View source for Syntax

{{Short description|System responsible for combining morphemes into complex structures}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Sentence structure|sentence structure in traditional grammar|Sentence clause structure}}
{{Linguistics|Subfields}}

In [[linguistics]], '''syntax''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪ|n|t|æ|k|s}} {{respelling|SIN|taks}}){{refn|{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/syntax |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322182026/https://www.lexico.com/definition/syntax |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-03-22 |title=syntax |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}} }}{{refn|{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|=2016-01-22|syntax}}}} is the study of how words and [[morpheme]]s combine to form larger units such as [[phrase]]s and [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]]s. Central concerns of syntax include [[word order]], [[grammatical relations]], hierarchical sentence structure ([[constituent (linguistics)|constituency]]),<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Syntax–Semantics Interface |encyclopedia=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304194021 |last=Luuk |first=Erkki |date=2015 |editor-last=Wright |editor-first=James D. |edition=2nd |pages=900–905 |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.57035-4 |isbn=978-0-08-097087-5}}</ref> [[agreement (linguistics)|agreement]], the nature of crosslinguistic variation, and the relationship between form and meaning ([[semantics]]). Diverse approaches, such as [[generative grammar]] and functional grammar, offer unique perspectives on syntax, reflecting its complexity and centrality to understanding [[human language]].

== Etymology ==
The word ''syntax'' comes from the [[ancient Greek]] word {{wikt-lang|grc|σύνταξις}}, meaning an orderly or systematic arrangement, which consists of {{lang|grc|σύν-}} (''syn-'', "together" or "alike"), and {{lang|grc|τάξις}} (''táxis'', "arrangement"). In [[Hellenistic Greek]], this also specifically developed a use referring to the grammatical order of words, with a slightly altered spelling: {{Lang|grc|συντάσσειν}}. The English term, which first appeared in 1548, is partly borrowed from Latin ({{Lang|la|syntaxis}}) and Greek, though the Latin term developed from Greek.<ref>{{cite OED|syntax (n.)|1603449563}}</ref>

==Topics==
The field of syntax contains a number of various topics that a syntactic theory is often designed to handle. The relation between the topics is treated differently in different theories, and some of them may not be considered to be distinct but instead to be derived from one another (i.e. word order can be seen as the result of movement rules derived from grammatical relations).

===Sequencing of subject, verb, and object===
{{Redirect|Subject and object|the philosophical terms|Subject and object (philosophy)||}}

One basic description of a language's syntax is the sequence in which the [[subject (grammar)|subject]] (S), [[verb]] (V), and [[object (grammar)|object]] (O) usually appear in sentences. Over 85% of languages usually place the subject first, either in the sequence [[subject-verb-object|SVO]] or the sequence [[subject-object-verb|SOV]]. The other possible sequences are [[verb-subject-object|VSO]], [[verb-object-subject|VOS]], [[object-verb-subject|OVS]], and [[object-subject-verb|OSV]], the last three of which are rare. In most generative theories of syntax, the surface differences arise from a more complex clausal phrase structure, and each order may be compatible with multiple derivations. However, word order can also reflect the semantics or function of the ordered elements.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Word Order |encyclopedia=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |last=Rijkhoff |first=Jan |date=2015 |editor-last=Wright |editor-first=James D. |edition=2nd |pages=644–656 |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.53031-1 |isbn=978-0-08-097087-5|url=https://pure.au.dk/ws/files/90431351/Word_Order_draft_May_2014.pdf}}</ref>

===Grammatical relations===
Another description of a language considers the set of possible grammatical relations in a language or in general and how they behave in relation to one another in the [[morphosyntactic alignment]] of the language. The description of grammatical relations can also reflect transitivity, [[passivization]], and head-dependent-marking or other agreement. Languages have different criteria for grammatical relations. For example, subjecthood criteria may have implications for how the subject is referred to from a relative clause or coreferential with an element in an infinite clause.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Syntactic Typology |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |last=Shibatani |first=Masayoshi |date=2021 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.154 |isbn=978-0-19-938465-5 |doi-access=}}</ref>

===Constituency===
Constituency is the feature of being a [[constituent (linguistics)|constituent]] and how words can work together to form a constituent (or ''phrase''). Constituents are often moved as units, and the constituent can be the domain of agreement. Some languages allow discontinuous phrases in which words belonging to the same constituent are not immediately adjacent but are broken up by other constituents. Constituents may be [[recursion|recursive]], as they may consist of other constituents, potentially of the same type.

