Aural perception of different syntactic structures and lengths.

This brief note concerns Kempson's review of Uhlenbeck's Critical comments on transformational-generative grammar (Kempson, I975; Uhlenbeck, 1973). My purpose is not to defend Uhlenbeck but rather to point out that Kempson does not understand him in one or two vital points. Kempson quotes Uhlenbeck's contention that, 'as far as the analysis [by Chomsky] of the sentence What disturbed John was being disregarded by everyone is concerned, one has not to do with one sentence with two different interpretations, but with two sentences each with a quite different syntactic structure', then to complain that Ehlenbeck's observation is a 'non-argument', since what Ehlenbeck observes 'is precisely what the formalism of deep structure predicts', Kempson then calls the entire issue a 'terminological squibble' (i i8). Not quite. If one says that a certain 'sentence' is ambiguous one is talking about a sentence token and not a sentence type. The term 'ambiguity' can obviously be used only in application to a token, whereas 'homonymy' holds only between types. Strictly speaking, as a 'sentence' must always be a type, it cannot, but only some concrete utterance of it can, be a token. However, it is surely harmless to use the expression 'an ambiguous sentence', provided one is not lead astray by the inconsistency of this expression. Uhlenbeck's point is, in context, quite clearly that of fighting the notion of deep structure. In Chomsky's theory any deep structure is only a type, and any surface structure is only a token, at least for the purposes of this discussion. There is, then, more at stake here than something merely terminological. When Uhlenbeck says that the above quoted sentence represents two different syntactic structures, he does not mean what Chomsky would mean by this, i.e. that the token in question can be traced back to two deep structures; rather, Uhlenbeck means that the difference in syntactic structure is found in two sentences, each one reading like the example quoted, but each one different in structure from the other, while no deep structure postulate is needed to bring out that difference. It might not be sufficiently worth while to make these observations, if it were not for the circumstance that Kempson gets the impression Uhlenbeck is a behaviourist (i I9). On the contrary, his position that one may recognize different structures in what would appear behaviouristically as identical entails unconditional rejection of behaviourism. I would not be surprised if Uhlenbeck

This study investigates the types of English sentences used in the essays of Albanian middle school students in Kosova learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), with a particular focus on syntactic structures. The topic was chosen due to the crucial role sentence variety plays in developing students' writing proficiency and enhancing clarity, engagement, and coherence in written communication. The primary objectives of the study are to identify the types of sentence structures and functions used by EFL learners and to highlight the importance of syntactic variety in academic writing. The research is grounded in syntactic theory, emphasizing the role of sentence structure in language development and written expression. A qualitative study with quantitative elements was conducted, using content analysis of student essays alongside numerical analysis of sentence types based on structure and function. Sixteen Albanian middle school students participated in the study, each submitting one essay on a topic of their own choice. Analysis of 164 sentences revealed that the most frequently used sentence structure was the simple sentence (97 occurrences), while declarative sentences were the most commonly used sentence function (143 instances). These findings indicate a strong preference among students for simple and declarative forms, suggesting limited syntactic range. The study concludes that relying heavily on a single sentence type may hinder the effectiveness of student writing, making it monotonous and harder to follow. Therefore, the ability to use a variety of sentence structures is essential for effective written communication. Mastery of syntax and grammar is fundamental, and language educators must prioritize teaching sentence diversity and grammatical accuracy to support students' writing development.

Sentence structure and punctuation are core to the effective communication of ideas in written text. When writers use sentence structure and punctuation that makes sense, the reader is able to focus their attention on the ideas being communicated. When sentence structure and punctuation do not make sense, the reader has to read around the text to cobble together the intended meaning. For example, readers might have to re-read the text, read back and forwards across phrases and clauses to decipher references and lexical chains, slow down their reading rate, sometimes consciously superimpose standard sentence structure and punctuation, or choose to overlook some chunks of text that don’t seem to fit. Successful middle years writers write with the reader in mind. This chapter begins by introducing a quick-write prepared by a thirteen year boy in response to a stimulus about homelessness. We consider the role of sentence structure and punctuation for this young writer as he moves beyond the quick-write phase. The next section discusses the term ‘standard’ in the phrase standard sentence structure and punctuation, and why we deliberately shun the term ‘correct’. We also consider the situation where a writer deliberately plays with language through the strategic use of highly controlled non-standard sentence structures and punctuation. Ironically, this instance of non-standard sentence structures and punctuation is highly effective at achieving its communicative purpose. The two forms of grammar used in the Australian Curriculum (AC): English (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2018) and the metalanguage (technical terms) that students will use for talking about the structure of written text are overviewed. Specially, we introduce the appraisal framework to explain the difference between traditional and functional grammar, and transitivity analysis to describe the parts of a clause. Different clause and sentence types and the forms of punctuation that are commonly used in the middle years of schooling are outlined. The final part of the chapter overviews some principles for teaching writing in the middle years of schooling, finishing with a three-stage pedagogical orientation that explains the changing roles for students and teachers. Various sections of the chapter include opportunities for the reader to pause, ponder and take action.

