Page 366 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Linguistics

Notes
Phonology → Syntax → Semantics
If, however, we agree that deep structure is identical with semantics it follows that model is
somewhat different. It is instead
Phonology ← Syntax ← Semantics

The different direction of the right-hand arrow indicates that we have to begin with semantics
(= deep structure) and proceed from there to syntax and then only to phonology. A more
sophisticated approach still asks why we should move in this direction, i.e. from meaning to
sound, and suggests that we ought to go in either direction with syntax in the centre i.e.
Phonology ←→ Syntax ←→ Semantics

This is a plausible model in purely abstract academic terms. How far it can be strictly formalised
is not yet clear.
Palmer further adds, ‘The deep structure semantics approach may seem attractive, but it faces
most of the criticisms of traditional national grammar. The difficulty is that if there are no
constraints on what can or cannot be said in deep grammar, then, to say that deep grammar is
semantics is merely to give a new name to semantics. Linguists have for a long time sought to
achieve a satisfactory theory of semantics but because of the complex heterogenous nature of
meaning they have largely failed.’
(11) There is some truth in the criticism that T G is a computer grammar.
(12) Chomsky’s own arguments in favour of ordering are far from conclusive.
28.3 Systemic Grammar

Systemic grammar is a refined model of Halliday’s earlier model of grammar called Scale and Category
grammar, in which he used a set of four categories (unit, structure, class, and system) and four scales
(rank, exponence, realization and delicacy).
‘Subject,’ ‘Object’ and ‘Complement’ are the category of structure. ‘Sentence’ and ‘Clause’ are the
instances of the category of unit, ‘verb’, ‘noun’ etc. are the category of class. System is the range of
possibilities in a closed choice. For example, the domain of active and passive, affirmative and negative,
singular and plural is the domain of system. So Scale and Category grammar tends to state that all
languages have structures, units, classes and systems.
There are, however, different number of units in different languages. These units are built up one
inside the other. If we start with the sentence, we have five units in English : sentence, clause, group,
word and morpheme. Sentence, according to this description, is the highest unit and morpheme the
lowest. These units have fixed relations between themselves, that is, every sentence consists of one or
more than one clause; every clause consists of one or more than one group (phrase), every group
consists of one or more than one word, and every word consists of one or more than one morpheme.
If the whole utterance in some context is No, then ‘no’ is one sentence, one clause, one group, one
word and one morpheme. All these five units are shown separately in the following sentence :
If she comes, she will be welcomed.
We can break it down into all the similar units in the following manner :
///if/she/come+s// she/will+be+welcome+ed///
Here the symbol (triple bars)/// shows a sentence-boundary, (double bar)// shows clause-boundary,
(single bar) / “shows group boundary” space between one element and the other shows word-
boundary, and + shows morpheme-boundary.
Halliday is of the opinion that the sentence is not the largest pattern-carrying unit in English. It may
be paragraph and efforts are being made to analyse paragraph, although no significant progress has
been made so far in this direction.

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