英语语言学概论syntax

徐 州 工 程 学 院 教 案

年至 年 第 学期 第 周 星期 课题名称（含教材章节）： Chapter 4 Syntax

教学目的和要求： 本章介绍了句法学的定义、语法与词法和句法之间的联系、三种句法关系（横组合关系、纵聚合关系、等级关系）、分析句法关系的几种方法（直接成分分析、标记法直接成分分析、短语标记法、方括标记法）、成分关系与依存关系的区别、表层结构与深层结构的区别、生成句子深层结构的短语结构规则、将深层结构转化为表层结构的转化规则、以及结构歧义现象。通过本章的学习，了解并掌握句法学的定义、语法与词法和句法之间的联系、三种句法关系（横组合关系、纵聚合关系、等级关系）、分析句法关系的几种方法（直接成分分析、标记法直接成分分析、短语标记法、方括标记法）、成分关系与依存关系的区别、表层结构与深层结构的区别、生成句子深层结构的短语结构规则、将深层结构转化为表层结构的转化规则、以及结构歧义现象。 教学重点：语法与词法和句法之间的联系、三种句法关系（横组合关系、纵聚合关系、等级关系）、分析句法关系的几种方法（直接成分分析、标记法直接成分分析、短语标记法、方括标记法）、表层结构与深层结构的区别、生成句子深层结构的短语结构规则、以及将深层结构转化为表层结构的转化规则。 教学难点：表层结构与深层结构的区别、生成句子深层结构的短语结构规则、以及将深层结构转化为表层结构的转化规则。

教 学 内 容 （ 要 点 ） I. Definition of Syntax II. the Traditional Approach III. The Structural Approach IV. The Generative Approach V. The Functional Approach

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徐 州 工 程 学 院 教 案 纸

I.Definitions of syntax  1. The origin of the word “syntax”: from Greek, made up of two morphemes: {syn} and {tax}. The former means “together”, and the latter “to arrange”, hence the meaning “a setting out together” or “arrange”  2. Definition of syntax: the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences in a language, or simply, the study of the formation of sentences. II. The traditional approach  Traditionally, a sentence is seen as a sequence of words.  The study of sentence formation involves a great deal of the study of the word, such as the classification of words in terms of parts of speech, the identification of functions of words in terms of subject, predicate, etc. These parts of speech and functions are called categories.  1. Number, gender and case  Number is mostly a category of the noun and pronoun, e.g. a book, some books; I, we, he, they. The English verb also inflects for number, e.g. He speaks English. In languages like French, adjectives and articles have numbers too.  Two terms of number: singular and plural. Some languages like classical Greek and Arabic have a third number: dual(双数), which means “both”. And Fijian(斐济语)has a fourth: trial(三数). Chinese is said to have none. 们limited usage  Gender(性)is also mostly a category of the noun and pronoun. In English the gender distinctions are on the whole natural, determined by the biological gender of the creature, e.g. actor, actress; hero, heroine. In some languages like French the gender distinctions are grammatical. They may have nothing to do with the sex of the real world entities at all. And all nouns have gender distinctions whether they refer to animate entities or not.  The category of case(格) is prominent in the grammar of Latin. It has six distinctions of nominative(主格), vocative(呼格), accusative(宾格), genitive(属格), dative(与格)and ablative(离格). In English, pronouns have three cases of nominative(I, he, she), accusative(me, him, her) and genitive(my, your, his). Nouns have 2

two cases: general(普通格)and genitive(John’s, boy’s).  2. Tense and aspect(时和体)  Tense and aspect are two important categories of the verb, and they were not separated in traditional grammar. English used to be said to have sixteen tenses. See the table on Page 117.  Nowadays, linguists make two distinctions: one between time and tense, and the other between tense and aspect.  Time is a universal concept, and tense is a linguistic concept.  The difference between tense and aspect: Tense is deictic(指别的), which indicates time relative to the time of utterance. Aspect is not deictic, the time indicated is not relative to the time of utterance, but relative to the time of another event described in the narrative.  There are only two tenses recognized now: past and present.  The so-called future tense is not expressed by the different forms of the verb, but by various other means.  The contrast between perfective and imperfective: Perfective refers to the completion of an action, and imperfective expresses duration without completion.  3. Concord and government(一致关系和支配关系)  Concord(agreement) may be defined as the requirement that the forms of two or more words in a syntactic relationship should agree with each other in terms of some categories. this man, these men; a book, some books. He speaks English. They speak English.  Government is another type of control over the form of some words by other words in certain syntactic constructions. This is a relationship in which a word of a certain class determines the form of others in terms of certain category. She gave him a book. She gave a book to him. I saw her in Bristol.  Governor and the governed III.The structural approach  Started by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure in the beginning of the twentieth century.  Regard all linguistic units as interrelated with each other in a structure or system, not as isolated bits.  1. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations(组合关系与聚合关系):  Signified(所指) and signifier(能指) 3

