AUTONOMOUS SYNTAX

the theory that syntax is a unique component of language that operates completely independently of meaning (semantics) and function (pragmatics). This view explains how a sentence with no specific content is often recognized as grammatical by native speakers (see grammaticality). It also explains why rules, such as number agreement between subject and verb, operate independent of the semantic relationship between the sentence elements. For example, in the two sentences The hoy is slamming the doors and The doors ore being shimmed by the hoy the verb takes different forms to agree with the grammatical subject in each case (boy is- doors are), irrespective of the fact that in both cases the boy is the agent of the action, and the doors are mentioned. See also case grammar, [introduced by Noam Chomsky]