RiComprendo was designed as a comprehensive tool to evaluate comprehension of various syntactic structures with a sentence-to-picture matching-task. The study sets normative data and investigates the influence of demographic characteristics and sentence types. Two-hundred-ten right-handed healthy Italian native speakers were included. RiComprendo was administered via E-Prime, collecting both accuracy and response time (RTs) data. Adjusted scores for age and education and equivalent scores for each sentence type (i.e., simple active sentences, passives, peripheral and center-embedded subject and object relatives, and coordination) were computed. The effect of sentence type, age and education on accuracy and RTs was investigated through generalized linear mixed models. Item difficulty was tested with an Item Response Theory (IRT) model. Normative data and a spreadsheet for scores automatic computation are provided. The mixed models identified a significant impact of sentence type both on accuracy and RTs. Simple sentences presented high accuracy, while the worst performance was found with center-embedded object relatives. Higher education was significantly associated with better accuracy, while older age was associated with longer RTs and with a marginally negative effect on accuracy. Sentence comprehension is influenced by structural complexity and demographic characteristics (age and education). Providing normative data for different sentence types, RiComprendo enables the evaluation of effects of specific syntactic properties (i.e., canonicity, number of clauses, filler-gap dependencies, intervention, center-embedding). RiComprendo could serve as a valuable tool for testing the comprehension of complex sentences in research and clinical settings, informing in-depth functional assessment and tailored intervention.

The cortical dynamics in building syntactic structures of sentences: An MEG study in a minimal-pair paradigm

Introduction:This study investigates sentence comprehension in Mandarin-English bilinguals, focusing on whether the widely reported, yet contested, subject-relative processing advantage extends to bilingual speakers. We evaluate which theoretical accounts, based on syntactic structure and canonicity, best explain cross-linguistic patterns of sentence processing.Methods:Using a sentence-picture matching task, we examined the comprehension of canonical (e.g., actives) and non-canonical (e.g., passives) sentence structures in English and Mandarin for bilingual speakers of varying ages and Mandarin and English proficiency levels across two separate studies (n = 18 and n = 35).Results:In English, bilingual participants exhibited a robust canonical sentence advantage across studies, with better comprehension of subject-relative over object-relative sentences and active over passive sentences, mirroring monolingual processing patterns. However, in Mandarin, comprehension patterns were less robust and more variable. While subject-relative and object-relative comprehension did not significantly differ at the group level, passive vs. active sentences consistently posed greater difficulty and increased performance variability across both studies, particularly among lower-performing individuals.Discussion:These results suggest that sentence comprehension is shaped by language-specific constraints rather than a universal subject-relative advantage. Findings align with unified theoretical accounts that incorporate canonicity-based and structural factors, including word order, syntactic structure, and experience-, usage-, and frequency-based influences. Our results highlight the complex interplay between the aforementioned factors that differ across languages, with implications for both theoretical linguistics and clinical applications.

Previous research on the syntax complexity variation in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease primarily focuses on isolated language features like sentence length or syntactic structure, with limited exploration of their connection to memory and cognitive deficits. This study investigated the syntactic complexity variation in AD by associating working memory load with fine-grained syntactic features adopting a dependency distance approach. The findings include: (1) AD patients had shorter mean dependency distances (MDD) and more head-final dependencies compared to the HC group; (2) The patients still produced their speech under the DDM tendency but exhibited a stronger preference for simple syntactic structures; (3) Sentences produced by AD patients were statistically shorter than the HC group, and the patients exhibited greater difficulty handling syntactic structures as sentence length increases; (4) The patients could employ different syntactic structures but perform worse in extending them, particularly in nominal groups and hypotactic constructions; (5) The patients showed stronger reliance on sentence-initial adjuncts and inverted constructions. These findings suggest that syntactic impairments in AD exhibit a potential hierarchical decline along the continuum of syntactic complexity, with working memory deficits being a critical factor.

