Words expressing a complete thought
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]
A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement,
question
, exclamation, request,
command
, or
suggestion
.
[2]
Typical associates
[
edit
]
Clauses
[
edit
]
A sentence is typically associated with a
clause
. A clause can either be a
clause simplex
or a
clause complex
. A clause simplex represents a single process going on through time. A clause complex represents a logical relation between two or more processes and is thus composed of two or more clause simplexes.
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. There is clause embedding in the second and third examples.
- [Water]
boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
- It
is quite interesting
that [water] boils at 100 degrees Celsius
.
- The fact that [water] boils at 100 degrees Celsius
is quite interesting.
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.
See also
copula
for the consequences of the verb
to be
on the theory of sentence structure.
Classification
[
edit
]
By structure
[
edit
]
One traditional scheme for classifying
English
sentences is by
clause structure
, the number and types of clauses in the sentence with finite verbs.
- A
simple sentence
consists of a single
independent clause
with no
dependent clauses
.
- A
compound sentence
consists of multiple independent clauses with no dependent clauses. These clauses are joined together using
conjunctions
,
punctuation
, or both.
- A
complex sentence
consists of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
- A
compound?complex sentence
(or
complex?compound sentence
) consists of multiple independent clauses, at least one of which has at least one dependent clause.
By function or speech act
[
edit
]
Sentences can also be classified based on the
speech act
which they perform. For instance, English sentence types can be described as follows:
- A
declarative
sentence makes a
statement
or assertion:
- An
interrogative
sentence raises a
question
:
- An
imperative
sentence makes a command:
- An
exclamative
or
exclamatory
sentence raises an exclamation:
- "What a good friend you are!"
The form (declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamative) and meaning (statement, question, command, or exclamation) of a sentence usually match, but not always.
[3]
[4]
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 make an exclamation about the listener's lack of ability, also called a
rhetorical question
.
Major and minor sentences
[
edit
]
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, 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.
[5]
Sentences that comprise a single word are called word sentences, and the words themselves
sentence words
.
[6]
Length
[
edit
]
The 1980s saw a renewed surge in interest in sentence length, primarily in relation to "other syntactic phenomena".
[7]
One definition of the average sentence length of a prose passage is the ratio of the number of words to the number of sentences.
[8]
[
unreliable source?
]
The textbook
Mathematical Linguistics
, by
Andras Kornai
, suggests that in "journalistic prose the median sentence length is above 15 words".
[9]
The average length of a sentence generally serves as a measure of sentence difficulty or complexity.
[10]
In general, as the average sentence length increases, the complexity of the sentences also increases.
[11]
Another definition of "sentence length" is the number of clauses in the sentence, whereas the "clause length" is the number of
phones
in the clause.
[12]
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".
[13]
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".
[14]
[15]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. 2004.
An Introduction to Functional Grammar
. Arnold: p. 6.
ISBN
9781444119084
- ^
"Sentence"
.
Dictionary.com
. Retrieved
2008-05-23
.
- ^
Murray, Sarah; Starr, William (2021). "The structure of communicative acts".
Linguistics and Philosophy
.
44
(2): 425?474.
doi
:
10.1007/s10988-019-09289-0
.
S2CID
54609990
.
- ^
Portner, Paul (2018).
Mood
. Oxford University Press. Chapter 3.
- ^
"Sentences"
.
ExamPlanning
. 2018-12-06.
- ^
Jan Noordegraaf (2001). "J. M. Hoogvliet as a teacher and theoretician". In Marcel Bax; C. Jan-Wouter Zwart; A. J. van Essen (eds.).
Reflections on Language and Language Learning
. John Benjamins B.V. p. 24.
ISBN
90-272-2584-2
.
- ^
T??itelova, Marie (1992).
Quantitative Linguistics
. p. 126.
ISBN
9027215464
. Retrieved
December 15,
2011
.
- ^
"Language Log on Twitter and "Real trends in word and sentence length"
"
.
linguistics on Reddit
. Jun 23, 2011
. Retrieved
December 12,
2011
.
- ^
Kornai, Andras (10 November 2007).
Mathematical linguistics
. p. 188.
ISBN
9781846289859
. Retrieved
December 15,
2011
.
- ^
Perera, Katherine (January 1982).
The assessment of sentence difficulty
. p. 108.
ISBN
9780710091932
. Retrieved
December 15,
2011
.
- ^
Troia, Gary A. (3 May 2011).
Instruction and assessment for struggling writers: evidence-based practices
. p. 370.
ISBN
9781609180300
. Retrieved
December 15,
2011
.
- ^
Reinhard Kohler; Gabriel Altmann; Ra?mond Genrikhovich Piotrovski? (2005).
Quantitative Linguistics
. p. 352.
ISBN
9783110155785
. Retrieved
December 15,
2011
.
(Caption) Table 26.3: Sentence length (expressed by the number of clauses) and clause length (expressed by the number of phones) in a Turkish text
- ^
Erik Schils; Pieter de Haan (1993).
"Characteristics of Sentence Length in Running Text"
. Oxford University Press. Archived from
the original
on July 12, 2012
. Retrieved
December 12,
2011
.
- ^
Perera, Katherine (January 1982).
The assessment of sentence difficulty
. p. 108.
ISBN
9780710091932
. Retrieved
December 15,
2011
.
- ^
Fries, Udo (2010).
Sentence Length, Sentence Complexity, and the Noun Phrase in 18th-Century News Publications
. p. 21.
ISBN
9783034303729
. Retrieved
December 15,
2011
.