EXPLORING THE INTERFACE OF SYNTAX AND MORPHOLOGY IN SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION PROCESSES

Abstract

This study explores the interface between syntax and morphology with a particular focus on how internal word structures influence sentence construction processes across languages. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach, the research analyzes data from cross-linguistic corpora representing both morphologically rich languages (Turkish, Finnish, and Swahili) and analytic languages (English and Mandarin Chinese). The findings indicate that morphological structures play a crucial role in encoding grammatical relations such as subject, object, tense, and agreement, thereby shaping syntactic configurations. In languages with rich inflectional morphology, grammatical roles are explicitly marked, allowing greater flexibility in word order. Conversely, in morphologically impoverished languages, syntactic structure becomes more rigid and serves as the primary means of conveying grammatical relationships. The study also reveals that derivational morphology influences syntactic behavior by altering lexical categories and argument structures. These findings support integrative theoretical frameworks, particularly Distributed Morphology, which emphasize the interdependence of morphological and syntactic processes. Overall, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of sentence construction as a product of dynamic interaction between morphology and syntax, with implications for linguistic theory, language teaching, and computational linguistics.