Syntax 1: What is syntax?

Choppa

Harada-sensei! A friend of mine told me that "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a well-formed sentence in English. How's that possible?

The sentence is indeed well-formed, and to understand how, we need to know the 'structure' of the sentence, which is a topic of syntax.

Harada-sensei

Syntax: Study of how sentences are formed from words.

One of the characteristics of human languages is that we can make an infinite number of sentences with finite number of words. Consider example (1) to (3). The first sentences can be lengthened infinitely as shown by the following sentences.

1. Ada sings.
   1. Bea thinks that Ada sings.
   2. Cal believes that Bea thinks that Ada sings.
   3. ...
2. Ada sings "Yesterday".
   1. Ada sings "Yesterday" and "Let It Be".
   2. Ada sings "Yesterday", "Let It Be", and "Hey Jude".
   3. ...
3. Ada sings the song.
   1. Ada sings the song which is popular in Kanagawa.
   2. Ada sings the song which is popular in Kanagawa which is located below Tokyo.
   3. ...

While we can make an infinite number of sentences, it does not mean that sentences can be derived from words randomly. There is regularity in putting words together to form grammatical sentences, and the sentences that do not follow such regularity are ungrammatical and sound unnatural, as exemplified below. Ungrammatical sentences are usually indicated by '*'.

4. *Sings Ada
   • Intended: Ada sings.
5. *Ada is a student of linguistics of philosophy.
   • Intended: Ada is a student of linguistics and of philosophy.
   • NB: "Ada is a student with long hair at Williams" is grammatical.
6. Ada's father likes herself.
   • Intended: Ada's father likes her.
   • NB: "Ada likes herself" is grammatical

While it is clear that sentence (4) is ungrammatical, it is less obvious why sentence (5) and (6) are ungrammatical (see Syntax X). In syntax in the framework of generative grammar, it is aimed to describe what types of sentences are grammatical/ungrammatical, and develop a theory that correctly predicts.

Structures of sentences

When we look into the ungrammaticality of some sentences like (6), we realize that sentences are not mere sequences of words, but that they involve hierarchical structures. For example, native speakers of English have an intuition that in (7) father has a closer relationship with Ada's rather than sings as Ada's father as a whole is the individual who sings and it is the subject of the sentence. This intuition can be represented with the tree structure in (7-1) or the bracket structure in (7-2).

7. Ada's father sings.
   2. [[Ada's father] sings]

Assuming structures allows straightforward explanations of (i) intonation pattern, and (ii) meanings of sentences.

ambiguous sentence, buffalo,