Syntactic Features

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Syntax

Syntax is the patterns, principles, and rules of sentences in a given language.

How to describe and categorize sentences:

• by structure
• by voice
• by function
• by length
• by irregular structure

Sentence Types by Structure

Type	Structure	Effect
Simple	one independent clause	clear, direct, easy
Compound	independent clauses joined by coordination	linear, supplementary, easy to process
Complex	main clause + subordinate clause	hierarchical, embedded, cognitively demanding
Compound-complex	coordination + subordination	layered, complex, argumentative

FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Example

Simple:

The sparrows are flying around.

Compound-complex:

For in the end, freedom is a personal and lonely battle; and one faces down fears of today so that those of tomorrow might be engaged.

• and: coordination.
• so that: subordination.
• Effect: layered reasoning.

Garden Path Sentences

\[\text{Garden path sentence} = \text{grammatical but temporarily ambiguous}\]

Examples:

• The old man the boat.
• Fat people eat accumulates.
• While Susan was mending the sock fell off her lap.

Effects:

• parsing trap
• cognitive delay
• surprise
• ambiguity
• playfulness

Sentence Types by Voice

Voice	Pattern	Effect
Active	agent foregrounded	direct, clear, responsible
Passive	patient/process foregrounded	objective, impersonal, academic
Passive evasive	agent omitted	responsibility-avoiding, political, bureaucratic

Example

Academic passivization:

The researcher designed a questionnaire of 25 questions and distributed the copies randomly to the students in the library.

becomes:

The questionnaire, consisting of 25 questions, was designed for the present research and randomly distributed to the students in the library.

• Focus shifts from researcher to questionnaire / procedure.
• Effect: objective, formal, impersonal.

Example

Evasive passive:

Mistakes were made.

• Agent omitted.
• Responsibility blurred.
• Common in political or institutional discourse.

Sentence Types by Function

Function	Example	Effect
Declarative	It was the best of times...	assertion, narration, judgment
Interrogative	Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?	inquiry, opening, rhetorical movement
Imperative	Do not go gentle into that good night.	command, appeal, urgency
Exclamatory	Rage, rage against the dying of the light!	emotion, intensity

Sentence Length

Sentence length may be measured by:

• words
• syllables
• characters

Plain English guideline:

\[15\text{-}20\ \text{words} \approx 22\text{-}33\ \text{syllables}\]

All short will sound stupid. All long will sound stuffy.

Key:

\[\text{variety of sentence length}\]

Sentence Length	Possible Effects
Short	direct, concise, terse, clear, swift, compact, abrupt, unexpected
Long	solemn, formal, detailed, complex, sophisticated, messy, confusing, suffocating

Example

Joyce, Ulysses

Molly's soliloquy:

• approximately 22,000 words
• eight extremely long "sentences"
• last sentence: 4,391 words

Effect:

• stream of consciousness
• fragmentary
• incoherent
• associative
• lengthy
• emotionally intense

Example

Joyce, Ulysses

• Minimal punctuation.
• Extremely long syntactic flow.
• Thoughts move by association: nature, God, memory, desire, sea, Gibraltar.
• Repeated yes creates rhythm and affirmation.

Final movement:

and yes I said yes I will Yes.

Example

D. H. Lawrence, The Horse Dealer's Daughter

Pattern:

• short / medium sentences
• active voice
• sequence of bodily action verbs

Verbs:

• crouched
• moved
• touched
• grasped
• laid
• wiped
• wrapped
• lifted
• staggered

Effect:

• physical
• urgent
• tense
• concrete
• sequential

Example

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

At length, quite exhausted by the attempt to be amused with her own book, which she had only chosen because it was the second volume of his, she gave a great yawn...