This study aims to analyze sentence types and syntactic function structures (S–P– O–K: Subject–Predicate–Object–Adverbial) in Indonesian online news texts published by Kompas, Detik, and CNN Indonesia in October 2025. This research employed a descriptive qualitative approach using documentation techniques. The data consisted of selected sentences taken purposively from online news articles covering economic, educational, social, and cultural topics. Data analysis was conducted through sentence identification, classification of sentence types (simplex, complex, and compound), analysis of syntactic functions, and interpretation based on Indonesian syntactic theories. The findings indicate that complex sentences are the most frequently used sentence type, particularly in Kompas and CNN Indonesia, as they allow journalists to present information in a more detailed and contextual manner through subordinate clauses. Meanwhile, Detik tends to use simplex sentences, reflecting its emphasis on brevity and speed in news delivery. Compound sentences appear less frequently across the three media outlets. In terms of syntactic structure, the dominant pattern found is S–P–O–K, with variations in the expansion of adverbial elements such as time, purpose, and context. Overall, the syntactic patterns found in online news texts demonstrate consistency with standard Indonesian grammatical rules and reflect the editorial styles and communicative strategies of each media outlet.

This study presents a comprehensive syntactical analysis of the potential form (Kanoukei) in Japanese, examining its structural patterns and pedagogical implications. The research employed a qualitative, library-based methodology to systematically analyze conjugation rules and syntactic structures across different verb groups and sentence types. The findings reveal that Kanoukei follows predictable patterns: godan doushi undergoes phonological changes (-u to -eru), ichidan doushi adds -rareru, and fukisoku doushi demonstrates irregular but consistent forms. Crucially, the study identifies the obligatory particle shift from を (o) to が (ga) as a fundamental syntactical restructuring that signifies a cognitive shift from action-oriented to capability-focused expressions. The analysis supports Shibatani's (1990) theoretical framework regarding the historical evolution of Kanoukei from passive constructions, explaining its unique grammatical position that bridges voice modification and modality expression. The research demonstrates Kanoukei's consistent implementation across affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentence structures, confirming its grammatical stability in Japanese syntax. From a pedagogical perspective, the study provides a structured framework for teaching Kanoukei, which is particularly beneficial for Indonesian learners who face challenges due to linguistic differences between Japanese and their native language. The findings provide educators with evidence-based strategies for transforming Kanoukei instruction from rote memorization to conceptual understanding, potentially reducing common errors and enhancing learning outcomes. This research makes a significant contribution to Japanese language pedagogy while establishing a replicable methodology for analyzing other complex grammatical structures.

ObjectivesThis study examined whether older adults with hearing loss (HL) experience greater difficulties in auditory sentence comprehension compared to those with typical-hearing (TH) when the linguistic burdens of syntactic complexity were systematically manipulated by varying either the sentence type (active vs. passive) or sentence length (3- vs. 4-phrases).MethodsA total of 22 individuals with HL and 24 controls participated in the study, completing sentence comprehension test (SCT), standardized memory assessments, and pure-tone audiometry tests. Generalized linear mixed effects models were employed to compare the effects of sentence type and length on SCT accuracy, while Pearson correlation coefficients were conducted to explore the relationships between SCT accuracy and other factors. Additionally, stepwise regression analyses were employed to identify memory-related predictors of sentence comprehension ability.ResultsOlder adults with HL exhibited poorer performance on passive sentences than on active sentences compared to controls, while the sentence length was controlled. Greater difficulties on passive sentences were linked to working memory capacity, emerging as the most significant predictor for the comprehension of passive sentences among participants with HL.ConclusionOur findings contribute to the understanding of the linguistic-cognitive deficits linked to age-related hearing loss by demonstrating its detrimental impact on the processing of passive sentences. Cognitively healthy adults with hearing difficulties may face challenges in comprehending syntactically more complex sentences that require higher computational demands, particularly in working memory allocation.

This paper describes an analysis method which uses heuristic knowledge to find local syntactic structures of Chinese sentences. We call it a preprocessing, because we use it before we do global syntactic structure analysis (1) of the input sentence. Our purpose is to guide the global analysis through the search space, to avoid unnecessary computation.To realize this, we use a set of special words that appear in commonly used patterns in Chinese. We call them They enable us to pick out fragments that might figure in the syntactic structure of the sentence. Knowledge concerning the use of characteristic words enables us to rate alternative fragments, according to pattern statistics, fragment length, distance between characteristic words, and so on. The preprocessing system proposes to the global analysis level a most likely partial structure. In case this choice is rejected, backtracking looks for a second choice, and so on.For our system, we use 200 characteristic words. Their rules are written by 101 automata. We tested them against 120 sentences taken from a Chinese physics text book. For this limited set, correct partial structures were proposed as first choice for 94% of sentences. Allowing a 2nd choice, the score is 98%, with a 3rd choice, the score is 100%.

