguistic information a dictionary contains. I love the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, and I have given you the websites. You can use these for free for 30 days, and afterwards you can purchase access for not very much money (maybe $10). You can find used paper versions of these, very inexpensively, only. So, your next assignment is to label 5 sentences, labeling each word with its part of speech as used in that sentence.

Use a dictionary to help you, but be careful that you verify the options provided by the dictionary with the way the word is used in your sentence. Please post your sentences with the labeled parts of speech here. You can just put the part of speech in parentheses after each word, or find any way you like to show that, so long as it’s clear. By the way, you can use DTV as a guide and as a universe for exploration of the ways of expressing all sorts of thoughts which come out of your imagination. You can also use it as a “map” to develop a more analytical understanding of the way sentences work in whatever you read. And this is indeed how we will be using this book. The book is organized in 3 sections, although they aren’t labelled. The first section is the “Sentences” section (page 3-7).

Then, in the “Words” chapter (pages 8-29), you get a deeper review of all of the parts of speech which I have described briefly above, in my own words. The next chapters, pages 30-98 (Nouns, Verbs, Verbal, Adjectives and Adverbs, and Pronouns”) go into even more details, and subgroups, of these parts of speech. As you can see, there are no chapters on articles, prepositions, conjunctions, or interjections. Perhaps these aren’t that interesting or varied (although interjections certainly could be), or perhaps they would draw attention away from the most productive and rich parts of language. The final part–pages 99-166– looks at some nuances and subsections of sentences (Agreements, Phrases, Clauses, and Fragments, Splices, and Run-ons). I hope you will appreciate how fun and productive grammar can be, when we approach it as a game with a few rules and lots of opportunities. Learn the few rules, and play! That is the path to becoming a great writer!

Lexical Aspects of Syntax

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