Syntax and Computation

This reading gives an introduction to some of the basics of syntax. It describes the position of the field of syntax at a level between morphology and semantics. It also introduces the concept of generative grammar, which refers to the idea of creating sentences by following a set of subconscious principles; referencing generative grammar early in the chapter prepares the reader for the strong theme of ‘language approached scientifically’ that runs through the rest of the reading. This first chapter also takes the reader through rule formulation in syntax (using anaphors as an example), explains some of the complexities of language acquisition, touches on infinite systems and the logical problem of language acquisition, among other things.

Chapter two talks about parts of speech and why they matter in syntax. This section emphasizes that, often contrary to popular convention, a word’s part of speech is determined by analyzing the word’s distribution in the sentence and not the meaning. Chapter three elaborates on sentence structure, referencing syntactic trees, rules for writing these trees, and constituents (and what tests should be performed to identify them).

Overall, this outline supports one of the most interesting facts about the human capacity to use language: We are capable of generating never-before-seen sentences and understanding them based on a set of rules that we subconsciously acquire. Moreover, these rules determine how we structure the sentences that we speak, and we alter the structures based on context. For instance, we alter the structure of ambiguous sentences. We change around their phrases to match the situation at hand. A phrase like I saw an elephant in my house doesn’t make it clear whether the person or the elephant is in the house, yet we usually understand what is being meant based on the given context. The process might seem trivial – something we experience everyday, but the underlying processes are remarkable.

I wonder how these syntactic concepts feed into the computational theory of mind. If the mental process for outputting sentences is thought of as very strict and methodical given as input an idea that we want to express, then the parallels between syntactic processes in the mind and software (which is often thought of as an input-output process) might seem clear. But if the process for generating grammar is thought of as iterative and dynamic based on the interplay between external changes in context and internal adaptations to those changes, then the similarities between the brain and the computer might blur. Both of these perspectives may potentially be adopted based on Carnie's outline.