== Early history ==
The ''[[Aṣṭādhyāyī]]'' of [[Pāṇini]], from {{circa|4th century BC}} in [[Ancient India]], is often cited as an example of a premodern work that approaches the sophistication of a modern syntactic theory since works on [[grammar]] had been written long before modern syntax came about.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fortson |first=Benjamin W. |title=Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction |date=2004 |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-8896-8 |page=186 |quote=[The ''Aṣṭādhyāyī''] is a highly precise and thorough description of the structure of Sanskrit somewhat resembling modern generative grammar...[it] remained the most advanced linguistic analysis of any kind until the twentieth century.}}</ref> In the West, the school of thought that came to be known as "traditional grammar" began with the work of [[Dionysius Thrax]].

For centuries, a framework known as {{lang|fr|grammaire générale}}, first expounded in 1660 by [[Antoine Arnauld]] and [[Claude Lancelot]] in a [[Port-Royal Grammar|book of the same title]], dominated work in syntax:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Arnauld |first1=Antoine |last2=Lancelot |first2=Claude |last3=Rollin |first3=Bernard E. |last4=Danto |first4=Arthur Coleman |last5=Kretzmann |first5=Norman |last6=Arnauld |first6=Antoine |title=The Port-Royal grammar: General and rational grammar |date=1975 |publisher=De Gruyter |location=The Hague |isbn=9789027930040 |pages=197}}</ref> as its basic premise the assumption that language is a direct reflection of thought processes and so there is a single most natural way to express a thought.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Arnault |first1=Antoine |last2=Lancelot |first2=Claude |title=Grammaire générale et raisonnée de Port-Royal |date=1660}}</ref>

However, in the 19th century, with the development of [[historical-comparative linguistics]], linguists began to realize the sheer diversity of human language and to question fundamental assumptions about the relationship between language and logic. It became apparent that there was no such thing as the most natural way to express a thought and so [[logic]] could no longer be relied upon as a basis for studying the structure of language.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

The [[Port-Royal-des-Champs|Port-Royal]] grammar modeled the study of syntax upon that of logic. (Indeed, large parts of [[Port-Royal Logic]] were copied or adapted from the ''Grammaire générale''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arnauld |first=Antoine |url=http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=NUMM-57444 |title=La logique |publisher=G. Desprez |year=1683 |edition=5th |location=Paris |pages=137 |quote={{lang|fr|Nous avons emprunté...ce que nous avons dit...d'un petit Livre...sous le titre de Grammaire générale.}}}}</ref>) Syntactic categories were identified with logical ones, and all sentences were analyzed in terms of "subject – copula – predicate". Initially, that view was adopted even by the early comparative linguists such as [[Franz Bopp]].

The central role of syntax within [[theoretical linguistics]] became clear only in the 20th century, which could reasonably be called the "century of syntactic theory" as far as linguistics is concerned. (For a detailed and critical survey of the history of syntax in the last two centuries, see the monumental work by Giorgio Graffi (2001).{{sfnp|Graffi|2001}})

