Sentence
(linguistics)
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From Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia |
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In linguistics
and grammar,
a sentence is a linguistic expression, such as the English example
"The quick brown fox jumps
over the lazy dog." In traditional grammar, it is typically defined
as a string of words that expresses a complete thought, or as a unit
consisting of a subject and predicate. In non-functional linguistics it
is typically defined as a maximal unit of syntactic structure such as a constituent. In functional linguistics, it is defined as a
unit of written texts delimited by graphological
features such as upper case letters and markers such as periods, question
marks, and exclamation marks. This notion contrasts with a curve, which is
delimited by phonologic features such as pitch and loudness and markers such
as pauses; and with a clause, which is a sequence of words that represents
some process going on throughout time.[1]
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A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement,
question,
exclamation, request, command, or suggestion.[2]
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Contents
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Typical associates
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Clauses
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A sentence is
typically associated with a clause and a clause can be either a clause
simplex or a clause complex. A clause is a clause simplex if it represents
a single process going on through time and it is a clause complex if it
represents a logical relation between two or more processes and is thus
composed of two or more clause simplexes. |
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A clause (simplex)
typically contains a predication structure with a subject noun phrase and a finite
verb. Although the subject is usually a noun phrase, other kinds of phrases (such as
gerund
phrases) work as well, and some languages allow subjects to be omitted. In
the examples below, the subject of the outmost clause simplex is in italics
and the subject of boiling is in square brackets. Notice that there is
clause embedding in the second and third examples. |
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[Water] boils at 100 degrees Celsius. |
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It is quite interesting that [water] boils at 100
degrees Celsius. |
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The fact that
[water] boils at 100 degrees Celsius
is quite interesting. |
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There are two types
of clauses: independent and non-independent/interdependent.
An independent clause realises a speech act such as a statement, a question,
a command or an offer. A non-independent clause does not realise any act. A
non-independent clause (simplex or complex) is usually logically related to
other non-independent clauses. Together they usually constitute a single
independent clause (complex). For that reason, non-independent clauses are
also called interdependent. For instance, the non-independent clause because
I have no friends is related to the non-independent clause I don't go
out in I don't go out, because I have no friends. The whole clause
complex is independent because it realises a statement. What is stated is the
causal nexus between having no friend and not going out. When such a
statement is acted out, the fact that the speaker doesn't go out is already
established, therefore it cannot be stated. What is still open and under
negotiation is the reason for that fact. The causal nexus is represented by
the independent clause complex and not by the two interdependent clause
simplexes. |
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See also copula for the consequences of the verb to
be on the theory of sentence structure. |
Classification
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By structure
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One traditional
scheme for classifying English
sentences is by clause structure, the number and types
of clauses in the sentence with finite verbs. |
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By function or speech act
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Sentences can also
be classified based on the speech act which they perform. For instance, English
sentence types can be carved up as follows: |
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The form
(declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamative) and meaning
(statement, question, command, or exclamation) of a sentence usually match,
but not always.[3][unreliable
source?] For instance, the interrogative sentence
"Can you pass me the salt?" is not intended to express a question
but rather to express a command. Likewise, the interrogative sentence
"Can't you do anything right?" is not intended to express a
question on the listener's ability, but rather to express a statement on the
listener's lack of ability; see rhetorical question. |
Major and minor sentences
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A major sentence is
a regular sentence; it has a subject and a predicate, e.g. "I have a ball.".
In this sentence, one can change the persons, e.g. "We have a
ball.". However, a minor sentence is an irregular type of sentence that
does not contain a main clause, e.g. "Mary!", "Precisely so.",
"Next Tuesday evening after it gets dark.". Other examples of minor
sentences are headings (e.g. the heading of this entry), stereotyped
expressions ("Hello!"), emotional expressions ("Wow!"),
proverbs, etc. These can also include nominal
sentences like "The more, the merrier". These mostly omit a
main verb for the sake of conciseness, but may also do so in order to
intensify the meaning around the nouns.[4]
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Sentences that
comprise a single word are called word sentences, and the words themselves sentence
words.[5]
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Length
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The 1980s saw a
renewed surge in interest in sentence length, primarily in relation to
"other syntactic phenomena".[6]
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One definition of
the average sentence length of a prose passage is the ratio of the number of
words to the number of sentences.[7][unreliable
source?] The textbook Mathematical linguistics,
by András Kornai, suggests that in "journalistic prose the median
sentence length is above 15 words."[8]
The average length of a sentence generally serves as a measure of sentence
difficulty or complexity.[9]
In general, as the average sentence length increases, the complexity of the
sentences also increases.[10]
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Research by Erik
Schils and Pieter de Haan by sampling five texts showed that two adjacent
sentences are more likely to have similar lengths than two non-adjacent
sentences, and almost certainly have a similar length when in a work of
fiction. This countered the theory that "authors may aim at an
alternation of long and short sentences."[12]
Sentence length, as well as word difficulty, are both factors in the
readability of a sentence; however, other factors, such as the presence of
conjunctions, have been said to "facilitate comprehension
considerably".[13][14]
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See also
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