NEW ASSIGNMENT
Syntax–Preliminaries
Chapter 1: Generative Grammar–Guided Notes
1. Syntax as a Cognitive Science
Cognitive science is a group of disciplines that aim to describe and explain human
mental abilities.
Key Points:
Language allows humans to express abstract notions
Language appears to be structured to enable complex thought processes
2. Modeling Syntax: Generative Grammar
The dominant theory of synta was developed by Noam Chomsky.
Key Characteristics:
Sentences are generated by a finite set of procedures
These procedures are part of our cognitive abilities
Goal: Model the underlying mental procedures of language
3. Syntax as Science—The Scientific Method
Scientific Method Steps:
4. Observe data
5. Make generalizations about patterns
6. Develop hypotheses
7. Test hypotheses against additional data
8. Revise hypotheses as needed
Types of Grammatical Rules:
Prescriptive Rules: Tell people how they should speak
Descriptive Rules: Describe how people actually speak
4. Sources of Data: Data Collection Methods:
Corpora (collections of spoken/written texts)
Grammaticality Judgment Tasks
Judgment Types:
Syntactic Judgments: Focus on sentence structure
Semantic Judgments: Focus on sentence meaning
5. Competence vs. Performance
Competence: What we know about language
Performance: How language is actually produced and heard
6. Theoretical Implications: Universal Grammar
Suggests that all human languages share fundamental structural principles
Implies an innate linguistic capacity in the human brain
Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Questions on Generative Grammar and Syntax
DOK 1: Recall & Reproduction
1. What does the term “syntax” primarily refer to? Explain via illustration each bullet.
2. Who is considered the primary founder of generative grammar? Create an infographic about
these contributions.
3. What fundamental principle underlies Universal Grammar? Create a graphic organizer about
UG principles.
4-5. Activity Idea: Create a linguistic detective game where students trace key theoretical
developments in language science.
[Link]
linguistic_detectives_round_1.html
6. Explain the difference between linguistic competence and performance. Illustrate in the Venn
diagram.
7. How do linguistic parameters explain language variation? Create a synthesis about this.
8, 9, 10. Activity Idea: Conduct a cross-linguistic analysis comparing grammatical structures across
different languages.
In this analysis, I compared the grammatical structures of English, Filipino (Tagalog), and Japanese to
see how languages can be different yet still follow systematic rules. One major difference is word
order. English usually follows a Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) pattern, such as “The child ate a
mango.” Filipino often follows a Verb–Subject–Object (VSO) pattern, like “Kumain ang bata ng
mangga.” Japanese, on the other hand, follows a Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) order, for example,
“Kodomo ga mango o tabeta.” Even though the word orders are different, each language consistently
follows its own rule. This shows that languages may set the “word order parameter” differently.
Another difference is verb placement and movement. In English, the verb usually stays in the
middle of the sentence, but auxiliary verbs can move in questions (e.g., “She is eating” becomes “Is
she eating?”). In Filipino, the verb often appears at the beginning of the sentence. In Japanese, the
verb almost always appears at the end. These patterns show that languages follow different
grammatical systems for verb placement. There are also differences in grammatical agreement.
English changes the verb depending on the subject (e.g., “She runs” vs. “They run”). However,
Filipino and Japanese do not change verbs based on number or gender. Instead, they use markers or
particles to show relationships between words. This demonstrates variation in agreement systems
across languages.
Overall, this comparison shows that while languages may look very different on the surface, they are
all structured and rule-governed. The differences in word order, verb placement, and agreement
systems can be explained by linguistic parameters—meaning that languages share a common
grammatical foundation but differ in how certain rules are set. This supports the idea that language
variation is systematic, not random.