== Theories ==
{{See also|Theory of language}}
There are a number of theoretical approaches to the discipline of syntax. One school of thought, founded in the works of [[Derek Bickerton]],<ref>See {{Cite book |last=Bickerton |first=Derek |title=Language & Species |date=1990 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=0-226-04610-9 |location=Chicago}} and, for more recent advances, {{cite book |title=Biological Foundations and Origin of Syntax |editor-last=Bickerton |editor-first=Derek |editor-last2=Szathmáry |editor-first2=Eörs |date=2009 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0-262-01356-7 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref> sees syntax as a branch of biology, since it conceives of syntax as the study of linguistic knowledge as embodied in the human [[mind]]. Other linguists (e.g., [[Gerald Gazdar]]) take a more [[Philosophy of mathematics#Platonism|Platonistic]] view since they regard syntax to be the study of an abstract [[formal system]].<ref>{{Cite interview |last=Gazdar |first=Gerald |interviewer=Ted Briscoe |title=Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar |url=http://www.informatics.susx.ac.uk/research/nlp/gazdar/briscoe/gpsg.html#SECTION00040000000000000000 |access-date=2008-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051122163306/http://www.informatics.susx.ac.uk/research/nlp/gazdar/briscoe/gpsg.html |archive-date=2005-11-22 |date=2 May 2001}}</ref> Yet others (e.g., [[Joseph Greenberg]]) consider syntax a taxonomical device to reach broad generalizations across languages.

Syntacticians have attempted to explain the causes of word-order variation within individual languages and cross-linguistically. Much of such work has been done within the framework of generative grammar, which holds that syntax depends on a [[universal grammar|genetic endowment]] common to the human species. In that framework and in others, [[linguistic typology]] and [[linguistic universal|universals]] have been primary explicanda.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Explaining Language Universals |journal=The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Typology |year=2010 |last=Moravcsik |first=Edith |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199281251.013.0005 |url=https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199281251.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199281251-e-005 |accessdate=2022-03-13|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Alternative explanations, such as those by [[functional linguistics|functional linguists]], have been sought in [[language processing in the brain|language processing]]. It is suggested that the brain finds it easier to [[parsing|parse]] [[syntactic tree diagram|syntactic patterns]] that are either right- or left-[[branching (linguistics)|branching]] but not mixed. The most-widely held approach is the performance–grammar correspondence hypothesis by [[John A. Hawkins (linguist)|John A. Hawkins]], who suggests that language is a non-innate [[adaptive system|adaptation]] to innate [[Cognition|cognitive]] mechanisms. Cross-linguistic tendencies are considered as being based on language users' preference for grammars that are organized efficiently and on their avoidance of word orderings that cause processing difficulty. Some languages, however, exhibit regular inefficient patterning such as the VO languages [[Chinese language|Chinese]], with the [[adpositional phrase]] before the verb, and [[Finnish grammar|Finnish]], which has postpositions, but there are few other profoundly exceptional languages.<ref name="processing">{{Cite book |last=Song |first=Jae Jung |title=Word Order |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-03393-0 |location=New York}}</ref> More recently, it is suggested that the left- versus right-branching patterns are cross-linguistically related only to the place of role-marking connectives ([[adpositions]] and [[subordinator (grammar)|subordinators]]), which links the phenomena with the semantic mapping of sentences.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Austin |first=Patrik |year=2021 |title=A semantic and pragmatic explanation of harmony |journal=Acta Linguistica Hafniensia |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.1080/03740463.2021.1987685 |s2cid=244941417 |doi-access=free |hdl=10138/356149 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

== Theoretical syntactic models ==
=== Dependency grammar ===
{{Main|Dependency grammar}}
[[Dependency grammar]] is an approach to sentence structure in which syntactic units are arranged according to the dependency relation, as opposed to the constituency relation of [[phrase structure grammar]]s. Dependencies are directed links between words. The (finite) verb is seen as the root of all clause structure and all the other words in the clause are either directly or indirectly dependent on this root (i.e. the verb). Some prominent dependency-based theories of syntax are the following:

* [[Recursive categorical syntax]], or algebraic syntax
* [[Functional generative description]]
* [[Meaning–text theory]]
* [[Operator grammar]]
* [[Word grammar]]

[[Lucien Tesnière]] (1893–1954) is widely seen as the father of modern dependency-based theories of syntax and grammar. He argued strongly against the binary division of the clause into [[subject (grammar)|subject]] and [[predicate (grammar)|predicate]] that is associated with the grammars of his day (S → NP VP) and remains at the core of most phrase structure grammars. In place of that division, he positioned the verb as the root of all clause structure.<ref>Concerning Tesnière's rejection of the binary division of the clause into subject and predicate and in favor of the verb as the root of all structure, see Tesnière (1969:103–105).</ref>

