We now have bricks and mortar?
How do we g0 from bricks and mortar to a house with plumb walls, symmetrical dormers,
and all the details that come together to make it a fine house?
Answer: In a word, you need a
BLUEPRINT
Language has a blueprint too! It’s called
SYNTAX!
Syntax is the order in which we put the vocabulary and grammar.
We have learned that meaning is relayed by VOCABULARY, and that meaning is relayed by GRAMMAR.
SYNTAX relays meaning too!
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Look at the following two sentences:
Sentence A: The boy was pushed by the girl.
Sentence B: The girl was pushed by the boy.
Now, let’s underline the vocabulary and italicize the grammar in each sentence.
Sentence A: The boy was pushed by the girl.
Sentence B: The girl was pushed by the boy.
What you will notice is that each sentence contains the exact same vocabulary and the exact same parts of grammar. The only difference is that “Sentence A” follows a different syntactic blueprint that “Sentence B,” and it makes the sentences mean different things!
Vocabulary relays meaning. Grammar relays meaning. And, syntax relays meaning!
It is important that we are able to understand (aka extract meaning) from all three to have a complete understanding of the language we hear.