Structure:

• complex sentence
• embedded clauses
• delayed main action

Effect:

• elegant irony
• indirect exposure of motive
• contrast between social performance and actual boredom

Irregular Structures

Structure	Definition	Effect
Elliptical sentence	omitted elements recoverable from context	speed, informality, compression
Inverted sentence	unusual word order	emphasis, literary tone, formality
Rhetorical question	question not seeking information	persuasion, emotion, dramatic force
Non-standard form	dialect / social variation	identity, realism, social positioning

Inversion

Example:

• So deep was her sorrow that words failed her.
• Try as he might, he could not change the past.
• Only in solitude can a man hear his inner voice.
• Little did he realize what great changes lay ahead.

Effects:

• foregrounding
• emphasis
• formal / literary tone
• rhythmically marked expression

Rhetorical Questions

\[\text{Rhetorical question} = \text{interrogative form} + \text{assertive force}\]

Effects:

• persuasive
• emotional
• forceful
• audience-involving

Example

Blake, The Tyger

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

• Not merely asking for information.
• Expresses awe and mystery.

Example

Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

If you prick us, do we not bleed?

If you tickle us, do we not laugh?

If you poison us, do we not die?

And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

• Repeated rhetorical questions.
• Persuasive assertion of shared humanity.

Sentence Branching

Branching	Structure	Style
Right-branching	main clause first, supplements after	loose, easy, natural
Left-branching	modifiers / conditions before main clause	periodic, anticipatory
Middle-branching	nesting / embedding inside main clause	complex, interruptive, sophisticated

Loose vs. Periodic Sentences

Type	Pattern	Effect
Loose sentence	core idea appears early, then supplements	supplementary, easy, natural
Periodic sentence	main idea delayed until later	anticipatory, suspense-making, sophisticated

Example

Middle-branching:

Love, as everyone knows except those who happened to have been afflicted with it, is blind.

Periodic / formal:

Having considered both sides of the argument, I have come to the conclusion that the advantages of owning a car outweigh the disadvantages.

• Main conclusion delayed.
• Effect: formal, argumentative, organized.

Austen:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a fortune must be in want of a wife.

• Formal and periodic opening.
• Sounds like a universal principle.
• Effect: ironic grandeur about marriage and social expectation.

Example

Original:

Were it not for hope and faith in the dark days ahead, few mortals could endure the hardships of mortal life.

Plain version:

Few mortals could endure mortal hardships, if they had no hope and faith in dark days.

Difference:

Original	Plain Version
inverted, periodic	regular, direct
formal, elevated	clearer, easier
literary rhythm	plain statement

Example

Original:

He walked slowly down the street and looked quietly at the quiet old town.

Revised:

Along the quiet old street under soft dusk, he walked slowly and gazed peacefully around.

• Fronted setting creates atmosphere.
• gazed peacefully is more stylistically coherent than looked quietly.

Example

Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Pattern:

• extremely long sentence
• right-branching structure
• repeated relative clauses
• chain of causes and consequences
• comic escalation

Effect:

• absurdity
• bureaucratic chaos
• logical sprawl
• comic violence

Catch-22:

A paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations.

Readability

Readability is the ease with which a reader can understand a written text.

Depends on:

Dimension	Factors
Content	vocabulary, syntax
Presentation	font size, line height, line length

Tools:

• The Flesch formula
• The Gunning Fog Index
• The Lexile Index

Flesch Formula

\[\text{Reading ease score} = 1.599nosw - 1.015sl - 31.517\]

where:

• nosw: number of one-syllable words per 100 words
• sl: average sentence length in words

Intuition:

• more one-syllable words -> easier
• longer average sentence length -> harder

Gunning Fog Index

Measures reading difficulty by roughly considering:

• average sentence length
• percentage of complex words

Higher index:

• more difficult
• more "foggy"
• requires more education to read comfortably

Lexile Index

The Lexile Analyzer evaluates reading demand through:

• semantic characteristics: word frequency
• syntactic characteristics: sentence length

Range: 0-2000

Higher values usually indicate greater reading difficulty.

Limits of Readability Tools

Readability is not literary value.

Balance:

• readability
• formality
• variety
• stylistic purpose

Notes:

• Short words and sentences may be readable but flat.
• Long or difficult syntax may be stylistically motivated.
• Chinese readability tools are relatively few and lagging behind.

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