Structure Dependency and Grammar

Structure Dependency and Grammar The linguistic principle that grammatical processes function primarily on structures in sentences, not on single words or sequences of words is termed structure-dependency. Many linguists view structure-dependency as a principle of universal grammar. The Structure Of Language The principle of structure-dependency compels all languages to move parts of the sentence around in accordance with its structure rather than just the sheer order of words. . . .Structure-dependency could not be acquired by children from hearing sentences of the language; rather, it imposes itself on whatever language they encounter, just as in a sense the pitch range of the human ear restricts the sounds we can hear. Children do not have to learn these principles but apply them to any language they hear. (Michael Byram, Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning. Routledge, 2000)All speakers of English know structure-dependency without having given it a moments thought; they automatically reject *Is Sam is the the cat that black? even if they have never encountered its like before. How do they have this instant response? They would accept many sentences that they have never previously encountered, so it is not just that they have never heard it before. Nor is structure -dependency transparent from the normal language they have encounteredonly by concocting sentences that deliberately breach it can linguists show its very existence. Structure-dependency is, then, a principle of language knowledge built-in to the human mind. It becomes part of any language that is learned, not just of English. Principles and parameters theory claims that an important component of the speakers knowledge of any language such as English is made up of a handful of general language principles such as structure-dependency. (Vivian Cook, Universal Grammar and the Learning and Teaching of Second Languages. Perspectives On Pedagogical Grammar, ed. by Terence Odlin. Cambridge University Press, 1994) Interrogative Structures ​One example of a universal principle is structure-dependency. When a child learns interrogative sentences, it learns to place the finite verb in sentence initial position: (9a.) The doll is pretty(9b.) Is the doll pretty?(10a.) The doll is gone(10b.) Is the doll gone? If children lacked insight into structure-dependency, it should follow that they make errors such as (11b), since they would not know that the doll is pretty is the sentence to be put in the interrogative form: (11a.) The doll that is gone, is pretty.(11b.) *Is the doll that (0) gone, is pretty?(11c.) Is the doll that is gone (0) pretty? But children do not seem to produce incorrect sentences such as (11b), and nativist linguists therefore conclude that insight into structure-dependency must be innate. (Josine A. Lalleman, The State of the Art in Second Language Acquisition Research. Investigating Second Language Acquisition, ed. by Peter Jordens and Josine Lalleman. Mouton de Gruyter, 1996) The Genitive Construction ​The genitive construction in English can . . . help us illustrate the concept of structure- dependency. In (8) we see how the genitive attaches to the noun student: (8) The students essay is very good. If we construct a longer noun phrase, the genitive s will come at the very end, or edge, of the NP, independently of the category of the word: (9) [That young student from Germany]s essay is very good.(10) [The student you were talking to]s essay is very good. The rule that determines the genitives construction is based on the Noun Phrase: s is attached to the edge of the NP. (Mireia Llins et al., Basic Concepts for the Analysis of English Sentences. Universitat Autà ²noma de Barcelona, 2008) Also Known As: syntactic structure-dependency

Lord of the Flies Essay

Lord of the Flies Essay Lord of the Flies Essay Lord of the Flies Essay Lord of the Flies book is interesting to read but it is not easy to write good essays about. If you are writing an essay about Lord of the Flies, you should at least read the book and be able to recall the major themes and main characters. If you need individual assistance with essay writing, you can always rely on us. We are working hard to help our clients with their assignments and we are proud to be trusted by thousands of customers throughout the English speaking world. Our prices are reasonable and we provide plagiarism report. We guarantee authenticity and we bear full responsibility for the quality of essay we write. In addition, you may find tips on how to write a critical analysis essay and guide on how to write a book report useful. All articles in our blog are written with the hope to help you with good essay writing. Lord of the Flies Essay Sample Lord of the Flies has 'a pretty big connexion' with Ballantyne. In The Coral Island Ralph, Jack and Peterkin are cast away on a desert island, where they live active, civilized, and civilizing lives. Practical difficulties are easily surmounted; they light fires with bowstrings and spyglasses, hunt pigs for food, and kill them with much ease and a total absence of guiltindeed of bloodshed. They are all Britonsa term they use to compliment each other all brave, obedient and honourable. There is much useful information conveyed concerning tropical islands, including fieldworkers' reporting of the conduct of cannibals: but anthropology is something nasty that clears up on the arrival of a missionary, and Jack himself prevents an act of cannibalism by telling the flatnoses not to be such blockheads and presenting them with six newly slaughtered pigs. The parallel between the island and the Earthly Paradise causes a trace of literary sophistication: 'Meat and drink on the same tree! My de ar boys, we're set up for life; it must be the ancient paradisehurrah! . . . We afterwards found, however, that these lovely islands were very unlike Paradise in many things.' But these 'things' are non-Christian natives and, later, pirates; the boys themselves are cleanly (cold baths recommended) and godlyregenerate, empire-building boys, who know by instinct how to turn paradise into a British protectorate. The Coral Island could be used as a document in the history of ideas; it belongs inseparably to the period when boys were sent out of Arnoldian schools certified free of Original Sin. Golding takes Ralph, Jack and Peterkin (altering this name to Simon, 'called Peter') and studies them against an altered moral landscape. He is a schoolmaster, and knows boys well enough to make their collapse into savagery plausible, to see them as the cannibals; the authority of the grown-ups is all there is to prevent savagery. If you dropped these boys into an Earthly Paradise 'they would not behave like God-fearing English gentlemen' but 'as like as not . . . find savages who were kindly and uncomplicated. . . The devil would rise out of the intellectual complications of the three white men.' Golding leaves the noble savages out of Lord of the Flies but this remark is worth quoting because it states the intellectual position in its basic simplicity. It is the civilized who are corrupt, out of phase with natural rhythm. Lord of the Flies Essay Writing Service Lord of the Flies book review writing is not easy for most students. Undoubtedly, free essays are not always the best source of information because they are free and are available for unlimited number of people. In addition, free essays may not provide answers to the specific questions given by the teacher.   Therefore, free essays should be used as sources of ideas, but should not be copied and submitted as your own.   Being our client, you get individual help of the professional writer who is capable of producing the best possible essay for you. We write all essays from scratch and we are never late with delivery of custom written assignments.