=== Categorial grammar ===
{{Main|Categorial grammar}}
[[Categorial grammar]] is an approach in which constituents combine as [[function (math)|function]] and [[argument of a function|argument]], according to combinatory possibilities specified in their [[syntactic categories]]. For example, other approaches might posit a rule that combines a noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP), but CG would posit a syntactic category ''NP'' and another ''NP\S'', read as "a category that searches to the left (indicated by \) for an NP (the element on the left) and outputs a sentence (the element on the right)." Thus, the syntactic category for an [[intransitive]] verb is a complex formula representing the fact that the verb acts as a [[function word]] requiring an NP as an input and produces a sentence level structure as an output. The complex category is notated as (NP\S) instead of V. The category of [[transitive verb]] is defined as an element that requires two NPs (its subject and its direct object) to form a sentence. That is notated as (NP/(NP\S)), which means, "A category that searches to the right (indicated by /) for an NP (the object) and generates a function (equivalent to the VP) which is (NP\S), which in turn represents a function that searches to the left for an NP and produces a sentence."

[[Tree-adjoining grammar]] is a categorial grammar that adds in partial [[tree structure]]s to the categories.

=== Stochastic/probabilistic grammars/network theories ===
Theoretical approaches to syntax that are based upon [[probability theory]] are known as [[stochastic grammar]]s. One common implementation of such an approach makes use of a [[neural network]] or [[connectionism]].

=== Functional grammars ===
{{Main|Functional theories of grammar}}
Functionalist models of grammar study the form–function interaction by performing a structural and a functional analysis.

* [[Functional discourse grammar]] (Dik)
* [[Prague linguistic circle]]
* [[Role and reference grammar]] (RRG)
* [[Systemic functional grammar]]

=== Generative syntax ===
Generative syntax is the study of syntax within the overarching framework of [[generative grammar]]. Generative theories of syntax typically propose analyses of grammatical patterns using formal tools such as [[phrase structure grammar]]s augmented with additional operations such as [[syntactic movement]]. Their goal in analyzing a particular language is to specify rules which generate all and only the expressions which are [[grammaticality|well-formed]] in that language. In doing so, they seek to identify innate domain-specific principles of linguistic cognition, in line with the wider goals of the generative enterprise. Generative syntax is among the approaches that adopt the principle of the [[autonomy of syntax]] by assuming that meaning and communicative intent is determined by the syntax, rather than the other way around.

Generative syntax was proposed in the late 1950s by [[Noam Chomsky]], building on earlier work by [[Zellig Harris]], [[Louis Hjelmslev]], and others. Since then, numerous theories have been proposed under its umbrella:

* [[Transformational grammar]] (TG) (Original theory of generative syntax laid out by Chomsky in ''Syntactic Structures'' in 1957)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chomsky |first=Noam |title=Syntactic Structures |date=1957 |publisher=Mouton |location=The Hague |page=15}}</ref>
* [[Government and binding theory]] (GB) (revised theory in the tradition of TG developed mainly by Chomsky in the 1970s and 1980s)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chomsky |first=Noam |title=Lectures on Government and Binding: The Pisa Lectures |date=1993 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |isbn=3-11-014131-0 |edition=7th |location=Berlin}}</ref>
* [[Minimalist program]] (MP) (a reworking of the theory out of the GB framework published by Chomsky in 1995)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chomsky |first=Noam |title=The Minimalist Program |date=1995 |publisher=The MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>

Other theories that find their origin in the generative paradigm are:
* [[Arc pair grammar]]
* [[Generalized phrase structure grammar]] (GPSG)
* [[Generative semantics]]
* [[Head-driven phrase structure grammar]] (HPSG)
* [[Lexical functional grammar]] (LFG)
* [[Nanosyntax]]
* [[Relational grammar]] (RG)
* [[Harmonic grammar]] (HG)