 Try to find the value of a sign from its relations to others or its position in the system.  The two principal relations identified by Saussure are syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations.  Syntagmatic is a relation between one item and others in a sequence, or between elements which are all present. If the weather is nice, we’ll go out.  The paradigmatic(associative) relation is a relation holding between elements replaceable with each other at a particular place in a structure, or between one element present and the others absent. The woman is smiling. boy. girl, man, woman, student  The sequence which a sign forms with those in a syntagmatic relation is called a structure. The class of signs which are in a paradigmatic relation is called a system.  The syntagmatic relation=the horizontal relation, the chain relation  The paradigmatic relation=the vertical relation, choice relation  2. Immediate constituent analysis(直接成分分析法)  Linear structure(线性结构), hierarchical structure(层级结构)  Construction(结构体), constituents(成分)  IC Analysis(IC 分析法)  Immediate constituents are constituents immediately below the level of a construction. Poor John ran away. (Poor John, ran away)  The last level of constituents  (morphemes) are known as ultimate constituents(最终成分).  Immediate constituent analysis:  the analysis of a sentence in terms of its immediate constituents---word groups (phrases), which are in turn analyzed into the immediate constituents of their own, and the process goes on until the ultimate constituents are reached. It may be carried out with brackets and shown with tree diagrams.  3. Endocentric and exocentric constructions(向心结构和离心结构):  Endocentric: John, Poor John The structure remains the same. A short expression becomes longer by the addition of a modifier. And the two expressions are syntactically the same. They are substitutable for each other. John is the centre or head of the longer expression. 4

 An endocentric construction is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent to one of its constituents, which serves as the centre or head of the whole.  An endocentric construction is also known as a headed construction.  Typical endocentric constructions are noun phrases (the three small children), verb phrases(will have been leaving), adjective phrases (really very late).  The head is not necessarily the last constituent. It may occur at the beginning, e.g. the book on the shelf, the man about whom I’ve been talking, walked away immediately, hot beyond endurance, afraid of the talk  Endocentric constructions may be further divided into two subtypes: SUBORDINATE and COORDINATE constructions(主从结构和并列结构).  Those in which there is only one head, with the head being dominant and the other constituents dependent, are subordinate constructions.  In the coordinate construction, there are more than one head, e.g. boys and girls, coffee or tea, the city Rome. In these expressions both nouns are capable of serving as the head.  The exocentric construction is defined as a construction whose distribution is not functionally equivalent to any of its constituents. There is no noticeable centre, or head, in it. Prepositional phrases like on the shelf are typical examples of this type. The whole construction has a different grammatical function from either of its constituents on or the shelf. They cannot substitute for each other. IV.The generative approach  Originated with Noam Chomsky  1. Deep and surface structure:  Deep structure may be defined as the abstract representation of the syntactic properties of a construction, i. e. the underlying level of structural relations between its different constituents.  Surface structure is the final stage in the syntactic derivation of a construction, which closely corresponds to the structural organization of a construction people actually produce and receive. 5

 In Syntactic Structure published in 1957, Chomsky proposed a linguistic model consisting of three components: Phrase structure rule:  S→NP+VP  VP →V+NP  NP →Det + N  Det →the, a, etc.  N →man, ball, etc.  V →hit, took, etc.  The man hit a ball.  The transformational component has transformational rules which change the deep structures generated by phrase structure component into surface structures.  The morpho-phonemic component is responsible for the correct spelling and pronunciation of the words in the surface structure.  2. The standard theory(标准理论) and after  Aspects of the Theory of Syntax(1965)  Chomsky introduced some modifications to his first model. He has added a semantic component to it. See Figure 3 on Page 135.  The base component and the transformational component together make up the syntactic component. Language is now seen as consisting of three major parts: syntax, semantics and phonology.  The linguistic model presented in Aspects seemed to be quite comprehensive and mature compared with the first model and came to be known as the standard theory.  3. Government(管辖), binding(约束)  Chomsky 1979 a series of lectures  In 1981, the lectures were published under the title of Lectures on Government and Binding  Grammar is said to have two systems: a rule system and a principle system.  The rule system has four components: lexicon, syntax, phonetic form component and logical form component. See Figure 6 on Page 140.  The system of principles include (1) bounding theory, (2) 6

