Syntax

Syntax studies the structure of sentences — the rules and principles governing how words combine into phrases and sentences.

Scope

It covers phrase structure, grammatical relations, transformations and movement, and theories of universal grammar and cross-linguistic variation.

Core questions

• How are words combined into sentences?
• What underlies speakers' knowledge of grammar?
• What is universal across languages, and what varies?
• How are sentence structures represented?

Key concepts

• Phrase structure
• Transformations and movement
• Deep and surface structure
• Universal grammar
• Principles and parameters
• Grammatical relations

Key theories

Generative grammar

Chomsky's Syntactic Structures introduced generative, transformational grammar.

The standard theory

Aspects developed competence/performance and deep/surface structure.

Principles and parameters

Government and Binding recast grammar as universal principles with language-specific parameters.

History

Modern syntax was founded by Chomsky's generative program (1957 onward), evolving through the Standard Theory, Government and Binding, and the Minimalist Program, alongside non-transformational frameworks (LFG, HPSG).

Debates

Transformational versus constraint-based syntax

Whether syntax is best modelled with movement transformations or with constraints and lexical rules.

Key figures

• Noam Chomsky

Seminal works

• chomsky-1957
• chomsky-1965
• chomsky-1981

Frequently asked questions

What is generative grammar?

An approach (Chomsky) that models a speaker's tacit knowledge of language as a system of rules generating all and only the grammatical sentences.