=== Cognitive and usage-based grammars ===
{{Main|Cognitive Linguistics}}
The Cognitive Linguistics framework stems from [[generative grammar]] but adheres to [[evolutionary linguistics|evolutionary]], rather than [[Noam Chomsky|Chomskyan]], linguistics. Cognitive models often recognise the generative assumption that the object belongs to the verb phrase. Cognitive frameworks include the following:

* [[Cognitive grammar]]
* [[Construction grammar]] (CxG)
* [[Emergent grammar]]

== See also ==
* [[Cartographic syntax]]
* [[Metasyntax]]
* [[Musical syntax]]
* [[Semiotics]]
* [[Syntactic category]]
* ''[[Syntax (journal)|Syntax]]'' ([[academic journal]])
* [[Syntax (programming languages)]]
* [[Syntax–Semantics Interface]]
* [[Usage]]

=== Syntactic terms ===
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[List of syntactic phenomena]]
* [[Adjective]]
* [[Adjective phrase]]
* [[Adjunct (grammar)|Adjunct]]
* [[Adpositional phrase]]
* [[Adverb]]
* [[Antecedent (grammar)|Antecedent]]
* [[Appositive]]
* [[Argument (linguistics)|Argument]]
* [[Article (grammar)|Article]]
* [[Grammatical aspect|Aspect]]
* [[Attributive adjective]] and [[predicative adjective]]
* [[Auxiliary verb]]
* [[Branching (linguistics)|Branching]]
* [[c-command]]
* [[Syntactic category|Category]]
* [[Catena (linguistics)|Catena]]
* [[Clause]]
* [[Closed class]] word
* [[Comparison (grammar)|Comparative]]
* [[Complement (linguistics)|Complement]]
* [[Compound (linguistics)|Compound noun and adjective]]
* [[Grammatical conjugation|Conjugation]]
* [[Conjunction (grammar)|Conjunction]]
* [[Constituent (linguistics)|Constituent]]
* [[Coordination (linguistics)|Coordination]]
* [[Crossover effects|Crossover]]
* [[Dangling modifier]]
* [[Declension]]
* [[Dependency grammar]]
* [[Dependent-marking language|Dependent marking]]
* [[Determiner (linguistics)|Determiner]]
* [[Dual (grammatical number)|Dual]] (form for two)
* [[Endocentric]]
* [[Finite verb]]
* [[Function word]]
* [[Grammatical gender|Gender]]
* [[Gerund]]
* [[Government (linguistics)|Government]]
* [[Head (linguistics)|Head]]
* [[Head-marking language|Head marking]]
* [[Infinitive]]
* [[Inversion (linguistics)|Inversion]]
* [[Lexical item]]
* [[Logical form (linguistics)]]
* [[m-command]]
* [[Measure word]] (classifier)
* [[Merge (linguistics)|Merge]]
* [[Modal particle]]
* [[Modal verb]]
* [[Grammatical modifier|Modifier]]
* [[Grammatical mood|Mood]]
* [[Syntactic movement|Movement]]
* [[Movement paradox]]
* [[Nanosyntax]]
* [[Non-finite verb]]
* [[Noun]]
* [[Noun ellipsis]]
* [[Noun phrase]]
* [[Grammatical number|Number]]
* [[Object (grammar)|Object]]
* [[Open class (linguistics)|Open class word]]
* [[Part of speech]]
* [[Grammatical particle|Particle]]
* [[Periphrasis]]
* [[Grammatical person|Person]]
* [[Personal pronoun]]
* [[Phrasal verb]]
* [[Phrase]]
* [[Phrase structure grammar]]
* [[Plural]]
* [[Predicate (grammar)|Predicate]]
* [[Predicative expression]]
* [[Preposition and postposition]]
* [[Pronoun]]
* [[Grammatical relation]]
* [[Restrictiveness]]
* [[Right node raising]]
* [[Scrambling (linguistics)|Scrambling]]
* [[Selection (linguistics)|Selection]]
* [[Sentence (linguistics)|Sentence]]
* [[Separable verb]]
* [[Grammatical number|Singular]]
* [[Subcategorization]]
* [[Subject (grammar)|Subject]]
* [[Subordination (linguistics)|Subordination]]
* [[Superlative]]
* [[Grammatical tense|Tense]]
* [[Uninflected word]]
* [[V2 word order]]
* [[Valency (linguistics)|Valency]]
* [[Verb]]
* [[Verb phrase]]
* [[Voice (grammar)|Voice]]
* [[Word order]]
* [[X-bar theory]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |title=Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories |publisher=Elsevier Science |year=1996 |isbn=0-08-042711-1 |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Keith |location=New York |editor-last2=Miller |editor-first2=Jim}}
