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Linguistics - Syntactic Structures

Here you will learn some English words related to syntactic structures such as "phrase", "clause", and "modifier".

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Words Related to Linguistics
phrase

a group of words put together in a meaningful way

[noun]
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Definition & Meaning of \"phrase\"
clause

(grammar) a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and functions as a unit within a sentence

[noun]
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sentence

a group of words that forms a statement, question, exclamation, or instruction, usually containing a verb

[noun]
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Definition & Meaning of \"sentence\"
subject

(grammar) the person, place, thing, or idea that performs the action or is being described in a sentence

[noun]
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object

(grammar) a noun or noun phrase that is affected by the action of the verb, or is followed by a preposition

[noun]
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existential clause

a type of clause that asserts the existence of something or someone, typically introduced by a verb or verb phrase expressing existence or occurrence

[noun]
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word order

the arrangement of words in a sentence, indicating the sequence in which the subject, verb, and other constituents appear

[noun]
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predicate

a fundamental component of a sentence that contains the verb and provides information about the subject, including actions, states, or descriptions

[noun]
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small clause

a type of clause that lacks a main verb and functions as a single unit, typically consisting of a subject and a non-finite verb or adjective

[noun]
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attribute

a word or phrase that describes or provides additional information about another word or phrase, typically modifying a noun

[noun]
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parse tree

a graphical representation of the syntactic structure of a sentence or a string of words in a formal language, illustrating how the components of the sentence are organized hierarchically according to the rules of a given grammar

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phrase structure grammar

a formal framework in linguistics that describes the structure of sentences by using rules to generate hierarchical structures called phrases, capturing the relationships between words and phrases within a language

[noun]
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determiner phrase

a structure composed of a determiner and a noun phrase, serving to specify the reference of the noun phrase

[noun]
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Definition & Meaning of \"determiner phrase\"
head word

the main or central word in a phrase that determines the grammatical category and syntactic behavior of the entire phrase

[noun]
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constituent

a group of words that function together as a single unit within a sentence, typically forming a phrase or a clause

[noun]
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independent clause

(grammar) a group of words including a subject and a verb expressing a complete thought

[noun]
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direct object

(grammar) a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that receives the action of the verb of a sentence

[noun]
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argument

(grammar) any of the noun phrases in a clause that complete the meaning of the predicate

[noun]
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if-clause

a type of subordinate clause that introduces a condition or hypothetical situation, expressing the consequence that would follow if the condition is met

[noun]
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dependent clause

(grammar) a group of words containing a subject and a verb that is not a sentence on its own but adds information to an independent clause

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relative clause

(grammar) a type of subordinate clause that provides additional information about a noun or pronoun in a sentence

[noun]
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prepositional phrase

a group of words that begins with a preposition and typically includes a noun or pronoun, called the object of the preposition

[noun]
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adverbial phrase

a group of words that functions as an adverb, modifying a verb, adjective, or adverb, and typically provides information about time, place, manner, or degree

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adjective phrase

a group of words that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun, and typically consists of an adjective and any accompanying words or modifiers

[noun]
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cumulative sentence

(grammar) an independent clause followed by one or more dependent clauses or phrases

[noun]
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complement

(grammar) a word, phrase, or clause that is necessary to complete the meaning of a predication

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indirect object

(grammar) a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that refers to a person or object for or to whom the action of the verb is done

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verb phrase

a syntactic unit that consists of a verb and its associated components, such as objects, adverbs, or complements, and functions as the predicate of a sentence or clause

[noun]
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adverb prepositional phrase

a group of words that functions as an adverb and includes a preposition and its object, providing additional information about the verb, adjective, or adverb in the sentence

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noun clause

a dependent clause that functions as a noun in a sentence, typically serving as the subject or object of a verb or as the object of a preposition

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noun phrase

a group of words centered around a noun that functions as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence, typically consisting of the noun itself along with any accompanying determiners, modifiers, or adjectives

[noun]
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infinitive clause

a type of subordinate clause that uses an infinitive verb form as its main element and can function as a noun clause, adjective clause, or adverb clause in a sentence

