March 1988
Syntax: The typical patterns of word and sentence formation used to control meaning in a given language.
Grammar: The rules for producing the typical word and sentence formation used to control meaning in a given language.
Typicality: Syntactic usage of a given language may be represented by a bell-shaped curve divided by standard deviations. More than one standard deviation on the left of the mode will be called non-typical incompetent use of the language, but approaching competence from the side of zero competence. Between one and one-half standard deviations on the left will be called learning non-typical competence. One-half standard deviation on the left to one-half standard deviation on the right will be called typicality, or the modal use of language. Between one-half and one standard deviations on the right of the mode will be called the atypical or expert use of language (because its power derives from knowing and being able to use the typical use with slight but unusual variations.) Beyond one standard deviation to the right will be called the esoteric use of language. The curve is established for any language by a statistical compilation of observations of language usage by a community. All language used by all members of the community on a given day would be analyzed for syntactic patterns. Each type of syntactic pattern would be assigned a place on the curve by its frequency of occurrence with equal distribution on each side of the mode. Then in a second operation a given individual’s data could be assigned to the left side of the curve if his/her syntactic patterns were more than one standard deviation deviant; to the right side if less than one standard deviation deviant.
Every well-formed sentence is based on a well-formed assertion. False starts and sentences formed without care are excluded from this analysis on the premise that grammar seeks to explain and to facilitate the best use of language, not the worst use.
Every well-formed assertion has three parts:
- 1. One subject class.
- 2. One predicate class.
- 3. An explicit relationship of predication.
A basic sentence is one that faithfully represents one assertion.
The creation of a basic sentence involves three basic operations:
- 1. The creation of a subject (subject raising).
- 2. The creation of a predicate (predicate raising).
- 3. The creation of a predication. (predication raising).
Subject raising is the creation of a phrase which designates the number and nature of the class mentioned as the subject.
Predicate raising is the creation of a phrase which designates the nature of the class with which the subject is being paired.
Predication raising is the creation of a verb/copula which specifies which possible relationship is being asserted between the subject and predicate classes, including a strategic placing of negative markers.
Complex sentences are produced by creating a single sentence from two or more assertions by one of the following processes:
- 1. Embedding one sentence in another. (Relative clauses or speaker-related qualifiers. I hope that X).
- 2. Adding one or more subjects or predicates. (The optimum greatest number of classes being related is six, which is determined by the capacity of the short-term memory).
- 3. Adding two or more sentences by conjunction or alternation. Again the limit of six informational items is important.
Typical ways of combining basic sentences to form complex sentences are as follows:
- 1. X and Y: concatenation.
- 2. X, but Y: to show contrast.
- 3. X, although Y: to show qualification.
- 4. X; nevertheless, to show that y happened in spite of X
- 5. X; therefore Y: to show the relation of antecedent to necessary consequent (which includes the premise followed by conclusion.)
- 6. X; so, Y: to show natural consequent.
Sentence length is increased by the desires of the speaker:
- 1. The desire to produce phatic communication.
- 2. The desire to be explicit.
- 3. The desire to be confusing.
Sentence length is (relatively) decreased by the desires of the speaker:
- 1. The desire to be understood.
- 2. The desire to be emphatic.
- 3. The desire to have the sentence remembered.
Rules for subject-raising:
1. Adjectives which qualify the target noun of the subject are placed before the noun in reverse order of importance. This includes the optional designation of quantity of the target noun.
2. Prepositional phrases and relative clauses which qualify the target noun follow the target noun of the subject in order of importance.
3. Pronominalized reflexives repeat the pronoun in the object case with the addition of the singular or plural form of “self” to the repeated pronoun.
4. Plurals are typically formed by adding “s” or “es”. Plurals of nouns are best learned individually, especially those from other languages and some have been anglicized.
5. Prepositional phrases are typically formed by the following sequence:
- a. the preposition.
- b. an article or relative pronoun (pointer).
- c. adjectival quantifiers in reverse order of importance.
- d. the target noun of the phrase.
- e. qualifying relative clauses in order of importance.
6. Relative clauses are typically formed by the following sequence:
- a. the relative pronoun.
- b. the verb or copula.
- c. any adverbial qualifiers of the verb.
- d. any prepositional phrase qualifiers of the verb (for non-transitive verbs).
- e. any noun phrase which serves as the object of a transitive verb.
7. Possession is typically indicated by adding “‘s” to the name of the possessor or by using a prepositional phrase such as “of the X” or a gerundive phrase such as “belonging to the X”.
Rules for predicate raising follow those for subject raising but are modified by:
- 1. The occasion of negative class relationships. For the universal case, “No” is added before the name of the subject class. For other quantities, “not” is added immediately after the verb/copula.
- 2. No quantity is required for the predicate class.
Rules for predication raising:
- 1. Relationships which designate inclusion/exclusion or appearance/probability typically use or are used with a form of the verb “to be” as a copula.
- 2. Regular action verbs are followed by any adverbial qualifiers and then added to the beginning of the words which designate the predicate class.
- 3. If the target noun is cast in an agentive role or if the action of the target subject noun is seen to be acting on the target noun of the predicate class in a natural way, typical usage would be the active voice of the verb.
- 4. If the target noun of the subject is cast in a non-agentive role, typical usage would be the passive voice of the verb. Passive voice is formed from the active voice by preceding the active verb with an appropriate form of the verb “to be” (correct tense and number) and the addition of “-ed” to the active verb.
- 5. (Here would follow the rules for tense and mood in verbs.)
Example of sentence raising:
| Subject | Prediction and predicate | |
| Sentence: | The snow | melted. |
Assertion: All (the snow which fell last night) is now in the class of (formerly solid things which have now melted).