SYNTAX - part of grammar next to morphology, phonology, and semantics
o studies combining words, how words relate to each other in a sentence o can be discussed separately from meaning (semantics)
Recursiveness - there's no limit to the length of a sentence and we can produce combinations we've never heard before Language vs language
o Language - a psychological or cognitive property of humans - a subconscious ability to produce words and translate them into ideas and thoughts - we have a vague idea of what is happening in the brain when producing language - a precondition of the brain which allows us to use language o language - an instance of Language, like French or English Generative Grammar
o Principles and Parameters approach - paradigm in the Generative Grammar - we have both Principles (invariant) and Parameters (variant) in languages o Minimalism
o A procedurę for the formation of sentences - there are rules that generate
sentences, but it is humans who produce sentences with accordance to generative grammar - these rules are infinite and recursive Descriptivism vs prescriptivism
o Prescriptivism - deals with how language is SUPPOSED TO BE USED (e.g. no splitting infinitives, BUT to quickly leave)
o Descriptivism - deals with how language is ACTUALLY USED Anaphor - a pronoun which ends with -self (anaphoric pronouns) o Reflexives - myself, themselves, yourself o Reciprocals - each other, one another o A rule
■ Anaphors require antecedent (BUT imperatives- kiss yourself-the antecedent is known)
■ Gender agreement (BUT animals - it or he/she)
■ Number agreement
■ Person agreement o Binding theory
■ Principle A - anaphors (reflexives and reciprocals) must be bound locally
■ Principle B - pronominals must be free locally
■ Principle C - r-expressions (names and definite DPs) must be free everywhere
■ [Which pictures of himself]i does John despise t|?
• Anaphor must be c-commanded by its antecedent within a binding domain (the most local clause) to be bound
• It violates principle A, but it moved, so before the wh-movement it was c-commanded by John!
• Which pictures of himself does John despise (which pictures of himself) - S-structure - copy of the moved element, not tracę
Universal grammar
o Universal Grammar - some part of grammar may be instinctual and innate o According to Generative Grammar the knowledge of language is too extensive to be learned