government theory, (3) θ-theory, (4) binding theory, (5) case theory and (6) control theory  In the traditional approach, government refers to a type of control over the form of some words by other words in certain syntactic constructions. The notion in the generative approach is similar. I gave him a book. The difference is that the latter is defined more rigorously and covers a wider area of relations, not just over the form of words. speak the language / speak about the language  Constituent command, C-command(分统制): It refers to the relation between an element and another of the same level and under the same node in a tree diagram, and any others under the latter element as well.  To be a governor, an element c-commanding another must satisfy another condition, i.e. it must be a head. Speak about the language  There is another condition for an element to govern another, it must be related to the other directly, not interrupted by any third element. Speak about the language  To summarize, an element governs another if the two are under the same node directly and the former is the head of the construction.  Binding theory:  A. An anaphor is bound in its governing category.  B. A pronominal is free in its governing category.  C. An r-expression is free  The notion BINDING is borrowed from logic, which refers to the relation between a quantifier(量词) and a variable(变项), that is, a variable is bound by a quantifier. Men are rational.  In the generative approach, binding refers to the relation between different referring word and the subject of a sentence containing it.(各种指称词语跟它所在句子的主语之间的关系)  Anaphor(照应语)in a narrow sense includes only reflexives(反身代词) like myself and reciprocals (相互代词) like each other.  “To be bound” here refers to the relation between an anaphor and its accessible subject.That is the former will be coreferential with the latter. And they must be in the same governing category, which 7

(local domain, binding domain) is the minimal domain, or the lowest node in a tree-diagram, containing a dependent element, its governor and an accessible subject.  “A pronominal” refers to pronouns. “To be free” is not coreferential with the subject.  “An r-expression” is the abbreviation of “a referential-expression”. It covers all the other r-expressions except anaphors and pronominals, e.g. John, Bill, the man.  There are problems in binding theory: An anaphor and a pronominal do not always contrast. There are situations in which they may be interpreted in the same way. The anaphor is bound outside the governing category.  Susumu Kuno (1987) suggests that anaphoric reference is not simply a matter of reference, it also involves the point of view taken by the speaker: whether he looks at the event from the protagonist’s view or not, which is technically known as logophoricity(主人公视角).  Chinese may pose other problems. See ex. 4-25. It seems that there is no definite domain in which the Chinese reflexive 自己 is bound.  Chomsky The Minimalist Program(最简方案):  A. If αis an anaphor, interpret it as coreferential with a c-commanding phrase in D(the relevant local domain).  B. If αis a pronominal, interpret it as disjoint from every c-commanding phrase in D.  C. If αis an r-expression, interpret it as disjoint from every c-commanding phrase.  转换-生成语法（Transformational-generative grammar，简称TG）是美国语言学家乔姆斯基提出的一个描述语法的一个术语，他在1957年所写的《语法结构》的出版是转换-生成语法诞生的标志。简单的说，转换-生成语法理论研究的是人类为什么会说话以及如何了解新的句子。在1957年所出版的《语法结构》和1965年的《语法理论要略》两书被乔姆斯基称为“标准理论”。此后他对这些理论又进行了一些修正，称为“扩展的标准理论”，后又对扩展的标准理论进行修订形成“修正的扩展的标准理论”。 8

  上图是一个转换-生成语法的理论框图。乔姆斯基认为语言学家只需要制定上图中突出显示的四个部分的规则。上图也是转换-生成语法的理论内容的示意图：语法主要包括基础和转换两个部分，基础部分生成深层结构，深层结构通过转换得到表层结构，语义部分属于深层结构，它为深层结构作出语释。语音部分属于表层结构并为表层结构作出语音解释。  影响  乔姆斯基提出的转换-生成语法对当时以布龙菲尔德为代表的美国描写语言学派产生了很大的冲击。乔姆斯基认为语言是人类特有的一种先天机制，他认为不仅应该研究语言行为，而且应该研究语言能力，转换-生成语法就是关于语言能力的理论。他认为布龙菲尔德等人的理论只是研究了语言行为，不能说明语言能力。语言理论应该解释人类天生的语言能力，他认为自己的学说是理性主义的，而布龙菲尔德的学说则是经验主义的。  生成语法是在结构语言学基础上发展起来的，但由于发现后者关于“分布”、“替换”等原则的一些局限性，所以提出了一系列新的原则和方法，并试图实现更高的理论目标。概括地说，一是在语言学研究的对象上，生成语法主要研究人类普遍的获得和识别语言的内在能力，而不仅仅是对具体语言外部现象的一般性描写；二是在语言学研究方法上，生成语法主要建立对语言规划演绎推导的解释程序，而不仅仅是采用对语言材料归纳分类的发现步骤；三是在语言学研究的目标上，生成语法主要追求语言分析的形式化和精密划，使语言学成为有充分解释力和演算力的实用科学和自然科学，而不仅仅把语言分析看作是人文科学范围内社会文化知识的诠释或语言教学的一部分。  转换-生成语法从提出至今已经四十多年了，在这期间，它主要经历了四个阶段： 第一阶段是\"古典理论\"时期，从1957年到1965年，《句法结构》是这个时期的代表作，有重要影响的理论有短语结构规则、转9

