Nanosyntax
Encyclopedia
Nanosyntax is an approach to syntax
in which syntactic parse trees are built up out of a large number of syntactic constituents. Each morpheme
may correspond to several such elements, which do not have to form a "subtree".
Some recent work in theoretical linguistics
suggests that the "atoms" of syntax are much smaller than word
s or morpheme
s. From that it immediately follows that the responsibility of syntax is not limited to ordering "preconstructed" words. Instead, within the framework of nanosyntax, the words are derived entities built in syntax, rather than primitive elements supplied by a lexicon.
The beginnings of nanosyntax can be traced to a 1993 article by Kenneth Hale and S. Jay Keyser
titled 'On Argument Structure and the Lexical Representation of Syntactic Relations', which first introduced the concept of l-syntax.
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
in which syntactic parse trees are built up out of a large number of syntactic constituents. Each morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
may correspond to several such elements, which do not have to form a "subtree".
Some recent work in theoretical linguistics
Theoretical linguistics
Theoretical linguistics is the branch of linguistics that is most concerned with developing models of linguistic knowledge. The fields that are generally considered the core of theoretical linguistics are syntax, phonology, morphology, and semantics...
suggests that the "atoms" of syntax are much smaller than word
Word
In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
s or morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
s. From that it immediately follows that the responsibility of syntax is not limited to ordering "preconstructed" words. Instead, within the framework of nanosyntax, the words are derived entities built in syntax, rather than primitive elements supplied by a lexicon.
The beginnings of nanosyntax can be traced to a 1993 article by Kenneth Hale and S. Jay Keyser
Samuel Jay Keyser
Samuel Jay Keyser is an American theoretical linguist who is an authority on the history and structure of the English language and on linguistic approaches to literary criticism.-Biography:Dr...
titled 'On Argument Structure and the Lexical Representation of Syntactic Relations', which first introduced the concept of l-syntax.