This paper centers on a comparative exploration of some structures of English language and Idoma sentences. The Phrase Structure PS Rules of Transformational Generative Grammar is the analytical framework of the study. This paper draws data from different domains of language usage, using the purposive sampling technique to select viable sentences that are analysed. The findings reveal, among other things, that unlike the English language, nouns in Idoma could come before adjectives and suffixes could be added to sentences to give complete thought. A notable similarity between English language and Idoma is that they have the same placement of sentential elements except determiners and adjectives that come after the nouns. Both English language and Idoma (Agila dialect) are capable of being represented on the tree diagram. Through the deployment of the analytical framework for this study, the paper shows that the PS rules enables the identification of the uniqueness of some simple sentences in Agila in order to categorise them into various structures and to show that Transformative Generative Grammar is a viable tool for exploring the linguistic structures of Agila. The study further reveals that Idoma can be analysed side by side with the English language, especially in drawing out their similarities and differences. The study recommends the teaching of Agila language in Ado Local Government Area to acquaint the learners with the rudiments of analysing their native language using English language as a guide. This will bring the errors committed by students to a barest minimum. Consequent upon these, the study concludes that Agila dialect is unique and should be given more attention by linguists.

Utilizing data from the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities (SISCF) 2004, this research investigates the possibility that African American drug offenders receive lengthier prison sentences and are imposed more range of time or indeterminate sentences as opposed to flat sentences based on race and/or non-racial characteristics; specifically parole status prior to sentencing, plea agreement status, prior criminal history, education status prior to arrest, employment status prior to arrest, and parental incarceration. While regression analysis revealed racial sentencing disparity for length of sentence and type of sentence (p< .05 and p< .001 respectively), among non-racial characteristics, only education status prior to arrest proved a significant predictor for length of sentence (p≤ .001). African American drug offenders were more likely sentenced to indeterminate sentences as opposed to flat sentences and were less likely to receive short sentences of 0 to 4 years or medium sentences of 4 to 10 years as compared to long sentences of 10 or more years. Potential research implications include the necessity for additional research regarding racial sentencing disparity as length or type of sentences as opposed to disparity as a numerical or a percentage difference between racial groups as well as the utilizing of inmate data that encompasses recent changes in drug sentencing laws, e.g. crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Future research might also consider the evolution of marijuana laws in the United States and the potential impact on racial sentencing disparity. Race and Non-Racial Characteristics in Sentencing Length & Sentencing Type Disparity

How speakers sequence words and phrases remains a central question in cognitive psychology. Here we focused on understanding the representations and processes that underlie structural priming, the speaker’s tendency to repeat sentence structures encountered earlier. Verb repetition from the prime to the target led to a stronger tendency to produce locative variants of the spray-load alternation following locative primes (e.g., load the boxes into the van) than following with primes (e.g., load the van with the boxes). These structural variants had the same constituent structure, ruling out abstract syntactic structure as the source of the verb boost effect. Furthermore, using cleft constructions (e.g., What the assistant loaded into the lift was the equipment), we found that the thematic role order (thematic role-position mappings) of the prime can persist separately from its argument structure (thematic role-syntactic function mappings). Moreover, both priming effects were enhanced by verb repetition and interacted with each other when the construction of the prime was also repeated in the target. These findings are incompatible with the traditional staged model of grammatical encoding, which postulates the independence of abstract syntax from thematic role information. We propose the interactive structure-building account, according to which speakers build a sentence structure by choosing a thematic role order and argument structure interactively based on their prior co-occurrence together with other structurally relevant information such as verbs and constructions.

The effects of sidetone delay, syntactic structure, and grammaticalness (meaning-fulness) on the duration, sound pressure level, and phonemic errors within sentences were measured. Three handicapped groups of 10 each, consisting of aphasic, dysarthric, and mentally retarded subjects were used. Delayed sidetone significantly affected duration of (a) the different sentence structures, (b) levels of grammaticalness, and (c) type of speakers. Sidetone increased the SPL significantly. The kernel sentence as compared with the three transformations and the meaningful sentences as compared with less meaningful and the least meaningful sentences were affected least in duration and SPL by the delay. The analysis of phonetic errors showed the working of distinctive feature rules within the limit of semantic relevance of a language.