E-Book

An Introduction to English Syntax

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We study syntax because it enables human beings to compose complex
messages. Suppose a disgruntled worker utters the single word idiot! He
or she might have muttered stupid, unfeeling, ignorant idiot, with four words
combined into a phrase. The speaker might even have said That stupid,
unfeeling, ignorant idiot is the new manager!, in which the phrase the new
manager and the phrase that stupid, unfeeling, ignorant idiot are combined
into a clause by means of is. (For a discussion of phrases and clauses, see
Chapters 1, 2, 6 and 7.)
Syntax has to do with how words are put together to build phrases,
with how phrases are put together to build clauses or bigger phrases,
and with how clauses are put together to build sentences. In small and
familiar situations, humans could communicate using single words and
many gestures, particularly when dealing with other members of the
same social grouping (nuclear family, extended family, clan and so on).
But complex messages for complex situations or complex ideas require
more than just single words; every human language has devices with
which its speakers can construct phrases and clauses.

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Availability

Detail Information

Series Title

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Call Number

425 Mil a

Publisher

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press., 2002

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0-7486-1254-8

Classification

425

Content Type

e-book

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

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Subject(s)

english language
syntax

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

Jim Miller

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