[noun]
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finite clause

a type of clause that contains a finite verb, which indicates tense, mood, and agreement with the subject, and can function as a complete sentence on its own

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gerund clause

a type of clause that includes a gerund, which is a verb form ending in "-ing" that functions as a noun, and it can act as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence

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syntactic pivot

a grammatical role or syntactic function that a word or phrase can take in different clauses within a sentence, often in a pivot construction

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movement rule

a syntactic operation that allows constituents to be displaced from their base position to another position in a sentence, often resulting in changes in word order or phrase structure

[noun]
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double negative

a grammatical construction in which two negative elements are used within the same sentence, often resulting in a positive meaning

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modifier

a word or phrase that provides additional information or clarification to another element in a sentence, often specifying, describing, or limiting its meaning

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tag question

(grammar) a short question added to the end of a statement that is formed form the same statement

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A-not-A question

a type of question structure in which the speaker presents two alternative choices or possibilities, typically using the same verb or adjective in both options, to inquire about the truth or preference of the statement

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rising declarative

a sentence structure where the pitch contour of the speaker's voice rises at the end, typically transforming a statement into a question-like intonation pattern, often used for seeking confirmation or expressing uncertainty

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yes-no question

a sentence structure used to inquire about information or seek confirmation, typically involving a verb-subject inversion and a question intonation pattern, and can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no"

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echo question

a type of question that repeats or echoes part of a previous statement or question as a way of seeking clarification or emphasis

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predicative expression

a grammatical construction that describes or attributes a property to the subject of a sentence

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predicate-argument structure

the relationship between a predicate and its associated arguments, describing how they are semantically and syntactically connected within a sentence

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wh-movement

a syntactic process where a wh-word moves from its original position to the beginning of a sentence or a clause for the purpose of forming a question or a relative clause

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preposition stranding

a syntactic construction where the preposition is separated from its complement and placed at the end of a sentence or clause

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branching

the structural arrangement of constituents within a sentence, where a constituent can branch into multiple sub-constituents, indicating a hierarchical relationship and the presence of multiple levels of syntactic structure

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pied-piping

a syntactic construction where a preposition or a wh-word, along with its associated noun or phrase, is moved to the front of a sentence, creating a more marked or emphasized structure

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adposition phrase

a phrase that consists of an adposition and its complement, which can be a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase, and functions to indicate spatial, temporal, or other relationships between elements in a sentence

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inflectional phrase

a syntactic structure that represents the inflectional properties of a word or phrase, including features such as tense, number, gender, and case, and is often associated with the functional category of a head word in a sentence

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parasitic gap

a type of syntactic construction in which a gap or empty position occurs in a sentence, typically within a relative clause, and is licensed by a distant antecedent outside that clause

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head-directionality parameter

a linguistic concept that refers to the variation in languages regarding the directionality of phrase structure, determining whether heads typically precede or follow their dependents within a sentence

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empty category

a syntactic position in a sentence that is not overtly realized by a word or phrase, but is necessary for grammatical structure and interpretation

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adjective clause

a dependent clause that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun by providing additional information or describing its attributes

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inversion

a change in normal word order, especially putting a verb before its subject

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negative inversion

a syntactic construction in which the negative particle and the subject of a sentence are inverted, often occurring in certain types of negated questions or sentences with negative adverbial expressions at the beginning

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valency

the number and types of arguments that a verb can take in a sentence, determining the syntactic and semantic relationships between the verb and its arguments

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elliptical clause

a type of clause in which some elements, usually the verb or other parts of the clause, are omitted, but their meaning is understood from the context

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sluicing

a syntactic construction in which a question or a clause is reduced to a wh-phrase or a wh-word, leaving the rest of the sentence or the antecedent of the wh-phrase unpronounced but recoverable from the context

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subject-auxiliary inversion

a syntactic phenomenon that involves reversing the order of the subject and auxiliary verb in a sentence, typically occurring in interrogative sentences, negation, and certain other sentence structures

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