Non-configurational Language
In generative grammar, non-configurational languages are languages characterized by a non-rigid phrase structure, which allows syntactically discontinuous expressions, and a relatively free word order. In configurational languages in contrast, the subject of a sentence is outside the finite VP (directly under S below) but the object is inside it. Since there is no VP constituent in non-configurational languages, there is no structural difference between subject and object. The distinction (configurational vs. non-configurational) can exist in phrase structure grammars only. In a dependency-based grammar, the distinction is meaningless because dependency-based structures do not acknowledge a finite VP constituent.
Read more about Non-configurational Language: Development, The Distinction, Controversy Amongst Phrase Structure Grammars, Controversy With Dependency Grammars
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself. He who has a contempt for poetry, cannot have much respect for himself, or for anything else.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)