Problems concerning the composition of spans of utterance larger than the sentence

In recent years a new theory concerning the inner relations between context and form within the sentence has appeared. This theory is called "Generative Grammar". It maintains that grammar must not only describe the laws which regulate the functioning of linguistic units but must also be capable of generating new sentences. "A grammar of this kind", writes John Lyons about Generative Grammar", "is "predictive" in that it establishes as grammatical, not only "actual" sentences, but also "potential" sentences."

The reference to Loyn's statement has direct bearing on the problems of stylistic syntax. The fact is, as will be seen later, that any of the syntactical SDs is capable of generating an unlimited number of sentences within the given pattern. However, according to orthodox generative grammar, some of them are regarded as "ill-formed" and even "ungrammatical" as they fail to meet the requirements of the basic structures.

The theory further maintains that there are two types of structures - a deep structure and a surface one. This theory enables the interpreter to look at a sentence from the point of view of what is "behind" the sentence.

Another development in linguistics also having direct bearing on the problems which concern us when dealing with syntactical SDs, is "textlinguistics", as it is called. This development, which as yet has not been formed as a separate theory, aims at investigating the objective criteria concerning ways and means of constructing texts of different kinds and genres.For this purpose it is first of all necessary to find the elements into which any text may fall. In other words, there must be certain constituent units of which any text is composed.

Phonemes, the smallest language units, function within morphemes and are dependent on them, morphemes function within words, words - within sentences and sentences function in larger structural forms which are called "supra-pharasal units." Consequently, neither words nor separate sentences can be regarded as the basic constituents of a text. They are basic units of lower levels of language-as-a-system.

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