Syntactic Movement Assignment 2022

Running head: SYNTACTIC MOVEMENT
SYNTACTIC MOVEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

SYNTACTIC MOVEMENT1
Introduction
The scope of syntax discusses the concept of the sentence structure as a proper unit of the
language. The syntax refers to the linguistic branch that majorly deals with the structure of the
sentences. The syntactical factors that are implemented within the sentence structure refer to the
selection as well as the arrangement of the words within the sentence. The areas of syntax throw
special emphasis on the analysis and the description of the larger chunks that are presented
within the sentence and the ways in which these chunks contribute to the meaning of the
sentence (Potsdam 2017). The syntactic movement refers to the ways in which the discontinuities
are addressed by the syntactical theories. The movement was introduced by the various structural
linguists. The syntactic movement are generally expressed in the displacement or the
discontinuous constituents. The movement is always known to controversial in nature. The
syntactic movement has been known to be associated with the derivational and the
transformational theories that are related to the syntax.
The following essay attempts a discussion on the various types of the syntactic movement
that was observed in the field of English. The essay opens with a discussion on the concepts of
syntax and the transformational grammar. The essay thereafter sheds light on the A-movement
followed by the discussion on the A-bar movement. The essay further discusses the head
movement and the phrasal movement that is observed to have been present within the syntactical
structure of the English language. The essay reaches a conclusion with the discussion on the
trace movement within the sentence structures that are followed within the English language.
Syntax and Transformational Grammar

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The concept of syntax was introduced by one of the most celebrated linguists of the era,
Noam Chomsky. The celebrated linguist is known for the overall development of the
transformational generative grammar. The linguist is also held responsible for the majority of the
approaches that are undertaken by the scholars and the linguists who have been studying the
various patterns that are evident within the English language (Sailor 2018). The studies that were
conducted by Noam Chomsky as well as the other linguists’ state that the proper syntactic
structure within the statements tend to help in conveying the meaning of the sentence in a proper
manner. The linguists state that the ambiguity conditions that are highlighted in some sentences
raise issues in deciphering the meaning of the concerned statement (Rizzi and Cinque 2016). In
order to decipher the proper meaning of the sentence, the linguists had proposed the
understanding of the deep and the surface structures of the statement in order to demonstrate the
reason for the ambiguity of the statement.
An example of an ambiguous statement might be found in “They expelled 15 refugees
from Norway”.
The two different meanings of the statement are
a. They expelled (15 refugees from Norway).
b. (They expelled 15 refugees) from Norway.
The deep structures of the statements assist in the proper demonstration of the difference.
The deep structures for the above-mentioned statements are as follows.

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Poole (2011) stated that readings on the syntax made attempts in the discovery and the
understanding of the rules and the regulations that are generally used by the human beings in the
due course of speech. The experts state the human beings possess an innate sense of grammar in
their native language which helps them construct novel sentences at any given point of time. The
experts further state that the concerned human beings tend to follow a certain set of rules in
creating statements. These rules play a very important role in the proper understanding of the
statements that are articulated by the concerned individuals (Martinović 2019). The ambiguous
statements that have been articulated by the individuals might be simplified with the help of the
various transformations that are allowed within the language. The transformational generative
grammar that is implemented within the English language helps in the understanding of the
ambiguous sentences and at times helps in the clarification of the statement as well (Barrie and
Mathieu 2016).
A-movement
The Argument movement within the sentence is at times referred to as the A-movement
in the field of the transformational grammar. The A-movement presented within the English
syntax refers to the movements within the sentence involving the displacement of the phrases to
the positions wherein the phrases would be assigned a position that would be serving a fixed