LECTURE 5. SYNTAX. BASIC SYNTACTIC NOTIONS.
1.General characteristics of syntax.
The grammatical structure of language comprises two major parts –
morphology and syntax. The two areas are obviously interdependent and together
they constitute the study of grammar.
Morphology deals with paradigmatic and syntagmatic properties of
morphological units – morphemes and words. It is concerned with the internal
structure of words and their relationship to other words and word forms within the
paradigm. It studies morphological categories and their realization.
Syntax, on the other hand, deals with the way words are combined. It is
concerned with the external functions of words and their relationship to other
words within the linearly ordered units – word-groups, sentences and texts. Syntax
studies the way in which the units and their meanings are combined. It also deals
with peculiarities of syntactic units, their behavior in different contexts.
Syntactic units may be analyzed from different points of view, and
accordingly, different syntactic theories exist. 

2. Kinds of syntactic theories.
Transformational-Generative Grammar. The Transformational grammar was
first suggested by American scholar Zelling Harris as a method of analyzing
sentences and was later elaborated by another American scholar Noam Chomsky
as a synthetic method of ‘generating’ (constructing) sentences. The main point of
the Transformational-Generative Grammar is that the endless variety of sentences
in a language can be reduced to a finite number of kernels by means of
transformations. These kernels serve the basis for generating sentences by means
of syntactic processes. Different language analysts recognize the existence of
different number of kernels (from 3 to 39). The following 6 kernels are commonly
associated with the English language:
(1) NV – John sings.
(2) NVAdj. – John is happy.
(3) NVN – John is a man.
(4) NVN – John hit the man.
(5) NVNN – John gave the man a book.
(6) NVPrep.N – The book is on the table.
It should be noted that (3) differs from (4) because the former admits no passive
transformation.
Transformational method proves useful for analysing sentences from the
point of their deep structure:
                            Flying planes can be dangerous.

This sentence is ambiguous, two senses can be distinguished: a) the
action of flying planes can be dangerous, b) the planes that fly can be
dangerous. Therefore it can be reduced to the following kernels:
a) Planes can be dangerous                         b)  Planes can be dangerous
   X (people) fly planes                                      Planes fly
Constructional Syntax. This analysis deals with the constructional
significance/insignificance of a part of the sentence for the whole syntactic unit.
The theory is based on the obligatory or optional environment of syntactic
elements.
For example, the element him in the sentence I saw him there yesterday
is constructionally significant because it is impossible to omit it. At the
same time the elements there and yesterday are constructionally
insignificant – they can be omitted without destroying the whole
structure.

Communicative Syntax. It is primarily concerned with the analysis of utterances
from the point of their communicative value and informative structure. Most
utterances are not produced in isolation: instead, each is produced in some context
involving what has been said previously and what is known to, or believed by, the
speaker and the listener. As a result, it is often the case that some part of an
utterance serves only to tie it to this context, while another part introduces some
kind of new information. We therefore speak of the given/new information. The
given part of the utterance represents the part which is already familiar to the
listener in one way or another, while the new part represents the main contribution
of the utterance. The analysis of utterances in terms of their organization of
information is carried out under the name of functional sentence perspective, or
actual division of the utterance. The term &quot;theme&quot; (&quot;or topic&quot;) is used instead of
the term &quot;given&quot;, while &quot;rheme&quot; (&quot;comment&quot;) is used to identify new information.
Both elements constitute the informative structure of utterances.
Depending on the contextual informative value any sentence element
can act as the theme or the rheme:
Who is at home?  - John is at home.    Where is John? – John is at home.
Textlinguistics studies the text as a syntactic unit, its main features and
peculiarities, different ways of its analysis. The textual function is the linking of
linguistic elements to other linguistic elements, so that the various parts of the text
can be integrated into a coherent and cohesive whole and related to the wider
context of our speech and writing.

Pragmatic approach to the study of syntactic units can briefly be described as the
study of the way language is used in particular contexts to achieve particular goals.
Speech Act Theory was first introduced by John Austin. The notion of a speech
act presupposes that an utterance can be said with different intentions or purposes
and therefore can influence the speaker and situation in different ways.
I just state the fact;
                                 I want you to do something about it (close the
window);
       It’s cold here     I’m threatening you;
                                 I’m seeking for an excuse for not doing something;
                                 I want you to feel guilty of it;                
                                 Etc.
Accordingly, we can distinguish different speech acts.
Of special interest here is the problem of indirect speech acts: Are you
leaving already? In our everyday activities we use indirect speech acts
rather willingly because it is the best way to influence people, to get
what we want and to be polite at the same time.

Discourse analysis focuses on the study of language use with reference to the
social and psychological factors that influence communication. In other words, it
can be explained as the study of texts within their social context. This approach is
primarily interested in the social context in which the text is written, why this or
that text was constructed, to whom it is addressed. Besides, discourse analysis puts
forward the following questions: Does the author of the text (speaker or writer)
have concealed purposes, and, if so, what are they? What hidden assumptions and
biases underlie the text? What strategies and tactics are used by communicants to
achieve their purposes?
Based on this text provide the answers to the questions: 
1. General outline of Syntax.

2. Main syntactic theories. Provide examples.