* {{Cite book |last=Carnie |first=Andrew |url=https://archive.org/details/syntaxgenerative0000carn |title=Syntax: A Generative Introduction |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2006 |isbn=1-4051-3384-8 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |title=Syntax |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=0-415-24672-5 |editor-last=Freidin |editor-first=Robert |series=Critical Concepts in Linguistics |location=New York |editor-last2=Lasnik |editor-first2=Howard}}
* {{Cite book |last=Graffi |first=Giorgio |title=200 Years of Syntax: A Critical Survey |publisher=Benjamins |year=2001 |isbn=90-272-4587-8 |series=Studies in the History of the Language Sciences 98 |location=Amsterdam}}
* {{Cite book |last=Talasiewicz |first=Mieszko |title=Philosophy of Syntax – Foundational Topics |publisher=Springer |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-481-3287-4 |location=Dordrecht}} An interdisciplinary essay on the interplay between logic and linguistics on syntactic theories.
* {{Cite book |last=Tesnière |first=Lucien |title=Eléments de syntaxe structurale |publisher=Klincksieck |year=1969 |isbn=2-252-01861-5 |edition=2nd |location=Paris |language=fr}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Blackwell Companion to Syntax |publisher=Blackwell |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4051-1485-1 |editor-last=Everaert |editor-first=Martin |location=Malden, Massachusetts|editor2-link=Henk van Riemsdijk |editor-last2=Van Riemsdijk |editor-first2=Henk |editor-last3=Goedemans |editor-first3=Rob |editor-last4=Hollebrandse |editor-first4=Bart}} 5 Volumes; 77 case studies of syntactic phenomena.
* {{Cite book |last1=Isac |first1=Daniela |title=I-Language: An Introduction to Linguistics as Cognitive Science |last2=Reiss |first2=Charles |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-966017-9 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |last=Moravcsik |first=Edith A. |title=An Introduction to Syntax: Fundamentals of Syntactic Analysis |publisher=Continuum |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8264-8946-3 |location=London}} Attempts to be a theory-neutral introduction. The companion {{Cite book |last=Moravcsik |first=Edith A. |title=An Introduction to Syntactic Theory |publisher=Continuum |year=2006 |isbn=0-8264-8943-5 |location=London}} surveys the major theories. Jointly reviewed in {{Cite journal |last=Hewson |first=John |date=2009 |title=An Introduction to Syntax: Fundamentals of Syntactic Analysis, And: An Introduction to Syntactic Theory (Review) |journal=The Canadian Journal of Linguistics |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=172–175 |doi=10.1353/cjl.0.0036|s2cid=144032671 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Müller |first=Stefan |url=https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/287 |title=Grammatical Theory: From Transformational Grammar to Constraint-Based Approaches |publisher=Language Science Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-96110-273-0 |edition=4th revised and extended |location=Berlin}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Roark |first1=Brian |title=Computational Approaches to Morphology and Syntax |last2=Sproat |first2=Richard William |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-927477-2 |location=Oxford |author-link2=Richard Sproat}} part II: Computational approaches to syntax.
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/syntax-textbook The syntax of natural language: An online introduction using the Trees program]{{snd}}Beatrice Santorini & Anthony Kroch, [[University of Pennsylvania]], 2007

{{Authority control}}

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