换规则以及语素音位规则。古典理论最显著的一个特点就是主张语法自主，把语义排除在语法之外，在这一点上与此前流行的结构语言学的理论是一致的。 第二阶段是\"标准理论\"时期，从1965年到1971年，代表作是《句法理论要略》，其语法包括四部分规则，即基础部分、转换部分、语义部分和语音部分。标准理论中最引人注目的修正是把语义纳入到语法中来，提出语法结构有深层和表层之别，深层结构决定语义，他通过转换规则而转化为表层结构。这一修正使它跟古典理论有了原则区别。  第三阶段是“扩展的标准理论”时期，从1972年到1979年，1972年出版的《深层结构、表层结构和语释》标志着这一时期的开始，而以1977年出版的《关于形式和解释的论文集》为代表，则对这一时期的理论又作了一些修正，因而也称为“修正的扩展的标准理论”。1972年的主要变化在于表层结构对语释也起一定的作用，而在1977年的理论中，语释则被全部放到了表层。  第四阶段是从1979年至今，以《支配和约束论集》为代表。这本书是根据乔姆斯基1979年在意大利比萨的一次学术会议上提出的\"支配\"和\"约束\"理论整理成的。这一阶段的理论有两个重大变化：一是在原来的规则系统之外增加了原则系统，二是提出了\"虚范畴\"。目前，支配和约束理论仍然处于不断的修正和发展中。  转换-生成语法强调对人的语言能力作出解释，而不是仅仅描写语言行为，它要研究的是体现在人脑中的认知系统和普遍语法。乔姆斯基认为\"语言\"不是实际存在的东西，这个概念是从语法中派生出来的，只有语法才是实际存在的，因此，转换-生成语法研究的对象是语法而不是语言。另外，转换-生成语法采用的是现代数理逻辑的形式化方法，根据有限的公理化的规则系统和原则系统用演绎的方法生成无限的句子，以此来解释人类的语言能力。所以说，转换-生成语法无论是在研究目的、研究对象，还是在研究方法上都和传统语言学、结构主义语言学有原则的区别。它为语言研究开辟了一条新的道路，展现了一个全新的发展方向，使语言学以新的面貌呈现于世。它对其他人文社会科学的发展也产生了重要的影响。 V.The functional approach  1. Functional sentence perspective(功能句子观):

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 the Prague school(布拉格学派)  A sentence may be analyzed from the functional side as well as the grammatical side.  Mathesius(马泰休斯)held apart from the analysis of a sentence in terms of subject and predicate from the formal point of view, there may also be a functional analysis in terms of theme(主位)and rheme(述位).  Theme: the basis or the starting point of the utterance/ that which is known or at least obvious in the given situation and from which the speaker proceeds  Rheme: the nucleus or the core of the utterance/ what the speaker states about, or in regard to the starting point of the utterance  In English, grammatical subject and predicate are often the theme and rheme.  Mathesius maintained that it is natural for the speaker to start from the known to the unknown, and the theme-rheme order is the usual one in unemotional narration, which is called objective order. In emotional narration, it may be possible to reverse the order, to put rheme before theme. And this is a subjective order.  The analysis of a sentence in terms of theme and rheme is known as the functional sentence perspective “because this patterning is determined by the functional approach of the speaker”.  Communicative dynamism(交际动力)(CD): by J. Firbas(19)  CD means “the extent to which the sentence element contributes to the development of the communication”.  Theme is constituted “by the sentence element(s) carrying the lowest degree(s) of CD within the sentence”. The functional approach  2. Systemic-functional grammar(系统功能语法)  Developed by the British born Australian linguist M. A. K. Halliday.  It has two characteristics: systemic and functional  The systemic part means language elements form into systems. The use of language involves a network of systems of choices. The items in a system are in a choice relation with each other. 11

 From Malinowski, Halliday has inherited the idea that language is a social phenomenon and emphasizes the study of language in relation to the functions it performs.  Language functions:  Karl Bǔhler: representative, concerning the content communicated; expressive, relating to the psychological or moral attitude of the speaker; appelative (vocative), relating to the influence of language on the hearer.  Roman Jakobson: referential, emotive, conative, metalinguistic, poetic and phatic  Halliday: ideational, interpersonal and textual; related to three grammatical systems: transitivity(及物性), mood(语气)and theme(主位).  Ideational: Language serves for the expression of content.  Interpersonal: Language serves to establish and maintain social relations. Textual: language has to provide for making links with itself and with features of the situation in which it is used.

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